VeganMoFo 02: Veggie Kebabs!

Today I had a very long day! And I finally managed to post now. But we had a really nice dinner! As most Fridays, we usually like some finger food for dinner. And tonight (well yesterday night!) I made some kebab skewers. These are inspired from a Mauritian vegetable batter cake where shredded vegetables are dipped in batter then deep fried. I wanted to avoid all this oil and decided to put the vegetables on skewers then bake them.

I first tried with metal skewers to wrap them on but they were a bit fiddly and the vegetables would not adhere to the skewer. So I tried with some bamboo ones and they came out perfect. It does require a bit of patience but after a few, you get the hang of them. These kebabs can be deep fried as well if you like. In which case, you might want to make a thicker batter with a thicker coating, so that they don’t disintegrate in the oil.

If you bake them, these kebab skewers are actually virtually fat-free apart from the grease on the baking tray! I did not use any oil anywhere else in the recipe. I just love tasty fat-free vegan food!

I made quite a big batch and kept some in the freezer before baking. So you may want to halve the recipe.

Veggie Kebab

Ingredients (About 20 kebab skewers)

1 large (250g) courgette (zucchini), cut thinly into julienne
3 carrots (300g), grated
¼ cabbage (200g), shredded
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cups soybeans (500g), boiled
4 – 6 potatoes (500g), boiled
4 – 5 green and red chilies, chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon plain flour
Salt to taste

Batter:

6 tablespoons plain flour
½ teaspoon turmeric
Water to make a thick-to-thin batter

About 20 bamboo skewers

Breadcrumbs for coating (I used one with herbs and garlic)
Soymilk for glazing

• Make batter by mixing all the batter ingredients together. Set aside.

• Peel and mash the boiled potatoes.
• Coarsely mash the soybeans.
• Squeeze out all juice from the grated carrots. (You can keep the juice for drinking. It’s delicious!)
• It’s important to really squeeze out maximum liquid from the vegetables otherwise the kebabs might break or disintegrate during baking or frying.
• In a non-stick pan, toss the shredded cabbage and courgette.
• Stir until the liquid starts coming out. Sprinkle with a little salt if this is not happening.
• Remove vegetables from liquid. Set aside.
• Add 2 tablespoon water in the pan. Add in onions, turmeric, garam masala and cumin. Stir and cook for a few minutes. Adjust water if required.
• Remove from heat and add to mash mixture.
• Add all ingredients together (including cornstarch, flour and salt to taste) and mix well. It’s best to mix with the hands.
• Take a small ball of the mixture in the palm of the hands and shape around a bamboo skewer.
• Brush with batter.
• Then roll in breadcrumbs and evenly coat the kebab.
• Place on a greased baking tray.

• Bake for 30 minutes at 220 degrees Celsius then turn them on the other side and brush with some soy milk.
• Bake for another 30 minutes. You may want to turn them at 15 minutes interval on 4 sides.

• Remove from oven and serve warm.