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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

"Appetizers"- Baked Chicken Kheema Balls ( Minced Chicken balls)


One of my favorite non veg dishes, back in India,was 'Kheema' .There, we could mostly get 'mutton' kheema.Chicken kheema wasn't so popular or not so much readily available.My mom made number of tasty dishes from kheema....she made kheema curry, kheema pattice (potatoes stuffed with spiced kheema), Kheema pav (bread stuffed  with kheema).I remember how much I liked those....and wished we could have them everyday!
Another thing about kheema is....it is very versatile.You can use it in number of ways.Like I mentioned before, in curries or as stuffing for appetizers or parathas.Couple years ago when I visited a friend in NJ,she had made some kind of kabobs...she had coated boiled eggs with kheema and then fried those.
In Kolhapur (city in Maharashtra,India),they make 'Goli Pulav' i.e Spicy rice with kheema balls.Kind of like Biryani,but they cook the kheema balls along with rice.I haven't made it myself, but want to give it try some time.
Over the weekend..... when I was thinking about what to make for my friends (who were visiting us for the weekend)....I thought of making something out of kheema ....for appetizers. First I thought about making kabobs.....but ran out of colorfull veggies to put on the skewers along with the kabobs. Did not want to bother 'M' with another trip to the grocery store.So just made these spicy kheema balls and layed them on bed of fried onions and fresh green onions levaes for garnishing.They turned out very delicious and tempting and the smell when they baked in the oven  was..just heavenly...we could hardly wait to pop these in our mouth!

Ingredients:
1lb minced chicken/kheema
1 medium onion chopped finely
2tsp mint paste
1tsp ginger garlic paste
1tbsp chopped cilantro
1/2tsp chicken curry masala
1/2tsp garam masala
1/2tsp chili powder
1/4tsp turmeric
1/2tsp cumin-corainader powder
1/4tsp black pepper
1/4 cup Bread crumbs
1 egg
salt to taste
oil to brush hands

For garnishing:
2 medium onion sliced and fried in oil for 2-3 mins.Just till they loose their raw onion flavor but retain their crunch.
Chopped green onion leaves.

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 350F.
2)Gently mix together all the above ingredients.Do not over mix....otherwise the kheema balls come out tougher and chewy.Just mix till everything is combined well.
3) Brush  hands with oil
3) Take small amount of kheema mixture and roll into balls
4) Place onto baking sheet lined with aluminum foil
5) Bake for 30-35 mins till cooked through
6) Broil for 2 mins to get nice golden brown color on top.
7) To serve- place on bed of fried onions and sprinkle green onion leaves.

Variations:
1) Place the balls on skewer sticks/ toothpicks along with other veggies like cherry tomatoes,green/red peppers, onions etc

Note:
I am sending this recipe as entry for "Think Spice: Think Turmeric" event hosted by http://bengalicuisine.net/

9 comments:

  1. Hey, it doesn't look like it came from the oven.
    Why didn't you oven roast the onions in the same baking sheet along with the keema's?

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  2. Brushing oil on your hands when rolling the kheema,gives it that 'shiny' fried appearance.
    I did not put the onions on the baking sheet,because they get 'limp' when cooked so long with the kheema.I wanted them to retain 'crunch' but without that raw onion flavor.

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  3. Awesome....the photo is also too good!
    Where did you get minced chicken?

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  4. It was awesome...deepti...I never tested such chicken apetizers .......thanks...it was truly awesome......

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  5. Thanks Abhijit! You should come over often...mag asech new dishes try karayala milel!
    Anjali...
    'Perdue' company cha minced chicken ....'ground turkey' vagare jithe asate (meat section)grocery store madhe..tithe milta.

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  6. Finally you sent something to a food event.....nice!

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  7. Yes Anjali...I have sent 3-4 entries to various events! Thanks to you!

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  8. I did these kheema balls, they came out really good. Thanks for such easy and healthy recipe.

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    Replies
    1. I am glad you liked them Dr Shilpa! Thanks for visiting TheSizzlingPan!

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