My first tryst with authentic kebabs happened on my trip to Lucknow. I was visiting the city with my school friends for an inter-school competition. While we used to be busy the entire day, prepping for the debates, it was during the evenings that we would take a stroll in the city and explore the streets of Lucknow. One fine evening, we stopped at a small shop that said, ‘Lucknow Ke Mashoor Kebabs’ and we ordered a plate of galouti kebabs. I’d heard that they were quite famous there and wanted to try them. The kebabs arrived on a bed of roomali roti, mint chutney and onion rings on the side.
One bite in and the succulent kebabs just melted in my mouth. Then when I came back to Delhi I kept praising and remembering the taste of those kebabs till I heard of the mutton burra. Burra or barrah kebabs, to my surprise, are one of the oldest kebabs in history. For the unversed, the beginnings of kebabs happened when Turkish and Arab soldiers started grilling meat on swords which served as skewers about 1000 years ago. The technique on cooking meat over wood-fire originated from there.
This technique then played a key role in the making of the burra kebabs. For those untouched by the phenomenon of kebabs, it is a piece of meat or vegetables that is usually grilled and served as an appetizer. While the idea of kebab can be traced back to the Middle-East, the burra kebabs are believed to be a legacy of the Mughals. It is difficult to pinpoint at the exact origins of these succulent kebabs yet it is known that the mutton burra took inspiration from the meat that cooked and served on roads for travelers and traders.
The burra has travelled faraway lands today and reached the congested lanes of Chandni Chowk in Delhi too where it is served as a specialty. From Mughal courts of Akbar where Nur Jahan first tasted the dish to her immense love for burra when it became a common sight on the sarais she had gotten constructed, the journey to Chandni Chowk happened when Princess Jahanara’s kababchi opened up a shop in the area on her orders.
Mutton As Burra
The specialty of the burra kebabs lies as much in the spices as the method of cooking. The angeethi that was invented served as a precursor in giving birth to the burra kebabs of today. These 17th century delicacies are made with a chop of goat or lamb meat that are butchered with a specific technique and marinated with spices to be cooked over open fire.
There are three aspects to these kebabs here. One is the art of chopping or cutting the pieces of mutton. Here the selection of the meat was given the most importance, depending on the availability and the weather. The bone-y pieces are quite similar to raan and these are suitable for burra kebabs as they can bear the direct heat of the fire. Moving on, the second aspect was the use of certain spices. Unlike other kebabs and meat-based dishes which are spiked with several spicy curries, the mutton burra would extensively make use of salt. It was very important to master the spice blend in which the mutton would be marinated as this would lend the kebab its delicious taste.
The trade highway which was quite strategic for Arab travelers also served as a hot spot for a variety of spices that would spruce up the burra kebabs. Rock salt and sea salt were used proportionately to rub the meat pieces and cook them. This brings us to the third and final aspect of preparing burra kebabs. The chargrilled kebabs are a significant marker of the mutton burra. Directly cooked over angeethi, the knowledge of coal and wood mix is very essential here. Those who prepare these kebabs have to practice the technique for years to get it right. The ideal kebabs are those where the meat pieces come out tender yet smoky. The charcoal fire is the best way to achieve a crisp edge on the bones and with a soft and succulent meat when you dig in. This method of cooking can be thought of as the earliest forms of barbequing.
Today, barbeque is a popular way to cook meat and vegetables under the sky. However, this style of cooking has been known for long when burra kebabs first came into being. While the methods could have become more sophisticated over time, the core of the technique remains the same. The duration of the cooking the meat over fire could be easily controlled by the cook or kababchi as they were called back in the day.
