A Lahore street institution named for the cotton thread (dhaga) wound around each skewer to hold its ultra-soft, fat-rich minced beef together over the coals; the thread is snipped off just before serving. The mince is so tender it would slump off the seekh without the binding, marking it as an extreme refinement of the seekh kebab.
Also known as: dhaga kebab, dhaga kabab, dhage wale kebab, thread kebab, dhaaga kebab, lahori dhaga kebab
Watch it made
Ingredients
- 600 g beef or mutton mince, run twice through the grinder, with 20% fat
- 2 tbsp raw papaya paste (with skin)
- 1 tbsp fried-onion paste
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 1.5 tsp garam masala
- 0.5 tsp each nutmeg and green cardamom, ground
- 1 tbsp roasted gram flour
- 1.5 tsp salt
- butter for basting, plus cotton kitchen thread
- roghni naan and sliced onion, to serve
How to make it
- 1
Beat the double-ground mince with papaya, fried-onion and ginger-garlic pastes, all the spices, gram flour and salt until it is alarmingly soft and sticky; chill 2 hours.
- 2
With ghee-slicked hands, press the paste thinly along thick skewers, then wind cotton thread (the dhaga) in a spiral down each kebab to hold it.
- 3
Cook over gentle charcoal 8-10 minutes, turning constantly and basting with butter — the mix is too delicate for fierce heat.
- 4
When the surface sets and browns lightly, snip and unwind the thread while the kebab rests on its skewer.
- 5
Slide onto naan with onion rings; the kebab should threaten to collapse at a touch.
Pro tip: If the mixture holds its shape easily without thread, it is too firm — Lahori dhaga kebab is deliberately overtenderized to the edge of falling apart.
