Hara Bhara Kabab are a low fat, delicious and nutritious appetizer cum snack prepared using spinach, potatoes, peas, spices and herbs. They are gluten-free, vegan option which is full of Indian flavors spinach potato patties make them highly addictive! These simple vegetarian Hara Bhara Kabab are wholesome, nutritious and bound to please the taste buds. Serve them in a cup of Indian chai, Coriander chutney, green chutney, mint chutney or any dip you like. In this post I will give you 3 simple ways to cook these hara bhara kabab using pan, oven and air fryer.
What are Hara Bhara Kabab
Hara Bhara Kabab are snack patties with loads of leafy green vegetables and vegetables such as spinach, coriander leaves, green peas, potatoes and spices, popular in North India. Hara bhara kabab is a name which translates into kababs made with greens. As the name suggests, these veg kababs are packed with ample amount of nutritious and healthy greens.
Hara bhara kabab are one of the common appetizer in the North Indian restaurants. These are super-duper yummy with a damn good smoky taste as these are cooked on a tandoor which is a kind of Clay oven.
Every restaurant does not offer the best Hara Bhara Kabab however. They are often very soggy, greasy, bland and simply pan fried a lot of the time.
Let's Talk About Recipe
My simple recipe will enable you to make your own best Hara Bhaara Kababs at home better than what may be served in many restaurants. They are a healthy and fast snack to energize you and you can bet even the pickiest child will love them.
How to make Hara Bhara Kabab
- Use Spinach around 120 grams, Wash them in a big pot at least 3 times thoroughly to make sure it is cleaned properly.
- Boil 300 grams potato until tender, Either by pressure cooker in 3 to 4 whistles or if boiling in pot make sure they are super tender.
- Pour 1 teaspoon oil into a pan. Fry 1/4 inch ginger (chopped) and 2-4 green chilies deseeded for 30 sec to make it less spicy. If you like more spicy then increase the quantity of chilies and use them with seeds.
- Add 1 cup green peas. Then saute in a medium high heat for 4 to 5 minutes till soft and tender. In case the peas are not tender, then you will need to cover and cook a bit longer. Peas will not be cooked longer as this no longer gets cooked seprately.
- Add spinach and saute on a medium high flame till the leaves wilt down. Make sure no water is present when you put the spinach in the pan or it will release excess moisture.
- Cool them until mixture reaches room temperature.
- Add all the sautéed ingredients into a grinder jar together with the half cup coriander leaves. Make sure that no water is present in the coriander leaves so as not to make the puree too wet.
- Blend the mixture to achieve a smooth paste.
Prepare Dough
- Mash the potatoes into the bowl. Pour over spinach peas puree. Ensure that the potatoes are cold.
- Add 3/4 tsp garam masala
- Add a half to three-quarters teaspoon of salt
- Add a pinch of chaat masala or 1 tbsp lemon juice.
- Add 2 tablespoon roasted gram flour (sattu or roasted besan). Also add ¼ cup of breadcrumbs for binding.
- Combine everything to get a non-sticky and quite firm dough. Otherwise kababs will become soft and mushy inside. In case the mixture is not stiff then add some more bread crumbs.
- Divide the dough into equal sized pieces around 10 in number. Roll them into balls. In case dough becomes sticky, grease your fingers. Put the ball of dough in your palm and press them into 2 1/2 to 3 inch kabab.
When the edges crack bind them. Place them in a plate. It is even possible to roll the patties in dry bread crumbs. Press and allow it to rest 5 to 7 minutes so that uniform coating can be achieved.
Make the Kabab
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet. Mix it. When the pan is hot put in the kababs. The kababs will stick to the pan in case the pan is not hot. You can also bake them in Airfryer or Oven(For Airfryer preheat it for 5 mins and then bake it 180 degree C for 20 mins flipping in between for even cooking , if this is not enough to have golden brown layer than bake in 2-5 mins more)
- Roast them until golden and crisp on the underside then turn them carefully and fry on the other side also. A hot fire produces reasonably brown but crunchy patties within a short period of time.
Serving Options:
- Hara bhara kabab are most delicious when taken fresh out of the pan as they are crispy. When cooled down they would lose the crispiness as they are not deep fried.
- They are also served at any time of the day with a Green chutney or a Pudina chutney.
- My kids love hara bhara kabab and they eat this in their burgers.
- It also makes a delicious chaat by sprinkling dates tamarind chutney, sev, onion and tomatoes on top.
Hara Bhara Kabab: Vegetarian Kabab's
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Rinse the plucked spinach and wash three times in water. Put them in a strainer to make sure that all the water is drained.
- Wash and cook potatoes in a pot or cooker till fork tender (not cooked up mushy). Cook for 3-4 whistles in pressure cooker.
- Peel potatoes and let it cool.
- Take 1 teaspoon oil in a pan and set aside. Fry ginger & green chilies for 30 seconds.
- Then put green peas and saute it 4-5 mins,let it cook .Cook it properly.
- Add spinach & saute on a medium high heat until palak gets cooked . The sauteing method however is the most excellent one with regard to the taste.
- Switch the stove off and cool all these. Put them in a small grinder/ blender with coriander leaves.
- Put them together in a smooth paste, without water.
- Mash the potatoes, ground green peas and spinach paste in a mixing bowl .
- Add salt, spices ( garam masala, chaat masala), dry ingredients( roasted gram flour and bread crumbs).
- Combine them all to a non-sticky dough. In case the dough becomes sticky, add some bread crumbs to dry it out. (Add bread crumbs only if dough is sticky)
- Divide the dough into equal pieces round about 10 pieces. Form them into balls. Press them into a patties or kabab shape. Put them aside.
- To pan fry: Place a skillet on the heat with 1 tablespoon of oil. When the pan gets hot, put the hara bhara kababs in the pan and pan fry them until they turn golden and crisp.
- To grill them in oven: Preheat the oven at 200 C for 15 mins and put the patties on greased tray. Coat the kababs with oil and fry them on both sides in 10 mins. Dial up or down the timings.
- To air fry: Oil them and put them in the basket. Air fry on each side at 180 C / 10 mins. Check after 10 mins and flip to the other side and air fry another 10 mins. Change the timings accordingly. In case your air fryer requires preheating, preheat it prior to air frying them.
- Serve hara bhara kabab with yogurt cilantro chutney, ketchup or green chutney.
Notes
- You may do without bread crumbs and roasted gram flour altogether and employ powdered poha only.
- You may also use roasted besan or sattu alternately.
- Otherwise, use only bread crumbs in case you do not want to use roasted gram flour and poha.
- In the recipe, potato may be substituted by sweet potatoes or raw banana.