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Shami Kebab (Beef and Lentil Patties)
Minced beef simmered with split chickpeas and whole spices until dry, ground smooth with mint, coriander and green chilli, then shaped into small patties, dipped in egg and shallow-fried golden.
Pakistani · medium · serves 7
prep 30 min · cook 60 min · plus 2 h hands-off time
~398 cal · 25g protein · 15g carbs · 26g fat · 3g fiber · 3g sugars · 7g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Shami kebabs are small, soft, shallow-fried patties of meat and lentils, and in Pakistan they turn up at almost every kind of gathering: as an appetizer at a dawat, the formal dinner for guests, on the Eid table, at iftar during Ramadan, and in children's lunchboxes. Many families keep a stash of them in the freezer, ready to fry when guests arrive unannounced.
The dish is usually traced to the kitchens of Lucknow under the Mughals, and it is now common to Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi cooking. A well-known story, repeated by Rick Stein, has it invented for a toothless Nawab who needed a kebab that could be eaten without chewing; it is more legend than history, but it explains the texture.
Meat and chana dal, split chickpeas, are simmered together with onion, garlic, ginger and whole spices until every drop of liquid has cooked off, then ground to a fine, fibrous paste with fresh mint, coriander and green chilli and bound with a little egg. The patties are dipped in beaten egg and fried until they have a thin golden crust. They are served hot with sliced raw onion, lemon wedges and green chutney, and just as often with a cup of chai.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 7
- 500 g beef mince (or boneless beef, cubed)
- 2/3 cup (130 g) chana dal (split chickpeas), rinsed and soaked 1 hour
- 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
- 6 garlic cloves
- 3 cm piece fresh ginger, sliced
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- 3 green pods
- 4 cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp dried red chilli flakes
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 cups (720 ml) water
- 1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves
- 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
- 2 green chillies
- 1 egg (for binding)
- 2 eggs, beaten (for coating)
- 1/2 cup , for shallow-frying
- as needed raw onion rings, lemon wedges and green chutney, to serve
Instructions
- 1Put the beef, drained chana dal, onion, garlic, ginger, whole spices, bay leaf, chilli flakes and 1 tsp of the salt in a heavy pot with the water. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 50 to 60 minutes, until the meat and dal are completely tender.
- 2Uncover, turn the heat up to medium and cook, stirring often, for 15 to 20 minutes, until all the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is dry. Pick out the cinnamon, cardamom pods and bay leaf, and let it cool.✎ Chef’s noteThe mixture must be really dry. Any leftover moisture makes soft kebabs that fall apart in the pan.
- 3Grind the cooled mixture in a food processor with the coriander, mint, green chillies and remaining salt to a fine, smooth paste. Add the egg and pulse to bind. Chill the mixture for at least 1 hour, which makes it far easier to shape.
- 4With damp hands, shape into 14 small round patties about 1.5 cm thick.
- 5Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Dip each patty in beaten egg and fry, a few at a time, for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until golden. Drain on paper towels.✎ Chef’s noteLet the excess egg drip off first, so the coating fries into a thin, lacy crust rather than a thick omelette.
- 6Serve hot with onion rings, lemon wedges and green chutney.✎ Chef’s noteUncooked patties freeze well on a tray; fry them straight from frozen, a minute or two longer per side.
Pakistani home and dawat tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Lahore (Punjab). A good deal of what Lahore now eats arrived in 1947. Kashmiri families displaced from Amritsar settled around Gawalmandi and opened shops in the front rooms of their houses, bringing gram-flour battered fried fish, hareesa and Amritsari sweets that the old city has long since claimed as its own.
🗺️
Pakistan. Partition rewrote Pakistani menus. Muhajir families arriving from northern India after 1947 brought their own biryani, which is why Karachi's version is its own thing, heavier on potato, tomato and sourness than the Sindhi or Lahori styles. The tandoor remains a neighbourhood facility as much as a kitchen fixture, with dough carried to it and bread carried back.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Pakistan
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Chapli KababFlat, spiced minced-beef patties studded with tomato and pomegranate, shallow-fried crisp, a Khyber specialty.
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Good to know
You’ll need: Skillet or frying pan, Pot or saucepan, Blender, Food processor.
Storing it: Best straight off the heat. Leftovers keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated and reheat well in a hot oven rather than the microwave.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Shami Kebab (Beef and Lentil Patties)?
Minced beef simmered with split chickpeas and whole spices until dry, ground smooth with mint, coriander and green chilli, then shaped into small patties, dipped in egg and shallow-fried golden.
Where does Shami Kebab (Beef and Lentil Patties) come from?
Shami Kebab (Beef and Lentil Patties) is a Pakistani dish from Lahore (Punjab), Pakistan.
Can Shami Kebab (Beef and Lentil Patties) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Shami Kebab (Beef and Lentil Patties) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Shami Kebab (Beef and Lentil Patties) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Shami Kebab (Beef and Lentil Patties) take to make?
About 3 h 30 min in all: 30 minutes prep and 60 minutes cooking, plus 2 h of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 7.
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