Mashawa / Maschaua Kebaps

Years ago, I had this delicious Mashawa soup for the first time at an Afghani restaurant and immensely enjoyed it - the rich flavours and the spicy taste of the soup immediately struck a chord in my heart. Since then, it has become one of my favourites when eating out - and is not only yummy, but a pretty rich source of protein as well - which is important for vegetarians.

I wanted to try out this soup at home for a long long time and bought this packet of mixed beans and lentils thinking I would make it finally. 

I washed the beans, soaked them overnight, and went off to bed. The next day, I continued with the process, pressure cooked the beans and as I was simultaneously doing other stuff, for some strange reason, drained the water completely and left the cooked beans in the sieve. A couple of hours later, I stepped back into the kitchen coz I was starving...saw the beans and was amazed at my own forgetfulness. 

Well, the result was that the beans were all dried up. So, I thought, why not make something else with them? Thus was born this recipe - thanks to my forgetfulness! We had these kebaps with a yogurt dip - and they turned out to be at least as good as the soup, even though a bit different and slightly drier than they would ideally be.

As they say...necessity is the mother of invention!

Ingredients

3/4 cup - assorted beans and lentils, soaked in some water overnight

1 medium size - onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp - dill, finely chopped

3 pods of garlic, finely chopped

1 tbsp - ginger, finely chopped

1 - green chilli, finely chopped (more or less)

1/2 tsp - garam masala powder

1 1/2 tsp - lemon juice (adjust according to your taste)

1 tbsp - olive oil +some more to pan fry the kebaps

red chilli powder (optional)
salt to taste

Method

1. Pressure cook the beans for 3-4 whistles/rings, drain the water and leave in the sieve for a couple of hours.
2. Heat 1 tbsp of oilve oil in a pan, add the onions, garlic, ginger and saute until the onions are soft. Add the cooked beans and mash them slightly. Add salt and cook again for a couple of minutes.
3.  Add the lemon juice, garam masala powder and chopped dill and mix well.
4. Remove from the heat. Shape the beans into a long cylinder and insert a skewer inside.
5. Sprinkle a little olive oil on the pan and cook the kebaps until golden brown from all sides.
6. Serve hot with any dip of your choice.

Enjoy!