KABABIAS of yore, and the legacy continues....

[manshah007]

For centuries invaders have ruled india, bringing along with them their culture, tradition, and also their cuisine. This infusion of cuisine brought new variety of food preparation KABAB OR KEBAB, the staple diet of north west region like persia,turkey & afganistan. Kabab was made in different styles, the simplest being meat skewered on iron rods and cooked over fire. These kababs were favorite among the royal as well as commoners, the KABABIAS were cooks specialized in art of making different varieties of kababs. With the change of time the empires have vanished the emperors long gone, but the legacy of kababias is still kept alive by descendents of kababias of yore. The art of kabab making still flourish in mughal ruled areas of north & south india. Today every nook & corner shop to five star hotels selling these goodies. Few years back in Gulbarga karnataka & Sholapur i came across kabias who cooked kakabs for you with their own masala(marinade) on labor basis you have to provide the meat of your choice, within minutes they roast the meat to perfection . These kababias operate from their homes or have shops set up next to beef or Mutton markets. Their cooking equipment consists of simple bar-b-que made of parallel lined bricks in which coal is burnt, skewers of different thickness, containers of masalas and a large tray for mixing masala into meat. Fare is very basic & limited, pasanda kabab, sheekh kabab & kofta kabab. Apart from their own marinade you have the liberty to add in spices (garam masala) of your choice. Charges of cooking are on per KG basis and are very nominal. For genaration they have been dishing out kababs and are experts in this field. These kababias are patornised by rich & poor alike. Recipe of these kababs i will post in GAME RECIPE under the title GOSHT GULBARGA. I relate this article to out door activity section as most of our IFG members are into adventure sports, and i feel roasted meat is integral part of out door parties. PLEASE do comment if any of you have information about the existence of these kababias with a special request to ifgian from hyderabad & other parts of andhra pardesh.

[xl_target]

PLEASE do comment if any of you have information about the existence of these kababias with a special request to ifgian from hyderabad & other parts of andhra pardesh.

Conty1 makes some pretty decent ones.
Sorry,however, he doesn't live in AP.

manshah007, I'm just teasing you and since I'm not really adding to the content of this thread, one of those mean mods will come along and ban me anytime now.
Still, the reason that I posted is that those photos of kababs are making me very hungry.

[Vikram]

Mansha007,

Excellent post and an interesting tidbit. I am quite familiar with Hyderabad, but I did not come across these chaps. May be some deep pockets in the Old City. There are many small and big kabab outlets though. Missing Hyderabad right now.

Best-
Vikram

[manshah007]

THANK YOU! Vikram sir, for encouragement. This peculiar arrangement of present generation of kababias, gives the customers the freedom to choose & pick the quality of meat & choice of beef, mutton or chicken. Whereas buying ready made kababs from any average shop may put a big question mark on customers mind regarding the quality of meat used. Fact that these professional kababias art have survived for centuries is proof in itself that there is some substance in it, as we are all well aware that for an art to survive there has to be demand & appreciation of the art. As far as hyderabad is concerned iam not aware of such places there but i will do some research on this subject and post the results.

[prashantsingh]

Fare is very basic & limited, pasanda kabab, sheekh kabab & kofta kabab.

Mouth watering post.
Reminds me of Lucknow and the Awadhi cuisine.
Amongst the many varieties of Kababs you also have the

"Galawati Kabab" which is supposed to melt in the mouth.

"Kakori Kabab" (remember the place near lucknow where Chandrashekhar Azad planned the famous train robbery)

"Hariali Kaba"
and
"Tunda" Kabab .

[manshah007]

Thank you all for encouragement, as of now, original methods which were meant to satisfy basic need of survival has been refined in the kitchens of the rich & famous which consists of addition of yogurt, cream, spices,and other expensive condiments to cater to needs of kings and nawabs. Kakori kabab is improvised version of sheekh kabab, it is said that when a famous nawab lost all his teeth due to over indulgence in paan, but his love for kababs, he ordered his kababiya to make kabab that will melt in mouth and KAKORI KABAB was in invented. Most kababs that are available today are fusion of basic methods of invaders of northwest regions and combination of indian masalas.

[pankajbanjara]

THE KABABIAS OF SOLAPUR ,, few years back i had an oppurtunity to try the nonveg treat at solapur where i came across a very unique system of kababias ,,almost all the shops who sell mutton or chicken in the painter chowk locality which is famous as the kababia street of solapur are muslim guys & all the traditional cooks who have set up their shop besides the mutton vendor are hindus,, these guys have been doing businesss in this manner since ages & in total harmony ,, u buy your mutton from the butchers shop , go next door to the cook instruct him how much of the mutton you want as kababs & how much as gravy , have ur drinks till he cooks up everything for you ,enjoy the spicy food along with SOLAPURI BHAKRI ,, very neat,, & taste is something one wont forget for years ,, only hitch is the place lacks cleanliness ,, only if you can overlook that ur welcome to painter chowk , IT IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF HINDU MUSLIM CO-EXISTENCE

[pankajbanjara]

http://s1336.photobucket.com/upload

[Vikram]

http://s1336.photobucket.com/upload

Hi Pankaj,

Thanks for your post. Would love to see the photo that you tried to post.Would you mind reposting it?Thanks.


Best-
Vikram

[Moin.]

Ooh Mama. This post is making me so hungry.. lolzzz. You are a devil manshah tempting us witj kebabs like satan with wn apple to eve. haha hahha.

Thanks for the wonderful post.

Regards
Moin.

[Sakobav]

I never knew about Gulbarga delicacies lived around that area interesting

best

[manshah007]

Thankyou Ngerwal, pankajbanjara&moin. As Pankajbanjara sir is aware & has been to sholapur adda, iam giving you the precise address of the place, its BIJAPUR BASE locality in sholapur ask anyone quite famous for these kababs. I have clicked a few photographs of butcher shops there along with the kababiyas in action and yes they do make Mutton curry also, so if you like curry along with kababs give them the required mutton or chicken and within half an hour enjoy hot & spicy kababs & curry along with jawar bhakri, which is readily available with them. In sholapur its basically mutton or chicken no beef. In Gulbarga apart from other places SHAH BAZAR is one locality i know of. Here it is mostly beef, one factor i presume that has kept this art alive is love of locals for sharab & kabab (madi) local brew fermented from sap of a variety of palm.

[conty1]

Heated up the Tandoor last weekend, now that the weather has warmed up enough here in the Chicagoland.

And talkin of kabobs, heres a pic of yours truly cooking some Sheek Kabobs!!

Cheers,
Amit