When life gives you avocados and you just don’t want more guacamole, try my Avocado Kababs.
Avocados are among my most favorite veggies. After all, what’s not to love? They are creamily delicious, packed with healthy goodness, and who can hold a candle to that pretty pale-greenness? But avocados do present a challenge– other than knowing exactly when to open one, that is. They do not lend themselves to cooking because heat destroys their flavor. And that means you have to find ways to use it up raw: I mostly use mine in salads, soups, pastas, as a garnish, and even in raitas and chutneys.
I do have one exception that I’ve shared with you before on this blog: my Butterless Avocado Brioche, where the avocados replace the butter and get baked into a perfectly flaky, light bread.
Yesterday, faced with a bag of fast-ripening avocados and wondering what to do with them, I was hit with inspiration. I made my Avocado Kababs pretty much as one would make traditional vegetarian shami kababs, using a lentil base. And I kept the cooking to a minimum by pan-frying them over medium-high heat to give them a perfectly golden, crispy crust. That way the center remained creamy and gorgeous and flavorful. Perfect.
I like to think of this recipe as a unique blend of Indian and Mexican flavors: there are a number of traditional Indian spices here, but an equal-credit star is the smoky-hot chipotle chili in adobo sauce.
Gotta go now, but not before I share the recipe. Enjoy your Friday, all! I think it’s the best day of the week, don’t you?
Avocado Shami Kababs
Ingredients
- 1 perfectly ripe avocado , mashed
- 1/2 cup chana dal (bengal gram dal)
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 cloves
- 2 green cardamom pods
- A 1-inch piece of cinnamon
- Salt to taste
- 1 chipotle chili pepper with 1 tbsp of the adobo sauce they are packed in (adjust up or down based on your spicy-hot taste)
- 1 tsp ground coriander powder
- 1/4 cup green coriander leaves
- 2 tbsp chickpea or garbanzo bean flour (besan)
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- Salt to taste
- Oil for spraying the griddle
Instructions
- Place the chana dal, bay leaf, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring it to a boil and then lower the heat and allow it to simmer about 40 minutes or until almost tender. Turn off the heat and drain.
- Place the chana dal in a food processor and process until you have a pretty fine powder. Add the avocado and process together until everything comes together.
- Remove the mixture to a bowl and add the coriander powder, chopped chipotle chili and sauce, cornflour and chickpea flour. Mix thoroughly. You should have a mixture that holds together. If it is still too soft, you can add more chickpea flour.
- Shape the mixture into tiny patties, about 3/4 of an inch in diameter.
- Spray oil on a cast-iron or non-stick griddle and heat.
- Place the kabobs one at a time, with a little distance between each, on the griddle.
- Cook over medium-high heat about a minute on each side or until golden-brown. Everything is already cooked, so you don't need to cook this-- all you want is that crisp crust.
- Remove to a dish. Serve hot with
- coconut chutney
(C) All recipes and photographs copyright of Holy Cow! Vegan Recipes.
<br><br><br><br><br>Dr.Sameena Prathap says
February 11, 2011 atHey,
Yummy kebabs…:)
Dr.Sameena@
http://www.myeasytocookrecipes.blogspot.com/
Nithya says
February 11, 2011 atLooks yummm 🙂
HayMarket8 says
February 11, 2011 atWow! These look awesome! So innovative. 🙂
http://haymarket8.blogspot.com
Priya says
February 11, 2011 atYumm, such a beautiful kababs..soo tempting!
Manasi says
February 11, 2011 atGorgeous! I can imagine the crisp exterior and the creamy smooth avocado.. oh! perfect.
Cham says
February 12, 2011 atIt is a fusion recipe. They should be creamy and tasty!
Vaishali says
February 12, 2011 atThanks, Nithya, Haymarket, Priya, Manasi, Cham. You folks have a great weekend!
Susan says
February 12, 2011 atSwoon! A very creative way to get some of those good fats into you.
cumincoriandercardamom says
February 13, 2011 atTotally surprising recipe.. Very nice
Linda says
February 13, 2011 atI drooled looking at the photograph! YUM
Will be sure to look this one up!
Avocado goes with everything. mmmm
Ameya says
February 15, 2011 atI love avocado in any way, shape or form-these kababs look so tasty and comforting on a chilly evening 🙂
Gauri Radha गौरी राधा says
February 18, 2011 atThat looks fantastic 🙂
rajani@eatwritethink says
February 18, 2011 atvaishali how innovative!!! i am sure going to give this a shot.
Sree says
February 22, 2011 atANy substitute for the chipotle chilli pepper in adobo sauce ? I dont get this where i live.
Thnx.
Vaishali says
February 23, 2011 atSree, use any red chilli powder — they’ll still taste great. 🙂
Srimathi says
March 1, 2011 atOk, of all the recipes that I looked at this morning this is the most creative one of all. Very cool.
Shweta says
April 24, 2014 atAvocado kebabs look awesome. Wondering if we can use thai chilies or maybe soaked dried red chilies instead of the chipotle chili in adobo sauce?
Vaishali says
April 24, 2014 atHi Shweta, yes, you can definitely sub regular dry chillies. Add to taste.
Rafal says
January 17, 2015 atThe lemon and oregano sets these kebobs off nicely. I used a combination of zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms and red onion. Served this with grilled corn on the cob and Spinach & Roquefort Salad recipe Delicioius!
DEEPS says
September 18, 2015 atDis is my all time favorite kababs… I oan fried dem, bake dem, grill dem… Ne way dey tasty delicious! Awesome recipe…
Komal says
January 18, 2017 atHey Vaishali!I am a big fan of your blog and follow you on Instagram. I just had a quick question. In Step 2, you say “Place the chana dal in a food processor and process until you have a pretty fine powder.” Did you mean fine paste, since you cook the channa dal in Step 1?
Thank you again for the wonderful vegan recipes
Vaishali says
January 18, 2017 atHi Komal, yes, the cooked chana dal with the other ingredients it was cooked with. Don’t let the dal turn mushy, and drain out any excess water because you don’t want a pasty mixture, but a powdery consistency.