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Ever heard of the bun kebab? It goes by many names, from ande shami to anda waley kebab bun. The street food which originated in Pakistan follows a recipe that is said to be 73 years old; and like many good things on the Internet, it recently went viral on Instagram. A recent video of a street food seller in Karachi’s Burns Road whipping up some fresh bun kebabs on a tawa went viral on social media.
A Karachi-based food influencer named Noman Katiyar shared the video of bun kebabs being made and it garnered more than 100,000 views. While bun kebabs are sold all over Karachi, the street food vendors in Burns Road are particularly famous for sticking to the original recipe. The bun kebab may resemble a burger or a desi vada pao by the looks of it, but its recipe is a lot more interesting.
The reason it's known as jhaag se bana kebab is because the recipe calls for frying the kebabs in a fluffy jhaag or an egg white ‘foam’. In the video the street vendor is seen separating the yolks from several egg whites; while he makes fried eggs with the yolks, he mixes in several egg whites to beat it into a fluffy foam. The kebabs (usually made of dal or meat) are fried in this egg foam until they have a fluffy white coating over them; they’re then sandwiched between two breads and a piece of fried egg.
The Internet was quick to swoop in and gush over this street delicacy which is also available in certain Indian cities like Bhopal and Hyderabad. Some users naturally wanted to know if this is available in their own city and asked for recommendations. They even got some leads! “Where can we find this in Mumbai?” “Muhammad Ali Road Shayad, Confirm nahi hai,” Katiyar responded. “Had this in Karachi way back in 1996. It was pretty amazing back then. 10/10,” another foodie shared.
Many foodies also compared this delicacy to a Kolkata-style fish kabiraji since it also has a recipe that calls for dipping the fish in an egg white foam and then frying it in oil. Frying meat or fish in egg whites lends them a frithy white texture which adds to the crisp of the overall crust. If you can’t locate a bun kebab seller in your city, it’s easy to recreate this recipe at home. The bun is assembled pretty much like a regular slider; you need a minced meat or dal patty, a fried egg, some mini buns and butter.
For the egg foam, beat 3-4 eggs in a bowl with an electric egg beater if you have it. You can also use a stand mixer or forks to whip it into a foam, although forks may take longer. Dip the kebabs in egg foam and fry them till they’re golden brown which should take about three minutes. Keep flipping them over to make sure the foam doesn’t burn or crumble. For a double decker burger, you can even fry two kebabs at once.
