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Journalism of Courage
Our correspondent learns that in old Delhi, it takes a lot of practice, skill, patience and some tehzeeb to make a perfect kebab
Having kebabs from a dingy stall is quite an antithesis to having it served by waiters at a snazzy eatery. But a street food puritan and a fervent kebabi that is kebab lover for you! would almost always be biased towards having a kebab from the roadside. And so I headed towards Kaley Baba Kabab Waley, a 50-year-old shop that sells beef galawat kebab and botis in Daryaganj, Old Delhi. This was my opportunity to get on the other side of the grill.
I surprised Mohammaded Naseem, the rotund shopkeeper clad in a grimy shirt and checkered lungi, when I announced that I will make the kebabs. I was equally surprised at the promptness with which he accepted my request8212;humbleness quite rare in snooty restaurants but found in abundance in the tehzeeb of Street India Inc. The shop was a tiny space that had a grill, a counter, a large bowl with 15 kilos of uncooked kebab, another large bowl with 10 kilos of uncooked botis and iron sticks. The first thing I learnt there is that the kebab paste is made in the kitchen and mixed with the meat at the butcher8217;s shop before it is brought to the stall where it is just grilled. And so I had to do 8220;only8221; the grilling part. Mohammed Shabbir8212;a lean, coy and bearded man 8212;was grilling the kebabs which consisted of minced beef mixed with, I was told, a paste of yellow chilli, kachri powder or galawat masala and garam masala.
A fact corroborated when I took charge, for I fumbled in the first step, which was to shape the kebab into an oblong chunk. I ended up mashing it. Still, I tried. And tried. And tried. The kebab refused to budge before the kebabi. 8220;It takes a week to learn the art and a year to perfect it,8221; remarked Naseem, who8217;s been in the business for five years.
8220;Never mind,8221; said Shabbir, handing me over a fresh stick through which he told me to slip four beef botis pieces of meat, with or without a bone, marinated with the same yellow chilli-kachri powder-garam masala paste. The task was simpler because the botis could be easily passed through the stick. While I was busy trying to get the kebabs grilled, I almost missed the crowd that had gathered to watch me battle the ashes and pieces of coal flying in my face from the grill.
When I was finished, I watched Naseem take the dark-brown botis and kebabs off the stick and drop them over a leaf. The meat had reverted to its original, shapeless form. Why did he do that and not put them inside a roomali roti roll, I asked.nbsp; 8220;That8217;s not the real way of serving galawat kebabs. In this shop, they are not called seekh kebabs, but gole ke kebabs,8221; he said with pride. He ordered me to take the thread out of the hot kebabs, which I did very cautiously.
After that, he served them with green chutney and onion rings. As I bit into one, I realised it8217;s best for a kebabi to just stick to eating kebabs.
