Hara Bhara Kebab
Nov 20, 2014, Updated Mar 18, 2018
Hara Bhara Kebab made with Spinach, Green Peas and Potato. Full of greens, delicious & vegan!
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So how many of you love your greens? I do for sure and if you do too then you will love this recipe. Kebabs are a popular snack in Asian countries, I know in India the chicken kebabs are hugely popular where minced meat is mixed with onion, tomatoes and lots of spices. It is then deep fried or grilled over hot coal. But since I’m a vegetarian this recipe is for vegetarian hara bhara kebab and very green one on that! Hara means “green”in hindi and bhara is “full”, so basically these kebabs are full of greens!
What makes this kebab green? Spinach, green peas and coriander leaves. You can also add green bell pepper, I would have definitely added it (I love bell peppers!!) but I did not have it in my refrigerator the day I made these. These are popular vegetarian kebabs in India, however in restaurants these are almost always deep fried. If you are one of those who like their kebabs deep fried then you must do that. I am very lazy when it comes to deep frying, I do it only when it’s absolutely essential else I just pan fry.
Potato acts as a binding agent in these kebabs and so does cornstarch. Besan (chickpea flour) will work well too. Also, I added some bread crumbs in the dough. You can even roll the kebabs in bread crumbs before frying them, they would be crispier that way!
If you have been reading my blog for a while, you would know that I am not a big fan of spicy food. I cannot eat food which is very hot and so I always use little green chili or red chili powder in my recipes. If you love spice, you should modify my recipes to your taste.
Hara bhara kebab is a great snack for any party, goes well with chai. It can also be used as patties in sandwiches or burgers. These kebabs are vegan, full of greens and easy to make. They are not only delicious but nutritious as well. Go make them now!
Method
Wash spinach leaves and place them in a pan on medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of water and let them cook for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, the leaves will be all shriveled up. This is called blanching the spinach. Remove from pan and wash the leaves under cold running water. Set aside. [Washing under cold water helps spinach in retaining its color]
In the same pan, add 1.5 teaspoon of oil on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add chopped ginger and green chili and saute for 30 seconds.
Add green peas (I kept frozen peas in warm water for 2-3 minutes before adding to the pan) and blanched spinach leaves.
Cook the peas and spinach leaves till there’s no or very little moisture left. This will take 2-3 minutes. As you can see in the 1st picture to the left below, the bottom of the pan looks dry, that’s what we are looking for.
Let the mixture cool down a bit and then transfer it to a blender. Add coriander leaves to it.
Grind the mixture to a paste.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add boiled potato to it. Crumble the potato and also add salt, chaat masala, amchur (dry mango powder) , cornstarch and cumin powder. Using cumin powder is optional.
Now add bread crumbs to the mixture.
Mix everything together till it forms a nice dough.
Take little dough of the size of a lemon in your hand and form a round pattie. Repeat till dough is finished. I was able to get 5 patties out of this mixture.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, place the patties on the pan.
Pan fry till golden brown from both sides.
Serve hot with coriander chutney or tomato ketchup.
* To make crispier kebabs, roll them in bread crumbs and deep fry the kebabs.
* If adding green bell pepper (capsicum) to the kebabs, cook it till it softens and then grind with the mixture.
* The kebabs can also be baked at 350 F degrees for 25-30 minutes. Bake till golden brown from both sides, flipping the kebabs once mid way.
Hara Bhara Kebab
Ingredients
- 2 cups spinach i used baby spinach
- 1 potato large, boiled
- 1 cup green peas
- 1.25 teaspoon chopped ginger
- 1 green chili or adjust to taste
- 3 tablespoons coriander leaves
- 3-4 tablespoon bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder optional
- ½ teaspoon chaat masala
- ¼ teaspoon amchur powder dried mango powder
- salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons + 1.5 teaspoon oil
Instructions
- Wash spinach leaves and place them in a pan on medium heat.
- Add 1 tablespoon of water and let them cook for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, the leaves will be all shriveled up. This is called blanching the spinach.
- Remove from pan and wash the leaves under cold running water. Set aside.
- In the same pad, add 1.5 teaspoon of oil on medium heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add chopped ginger and green chili and saute for 30 seconds.
- Add green peas (I kept frozen peas in warm water for 2-3 minutes before adding to the pan) and blanched spinach leaves.
- Cook the peas and spinach leaves till there's no or very little moisture left. This will take 2-3 minutes.
- Let the mixture cool down a bit and then transfer it to a blender. Add coriander leaves to it and grind to a paste.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add boiled potato to it.
- Crumble the potato and also add salt, chaat masala, amchur (dry mango powder) , cornstarch and cumin powder (if using).
- Now add bread crumbs to the mixture.
- Mix everything together till it forms a nice dough.
- Take little dough of the size of a lemon in your hand and form a round pattie.
- Repeat till dough is finished. I was able to get 5 patties out of this mixture.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, place the patties on the pan.
- Pan fry till golden brown from both sides.
- Serve hot with coriander chutney or tomato ketchup.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hara Bhara Kebab
What kind of dipping sauce do I use
try cilantro chutney: https://www.cookwithmanali.com/cilantro-yogurt-chutney/
They sound delicious but is there a substitute you can suggest for dried mango powder? Will it be okay without?
skip it or use little lemon juice
Hi Manali, thank you so very much for sharing this recipe. Love any dish by made of peas. One question, can I air fry them? If so the temp and the time required. Thanks once again.
Best wishes
Sawitre
you can air fry, probably 12-14 mins at 350 F?
Can I grill them in Microwave oven
sure
Can I store kawabs overnight and microwave it in the morning??
putting them in the oven would work better
Hi Manali,
This recipe has turned out to be AMAZING and loved by all. Can you pls tell me if the mixture can be stored in fridge? If yes, how many days and in what type of storage? Thnaks! 🙂
yes store for 2 days , wrap in cling and store
LOVED THE RECIPE IT TASTES REALLY GREAT!.. MY QUESTION IS FOR HOW LONG WE CAN STORE THE MIXTURE IN FRIDGE?
should be okay for couple of days!
Can I use Flattened rice instead of corn flour to form kabab mixture well?
Awesome kebab. First time tried and they came up sooo well. Thanks
Welcome Kinu, glad you liked them!
I pinned this recipe and finally made it yesterday. Fantastic, The only change I made was to leave out the breadcrumbs. I enjoyed two with lime pickle and salad and froze the rest for a day when I am short of time. Thanks for posting.
Welcome Sheena, glad you liked it 🙂
I love pretty and green they look! Definitely makes me miss India.
Thank you Shikha!
Manali these look great and definitely are perfect for me to make for my vegetarian family. Thanks for sharing the recipe and idea!
Thank you Thalia! Let me know if you try these.
Looks absolutely amazing – I love the green colour, yum!
Thank you!!
I am in your category ..If its not necessary i will not deep fry ..This kebab really must have tasted delicious .
They did! Thanks Sathya!
These look amazing! I love this sneaky but tasty way of hiding all those veggies in here! The color is just gorgeous too!
Thank you Kelly! It is a great way to eat your greens!
These look like golden brown, crispy perfection, and I love all the spices and veggies in here! I love eating my greens, but I’m always up for new ways to enjoy them!
Thanks Marcie!
I love the colour of these and packed full of spinach too. Yum!
Thank you Dannii! The color is indeed lovely!
These seriously look so amazing! They remind me of veggie patties that my mom used to make—just love the gorgeous green color of these!
Thank you Sarah!
wow this recipe looks very delicious! These sounds so healthy and tasty!!
Thanks Olivia! 🙂
Yum! I’m intrigued as I’ve never had mango powder or chaat masala before. They look so yummy! Can’t wait to try it!
Olivia you get can get these spices at any Indian grocery store and of course from amazon. Thank you dear! 🙂
These look so good, and so different than anything I usually have! I love seeing the different Indian recipes you post, I’ve never had much Indian food, but your posts always make me want to try it! These look very similar to a food I had in Egypt many years ago that was so good, but I have no idea what they were. Have to try this and see if it’s the same!
Thanks Stacey! You must try Indian food…it is very good! 🙂 Oh yes, Egypt n Middle eastern cuisine is similar to ours.
Manali this looks sooooooo good. I am heading over to amazon to order chaat masala on amazon.
Thanks Kathy. Chaat masala is easily available at any Indian grocery store. It’s a mixture of a lot of spices and is delicious!
Manali this is like my favorite way to eat veggies seriously!! You took me down the memory lane with these gorgeous kebabs!
Thank you Ami! This is a great way to make even the picky eaters eat some veggies!
These are amazing and packed with some healthy stuff! I love the green color and pictures are awesome! Pinned!
Thank you Mira! 🙂
this looks SO good, this is going on my to-try list for sure… I love that’s there’s 2 cups of spinach in here! it’s so healthy and great way to pack in some extra nutrients! love it 😉 pinned!
Thank you Michele, it’s healthy & delicious and I know you will like these!
Yay for sneaky greens! My food processor is currently broken (so sad!) but these are on the list to make soon… YUM!
Aww that’s sad…do give these a try once it’s fixed. Thank you Emma!
Wow, I love the ingredients in these Manali! I don’t do much vegetarian cooking, but when I see ingredients I love, I think ‘geez, I need to do more of that’! Thanks for the reminder. Pinned!
You must do more vegetarian cooking, it’s awesome! 😀 Thanks for the pin!!