The best kinda street food, are Bun Kababs, and this vegetarian Pakistani burger screammmssss delicious! (AND SPICY )

2 bun kebabs, with sliced onion and green chutney on the side, and a tea cup in the background

What are bun kababs

“Bun Kebab” literally translates to well, Bun and Kebabs. It’s a fried kebab in a bun, slathered with chutney and other delicious stuff hanging out of it. The kabab can either be vegetarian, like this one or made with meat or eggs. It’s one of THE most popular street style food in Pakistan and is somewhat slightly close to the popular Indian snack “vada pav”.

If you are a fan of Pakistani restaurant-style food, you will love my classic Kheer (rice pudding) and Karachi Tikka samosa recipe.

Ingredients

Don’t be alarmed if the ingredient list seems a tad bit long or a little foreign to you. There are only a few ingredients that you may not have in your pantry, and I will mention substitutes for them too.

Green tamarind Chutney – The chutney for this recipe is a cross between a sweet tamarind chutney and a spicy mint green chutney. You will need tamarind pulp, Yogurt, Green Chilies (serrano), garlic, Salt, cumin powder, black pepper powder, coriander leaves, Mint leaves
Split Chickpea (chana dal) and potato patties – This recipe uses a vegetarian patty. You can use a different chickpea to potato ratio if you prefer. Its boiled with ginger, garlic, button red chilies, cumin and carom seeds and of course, salt. And then potatoes, some coriander and onions are added. The extra tartness of the patties comes through mango powder (aamchoor) and chaat masala.
Eggs – The highlight of this recipe is the beaten egg coating that is THE hallmark of the street style bun kababs.
Cooking Oil and/or Butter – Any cooking oil of your choice to fry the egg coated kababs. You will also need butter or oil while toasting the buns, but this is optional.
Buns – The best buns for a good bun kabab are the round buns with no sesame seeds.
Veggies – Most common vegetables in a bun kabab are onions, cucumbers, and tomatoes. This is mostly a flexible topping and be as creative or as simple as you want to.
Other condiments – Some versions use ketchup, mayo, a simple omelette or coleslaw in their bun kababs. Again, this is totally optional and upto your preference.

Substitutions

Mango powder – You can use tamarind pulp instead (more details in recipe card)
Chaat masala – Just skip chaat masala altogether and use 1/2 tsp of crushed red chili flakes
Round seedless buns – Use dinner rolls instead.
Eggs – I’d definitely not recommend skipping it. But IF for dietary restrictions, you cannot have eggs, use all purpose flour to coat the patties. You need something to coat the patties because they are delicate.
Whole red chilies – Use Crushed red chilies
Coriander leaves aka Cilantro – If you are not a cilantro fan, use parsley

Instructions

Making the Daal and potato Patties

Everything starts a day earlier, when you soak split chickpeas (dal) overnight or for 12 hours. Soaking dals are always important to get rid of any antinutrients. Just change the water once or twice.

NOTE: If you live in a hot humid climate, keep the soaked dal in fridge overnight rather than on the counter.

Drain all the water and transfer dal into a pressure cooker or a normal pot. Add all the boiling masala in the pot. Add 5 cups of water or as much needed for a pressure cooker.

whole spices and split chickpeas submerged in water

a tender smashed split chickpea on a spatula

The dal needs to cook long enough so that each grain can be broken up by hand. It should be that tender. IF there is still water left in the pot, dry it out at high flame. Don’t drain this water away, because it holds a lot of flavor and salt. You can also add your potatoes in the dal itself to boil it. I already had pre-boiled potatoes which is why I didn’t need to add it to my dal pot.

patty or kebab filling ingredients in a food processor

processed kebab or patty mixture stil in the food processor

After your dal and potatoes have cooled down, chuck everything in a food processor, all seasonings, onions, coriander etc and just process till you get a smooth mix. And viola! your kebab mixture is ready.

My potatoes were boiled separately, so I had to make the patty mixture outside of the food processor.

bun kebab patty mixture in a steel bowl.

You should end up with a smooth patty mixture. This is a great time to do a taste test to check seasoning and spices.

NOTE: IF you want, you can freeze your kebabs at this point to use for a later date.

After shaping your patties, you are going to prepare the egg coating. To do this, beat eggs in a bowl with an electric beater for 5 to 6 mins. Your eggs should look light and fluffy. Dip the kebabs in the frothy eggs and be very gentle while handling your kebabs now. Use a large spoon to coat the kebabs with eggs. Place the coated kebabs on a greased heated frying pan.

Flip the kebabs once the egg gets golden on one side. Add another tbsp of oil after flipping kebabs.

golden egg crusted kebabs ready in a frying pan

Stack all the fried kebabs in a plate ready for assembly.

Making the Green Tamarind Chutney

The chutney in this recipe is different from the regular mint chutney or the sweet tamarind chutney. This is a specifically street style food chutney which works with a lot of other street food too. Its sweet and spicy at the same time and literally takes 2 mins to whip up. Just put all the listed ingredients in a blender and viola! Its ready!

green chutney for bun kabab ready in a bowl

Assembling Bun Kababs

The street style bun kebabs are almost fried in oil. I think we can dial it down a notch at home, mostly because we eat it pretty regularly. Toast both sides of the bun in the same frying pan. With butter is alwaysss the way to go but of course, skip it if you want.

Add a layer of chutney on the toasted buns, and any other veggie you want. Place the kebab and now top it off with some onions. Here’s where you can go crazy and do as many toppings as you like. Add ketchup or cucumber or tomatoes or coleslaw or a fried egg! Close the bun kebab with top toasted bun and digg innnn!

slathering green chutney on 2 toasted buns — Add chutney

Expert Tips

Always make sure to dry all the water of the boiled dal and make it as dry as possible. IF you are dal is very wet, it can break the patties.
Use a tablespoon of oil when adding egg coated kababs to the frying pan, the eggs tend to absorb all the oil, so you want to be careful. Add another tablespoon after you flip the kababs.
The kababs are towards the delicate side. Handle with a little care when your dipping them in egg. A flat spatula is best
If you are making these for a high tea, you can easily fry the kababs in advance, like about 2 3 hours in advance, and simply assemble them when needed.
Dipping the onions in vinegar or lemon juice will keep them fresh for longer and take care of that bitterness they hold.
Toasting the buns both sides will keep them crispier for longer and the inner side won’t get soggy quickly after you’ve slathered it with chutney.

2 whole bun kebabs, and 1 sliced in half with chutney and sliced onions on the side

FAQS

Can I exclude eggs / etc ingredients from the recipe?

Eggs play an important role in keeping the patties hold their shape. If you are planning to skip eggs, I’d recommend coating the patties in plain flour before frying. Keep in mind, that they are going to be delicate, as they aren’t meant to be fried on their own.

Can I skip potatoes from the recipe?

Potatoes act as a binding agent, I will NOT recommend skipping it.

Is this recipe too spicy?

Pakistani streetfood is definitely on the spicy side. Reduce the heat by excluding green chilies from the chutney and reducing the red chilies by half.

Why do my patties break?

These patties are generally delicate to begin with, so improper handling or technique can cause it to break. First of, make sure to always use dal with all the water from the boiling pot drained, and be gentle while flipping and dipping the patties. If you still find your patties break, add 1 tsp of cornflour in the patty mixture.

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IF you are looking for more burger options, try the Fish burger recipe

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