My dad has six brothers and three sisters who all live in America. We used to visit them often whenever we were off from school and my mom always made sure she packed a tosha in a tiffin (basically a lunchbox). This is one of my fondest memories from my childhood. Nothing tasted as good as eating shami mixed with some rice and tamata ki chutney in a paper plate on a picnic bench at a rest stop. Mmmmm. I myself don’t do that for my family on road trips (ain’t nobody got time for that), but I do make shami when the craving hits!
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My mom would be in the kitchen for hours whenever she made shamis. I never understood why until I started to make them myself. It’s a long process, but in the end, it’s worth it. I made a bunch of shamis and froze them in preparation for Ramadan. It’s a lot of effort, but in the long run, makes life so much easier! All you have to do is take them out of the freezer and fry them! You can eat them with rice and khatti daal or tamata ki chutney. You can also make a bun kabab sandwich with some green chutney, onion, and a tomato.
For best results, shape the patties and place them on a cookie sheet. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer. Once the patties are frozen, place them in a freezer safe container.
- 2 lb. boneless beef/lamb/goat
- 2 tsp. oil
- 2 onions, chopped
- 1 tsp. shahzeera
- 2 tsp. salt
- 2 tbsp. ginger garlic paste
- Handful of mint leaves, chopped
- 2-5 green chili's, chopped
- ¼ tsp. turmeric
- 1-3 tsp. red chili powder
- 1 cup chana daal, soaked for a half hour
- 1 tsp garam masala powder
- Handful of coriander leaves, chopped
- Juice of one small lemon
- Heat oil in a pressure cooker or pot.
- Add shahzeera and onions. Fry the onions until slightly brown.
- Then add ginger garlic paste, mint, green chili's, and your meat.
- Cook for a few minutes until meat is browned. Then add the turmeric, red chili powder, and chana daal. Add water to just cover the meat. Cook until meat is done, daal is soft, and there is little moisture left.
- Add the garam masala powder, coriander leaves, and lemon juice. Cook for a few minutes until moisture is all gone.
- Once the meat mixture has cooled a little, throw it in the food processor. Blend until smooth. You don't want to add any water because when you fry them, they might break apart.
- Shape the sham's into your desired shape. Some people make circles and some do oblong pieces.
- If you plan on freezing them, place patties on a cookie sheet. Stick them in the freezer until they are hard. Once they are hard, you can place them in a container or ziplock bag. Make sure you put a wax paper in between the layers of shami so they don't stick to each other.
- When you are ready to fry, shallow fry the shami in oil until they are dark brown on each side.
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