GULZILLAAAAAAAAAAA!!! CHAPLI KEBAAAAAAABS!!!!!

Good morning everyone!  The floodwaters in Australia look like they are receding!   YES!  I'm going to the Australia/England T20 at the MCG tomorrow.  YES!  There's another Pakistan/New Zealand test coming up on Saturday.  YES! 
And here's Gulzilla; as you can see, not only is he hungry for wickets, he's plain old hungry.  So I'm going to show you how to make chapli kebabs!  Double YES!!!

Chapli Kebabs for the Taking of Wickets and the Calming of Hunger

These kebabs are flat and round, sort of like a flat north american style hamburger patty.  But after eating these, you may never want a hamburger again!  Go Pakistan!  Go Chapli Kebabs!

Ingredients
1/2 kg ground beef
1 onion, very finely chopped
5-7 cloves of garlic, very finely chopped or crushed to a paste
3 cm piece of ginger, crushed to a paste
1 teaspoon cornstarch or flour (optional, not necessary, will make the kebabs less likely to fall apart when frying)
1 egg
1 teaspoon red chili powder/lal mirch (adjust to your own taste)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 small stick cinammon
5 cloves
5 black peppercorns
5 green cardamom pods
1 star anise
Chopped green chilies
about 10 leaves fresh mint, very finely chopped
fresh coriander leaves, very finely chopped

1 tomato, very thinly sliced
salt
oil for cooking

First of all, we need to roast and grind our whole spices.  Heat up a pan, don't add any oil, and dry fry the cumin, coriander seeds, cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, green cardamom pods and star anise.  Once they're fragrant, set them aside until cool, and then crush them into a rough powder using a mortar and pestle or grind them in a spice grinder.

In a big bowl, mix together all of the ingredients along with the ground spices except the sliced tomato and the oil.  Let it sit for about 30 minutes or more so that everything relaxes and gets tasty.

Wet your hands with a bit of water, and take out a golf-ball sized chunk of the meat mix.  Flatten it out like a really flat hamburger patty, and gently press in a tomato slice on the top.

Heat some oil in a pan on medium heat. Cook the chapli kebab for a couple of minutes on each side until golden brown.  Be careful not to burn them!

Serve immediately, with mint chutney and roti, homemade pita bread or fresh naan from a tandoor bakery. 

In Canada, there are these delicious flat hamburger buns you can get at the Superstore:  they are excellent toasted and spread with home-made mint chutney and filled with chapli kebabs.  We call this Balochi Burgers, named after the province of Balochistan in the south of Pakistan.  Call them what you want, they are MAZAY DAR!!!

Right, so with some of these treats in your belly you'll be satisfied, happy and taking wickets like good old Gulzilla in the picture above.  Have a good one, and cheer extra hard for Pakistan on Saturday!  Woooohoooooooooooooooooo!

Happy Cricket, and Happy Chapli Kebab!