Spiced minced beef, goat, or chicken pressed onto skewers or hand-shaped and grilled, kept alive by the Muslim descendants of 19th-century Indian indentured laborers in Trinidad and Guyana, especially at Eid and Hosay gatherings and in roti shops. It is the South Asian seekh kebab carried across the ocean and reseasoned with Caribbean green seasoning and pepper.
Also known as: seekh kebab (Trinidad), Guyanese kebab, mince kebab, Eid kebabs, roti-shop kebab
Ingredients
- 600 g minced beef or goat
- 4 tbsp green seasoning (chadon beni, scallion, thyme and garlic, blended)
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 scotch bonnet, seeded and minced
- 1 small onion, grated and squeezed dry
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp fine breadcrumbs
- 4 paratha roti
- tamarind sauce, to serve
How to make it
- 1
Knead the mince with green seasoning, garam masala, scotch bonnet, onion, salt and breadcrumbs until it turns sticky enough to cling to a spoon held upside down.
- 2
Rest the mixture 1 hour in the fridge so the seasoning blooms and the fat firms.
- 3
Press handfuls along flat skewers into 15 cm fingers, sealing the ends with a squeeze.
- 4
Grill or broil 8-10 minutes, rotating a third at a time once each face releases from the grate on its own.
- 5
Slide the kebabs into warm paratha with a drizzle of tamarind sauce.
Pro tip: Chadon beni (culantro), not cilantro, is the backbone of the green seasoning — it survives the fire where cilantro fades.
The story of Indo-Caribbean kebab
In Trinidad and Guyana, kebab means spiced minced beef, goat or chicken pressed onto skewers or hand-shaped and grilled, kept alive by the Muslim descendants of nineteenth-century Indian indentured labourers. It appears at Eid and Hosay gatherings and in roti shops.
It is the South Asian seekh kebab carried across an ocean and reseasoned. What changed is the aromatics: Caribbean green seasoning — a blend of culantro, thyme, scallion, garlic and pepper that is the base of nearly all Trinidadian cooking — replaced or joined the North Indian spice profile, and Scotch bonnet replaced Kashmiri chilli.
The technique that defines it
Green seasoning is used as a wet base rather than as a finishing herb, blended and worked into the mince along with the dry spices. Because it carries a lot of moisture, it has to be balanced — either reduced first, or offset with breadcrumb or gram flour, or the mixture will not hold the skewer.
Otherwise the technique is the seekh one: knead until tacky, chill, shape onto flat skewers or by hand into fingers, and grill fast over charcoal. Many households cook them on a tawa or in the oven rather than over coals, which is a practical adaptation rather than a compromise.
Choosing your ingredients
Minced beef, goat or chicken at around 20 percent fat. Green seasoning — culantro (chadon beni), thyme, scallion, garlic, onion, and pimento peppers, blended. Scotch bonnet for heat, used carefully.
Geera (toasted ground cumin) is the essential Trinidadian spice and is used more heavily than in Indian cooking. Garam masala or a local curry-adjacent blend behind it. Roti or bread to serve, and a pepper sauce and tamarind chutney alongside.
Mistakes that ruin it
Too much wet green seasoning
It carries moisture and stops the mixture binding. Reduce it or balance it with a dry binder.
Untoasted cumin
Geera in Trinidad is toasted before grinding, and it tastes entirely different. Toast it.
Over-doing the Scotch bonnet
It is much hotter than the chillies the seekh tradition uses. A little goes a long way.
Skipping the chill before shaping
As with every minced kebab, the mixture must be cold to hold its shape.
How it is served
With roti or bread, pepper sauce, tamarind chutney and a cucumber salad, at Eid, at Hosay, or from a roti shop. Sorrel or a soft drink. It is community and festival food and is made in quantity when it is made at all.
Questions about Indo-Caribbean kebab
What is green seasoning?
A Trinidadian blended herb base of culantro (chadon beni), thyme, scallion, garlic, onion and pimento peppers, used as the foundation of most savoury cooking.
What is geera?
Toasted ground cumin, used more heavily in Trinidadian cooking than in Indian, and one of the markers of the local style.
How did kebab reach Trinidad and Guyana?
With nineteenth-century Indian indentured labourers. Their Muslim descendants kept the seekh kebab tradition, reseasoned with Caribbean ingredients.
Why does my mixture not hold together?
Green seasoning carries a lot of moisture. Reduce it first or add a dry binder, and chill the mixture before shaping.
