Afghani/Pakistani Chapli Kabab

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Easy Pakistani Chapli Kabab (Beef Kebab)

Published: Jun 20, 2023 · By Qashang · This post may contain affiliate links.

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Chapli Kabab is a Pakistani spicy meat patty made with ground beef, dried pomegranate seeds, onions, tomatoes and freshly ground spices. Charred on the outside, juicy from the inside it pairs wonderfully with some vibrant green chutney and naan. This easy recipe will give you the perfect balance of smoky, spicy and savoury flavours!

Chapli Kabab in a platter garnished with onion rings, lemon wedges and cucumber slices with a bowl of salad and raita at the back.

Table of Content

What Is Chapli Kabab

Chapli Kabab is a popular street food from Peshawar (a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan) and Afghanistan. The name Chapli refers to its flat shape, resembling a sandal, as ‘chapal’ means sandal in Urdu. Some also say that Chapli is the derivation of the Pashto word Chaprikh which means ‘flat and thin’.

It is a succulent, flattened meat patty made primarily from minced meat, typically beef. The unique flavour comes from dried pomegranate seeds, whole coriander and cornmeal.

The Peshawari kabab are seasoned with a variety of freshly roasted and ground spices, such as cumin, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. To enhance the taste and texture, we also add finely chop onions, fresh coriander, tomatoes, green chilies, and ginger.

Chapli kabab on a bed of lettuce, sliced cucumber and red onion rings.

The mixture is shaped into round patties and shallow-fried until the kababs turn golden brown and develop a crusty exterior. These beef kebabs are incredibly juicy and tender while bursting with robust flavours in each bite.

Chapli kababs are an ultimate fave at my house, especially because they are so versatile. I love savouring them all alone!

You can also pair them with garlic naan, add inside a pita, present alongside kabuli rice or make a delicious beef burger. Serve some pickled onions or kachumber salad and some cilantro mint chutney on the side to further elevate your experience! 

Like all my recipes, I have tried my best to keep the hassle of making this dish to a minimum while getting the most authentic taste. And if your kababs are prone to breaking then keep reading on how to get the best chapli kabab ever!

Ingredients & Substitutions

Ingredients for making chapli kabab.
  • Meat – the traditional chapli kabab is made with ground beef. I recommend going for 20% fat for the most authentic taste. But in all honesty, I have tried this same recipe with lean beef and veal as well and it still tastes great. You can use minced chicken, lamb and mutton too.
  • Cornmeal – also called makai ka atta, maize flour and cornflour in the US, it is a yellow flour made from dried corn. It has a very distinctive taste. You can use finely or coarsely ground cornmeal in this chapli kabab recipe. This helps enhance the taste and texture of these kababs and I prefer adding this over gram flour (aka besan) which is its next alternative. Some people also use wheat flour, but I feel it changes the flavour. You can toast the cornmeal to amplify its nutty taste.
  • Tomato – use Roma tomatoes, they tend to have less seeds. But I use whatever I have at hand, be it vine tomatoes or beefsteak tomatoes. Dice them and make sure you discard excess water.
  • Onion – I love the sharp, pungent taste of red onions which I think boosts the flavour of these beef kababs. You can replace with yellow onion too. Make sure you squeeze any excess water before adding them to the mixture.
  • Ginger & Garlic – always use fresh ginger and garlic. The jarred ready-made ginger garlic paste has zero flavour. 
  • Coriander (cilantro) – adds freshness to these Peshawari kababs.
  • Green Chilies – use whichever kind you have at hand or like the intensity of e.g. Thai bird’s eye chili, Serrano or Cayenne.
  • Seasonings – freshly ground, roasted whole spices are the key to the flavour. So please do no skimp on this step.
    Whole cumin, coriander, carom (ajwain) and whole black pepper are toasted in a hot pan and then coarsely grinded in a food processor.
    Dried pomegranate seeds are also a very essential component of chapli kabab. You can use them whole or coarsely grind them, since some people do not like the feeling of hard seeds in their mouth.
    The mixture is further seasoned with salt, crushed red pepper (red chili flakes) and garam masala powder.
  • Egg – helps bind the mixture. If you are using lean beef or veal, add half an egg more.
  • Oil – use a neutral cooking oil like rapeseed, canola, sunflower etc for shallow frying. Traditionally, these kababs are fried in tallow fat.

How To Make Pakistani Chapli Kabab

Now, let’s see how these delicious beef kababs are made:

Instructions for making chapli kabab from step 1 to 4.
  1. In a heated pan, toast the ground spices till they are fragrant. 
  2. Transfer them to a spice grinder and blend till roughly crushed but they shouldn’t be fine like a powder.
  3. Add these ground seasoning to the minced beef in a large mixing bowl, along with the rest of the ingredients, except egg, tomato and onions. 
  4. Mix well till the batter is homogenous. Rest for 30 minutes or even overnight to develop the flavours.
Instructions for making chapli kabab from step 5 to 8.
  1. Now add in the onion, tomato and egg. Make sure you squeeze/discard any excess water in the onion and tomatoes. Mix well once again.
  2. Grease your hands and make palm-sized flat kababs. Press with your four fingers to spread the patty around and keep the edges uneven. 
  3. Shallow fry in hot oil on medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes each side. Remove on a plate as soon as they are charred.
  4. Serve these chapli kabab hot with mint raita and naan!
A chapli kabab broken into two on a blue plate.

Expert Tips

  • Fry chapli kabab on medium-high heat for a couple of minutes only, so that they retain their juiciness. Since they are considerably thin, they do cook quite fast. 
  • If you are using lean meat, I suggest adding a tad more egg and some melted butter to compensate for the lack of fat.
  • Grease your hands before forming patties. This will prevent the batter from sticking to your palms.
  • Chapli kababs are shallow fried so make sure the bottom of the pan is covered sufficiently in oil. This also makes them tender and gives that distinct browning.
Chapli kabab platter with green chutney raita.
  • Traditionally these chapli kabab are double the size of the palm. Street vendors form the kababs on their pan directly by smashing with their fingers. You can achieve a similar result by forming the kabab on a piece of baking paper and then transferring onto the pan. Be more cautious because bigger the kabab, the more fragile it can be.

How To Prevent Chapli Kabab From Breaking

The major reason why kababs can break are because of excess moisture. Here are a few ways on how you can avoid this:

  1. Knead the kabab batter with your hands for a couple of minutes to create lace and make everything homogenous. The mixture shouldn’t be crumbly or your kababs will fall apart while cooking.
  2. Add the onion, tomatoes and egg just before frying, especially if you are leaving your raw chapli kabab mixture overnight. Or they’ll release their juices. And make sure you squeeze/discard any excess water from onion and tomatoes.
  3. I highly recommend not to wash the meat. Not only does this spread the bacteria by cross-contamination but it also adds excess moisture and your kababs are more prone to breaking. If you still wash it, then make sure to drain all excess liquid.
  4. You can also add an extra tablespoon cornmeal to bind the mince mixture if you feel it’s somewhat wet.
  5. Let one side cook completely before turning and don’t move the chapli kabab around.
  6. Flip carefully with a wide spatula and hold with another smaller one on top to prevent slipping.
  7. Despite everything, if your chapli kababs are still breaking, I suggest making them a little sturdier. Not as thin and a tad bit smaller. The bigger and thinner they are, the more easily they will fall apart while handling.

Serving Ideas

You can enjoy these chapli kababs for a protein-rich quick lunch, as a dinner side, main course, or serve them as party food. Some of my serving suggestions are:

Chapli kabab on a piece of naan dressed with salad and green raita.

Variations

  1. Some recipes use scrambled egg in the raw beef mixture. Depending on my mood, I sometimes add it as well.
  2. You can also skip the tomatoes, if your kababs keep breaking and place a thin slice of tomato on top of the patty before frying. Many Afghan restaurants make chapli kabab this way too.

Freezing & Storage

This beef chapli kabab recipe is very freezer-friendly. You can freeze these kababs in both raw or cooked forms.

  • Option 1: Form patties and lay it in a single layer on a tray. Flash freeze for a few hours and then transfer to a ziplock bag. If you are going for this method then I suggest you omit the tomatoes or they will release their juices. I also recommend to make your kababs smaller and thicker as freezing will add more moisture to them. When serving, defrost them slightly and then cook like normal.
  • Option 2: Cook these kababs according to the instructions, cool them and then transfer to a ziplock bag. You can freeze them for 1-2 months. If they are cooked, then you simply need to warm them in a microwave or an air fryer. I find option 2 is more fool-proof and convenient.

These Pakistani chapli kabab, in their cooked form, also last for 3-4 days in the fridge in an airtight container.

A couple of chapli kababs placed on blue plate.

FAQs

1. Why are my chapli kabab breaking?

Excess moisture in onions, tomatoes, or wet mixture meat causes Chapli Kababs to break. So make sure your batter is dry of any extra liquid. Check out my 7 tips above that will help you avoid this problem.

Can I use ground chicken instead of beef?

Yes absolutely! You can use any other ground meat like chicken, lamb, mutton or veal. Be mindful of the cooking times, because it will vary then.

Can I reduce the fat content in this recipe?

If you don’t care for the most authentic flavour and just want a similar taste, you can definitely use lean meat and pan-fry in a tablespoon or two of oil. 

Video

More Kabab Recipes To Try

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📖 Recipe

Chapli kabab on a plate with onion rings, lemon wedges, sliced cucumber and lettuce.

Easy Pakistani Chapli Kabab (Beef Kebab)

Spicy and juicy Pakistani ground beef patty seasoned with dried pomegranate seeds, onions, tomatoes and freshly ground spices. This easy recipe will give you the perfect balance of flavours!

5 from 4 votes

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Prep Time: 30minutes mins

Cook Time: 10minutes mins

Total Time: 40minutes mins

 Servings: –+ kababs

 Author: Qashang

Ingredients 

  • 1 ½ tablespoon cumin seeds
  • 2 tablespoon coriander seeds
  • ½ teaspoon carom seeds
  • ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 2 tablespoon dried pomegranate seeds
  • 500 g (1.1 lb) ground beef preferably with 20% fat
  • 2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ tablespoon cornmeal cornflour (US), maize flour (UK), substitute with gram flour
  • 2 tablespoon fresh coriander finely chopped
  • 2-3 cloves garlic minced
  • 4 cm (~1.5″) piece of ginger minced
  • 2-3 green chilies finely chopped
  • 1 small (~90g) tomato diced
  • 1 small (~100g) red onion finely diced and excess juices squeezed
  • 1 egg
  • ⅓ cooking oil for frying

Cook Mode

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Instructions

  • Heat a small pan and add cumin, coriander, carom, and black peppercorns. Toast for 2-3 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the ground spices release their aroma.
  • Transfer the spices to a spice grinder or a mini blender (a mortar and pestle will work too) along with dried pomegranate seeds. Blend 2-3 times until roughly crushed. Do not turn them into a fine powder.
  • Add the coarse spice mix to the ground beef, along with the rest of the seasonings, corn meal, fresh coriander, ginger, garlic, and green chilies. Mix well with gloved hands for a couple of minutes until the mixture is homogenous. It should be slightly sticky at this point and not crumbly. Cover and put aside in the fridge for 30 minutes (you can also keep overnight). This step enhances the flavors.
  • Add the tomatoes, red onion, and egg. Mix well until everything is equally distributed.
  • Heat oil in a skillet or frying pan. While it heats, grease your hands and make flat patties of around 9 cm (3 ½”) diameter (you can also make them bigger than this). Don’t round off the edges as the unevenness gives it that characteristic look. This mixture makes around 9-10 kababs.
  • On medium-high heat, in a single layer, add the patties to the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes and then flip carefully. Press lightly with a spatula to char the edges. Cook again for another 3-4 minutes until brown and crispy from the edges. Don’t overcook since we want the chapli kabab to be tender and juicy from the inside.
  • Shake off excess oil and transfer the kababs to a plate.
  • Garnish with fresh coriander and serve hot with green chutney and naan!

Notes

  • Traditionally these chapli kabab are double the size of the palm. Street vendors form the kababs on their pan directly by smashing with their fingers. You can achieve a similar result by forming the kabab on a piece of baking paper and then transferring onto the pan. Be more cautious while handling because the kabab will be more fragile.
  • Kababs break when they have extra moisture in them, to troubleshoot that see my tips on How To Prevent Chapli Kababs From Breaking.
  • You can substitute beef with ground chicken, lamb, mutton or veal and even use lean meat. If you are using lean meat add some more egg to compensate for the lack of fat. Cooking time may vary with the type of meat

Nutrition

Serving: 1kabab | Calories: 193kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 52mg | Sodium: 370mg | Potassium: 230mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 236IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 2mg

Did you make this recipe?Please leave a star rating and a review in the comments. You can also tag @chilitochoc on Instagram. I love hearing your feedback!

This recipe was originally published on March 25, 2019, and has been updated with new pictures, video and helpful details on June 20, 2023.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jawad saysSeptember 11, 2023 at 7:55 pm5 starsI like the taste very much.👍Reply
  2. Chili to Choc saysJune 17, 2020 at 9:34 amI have used beef here (edited the post too) but you can use chicken as well.Reply
  3. Alia saysJune 16, 2020 at 10:44 pmAssalamu alaikum! Is this recipe with minced chicken or beef? Jazakullah khairReply

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Hi, I am Qashang! I share fuss-free recipes from around the world that are rich in flavour and made with easily available ingredients.

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