Once you begin to explore the history of culinary traditions, you are bound to be fascinated by the countless different ways of preparing the same foods. Many dishes have their own place of origin and traditional ways of preparation and serving. However, recipes travel far and wide with the movement of people, evolving and changing along their journeys, reflecting the exchange of culinary culture through time. Very often, variations and versions of a traditional recipe become as popular and famous as the original. This is the case with the round, minced meat lola or gola kabab, fried on a skewer with a hollow middle. 

Origin of gola kabab

The history of kebabs is a particularly rich and complex one. According to Persian scholar Salma Hussain in her book The Emperor’s Table, roast horsemeat consumed by Central Asian tribes turned into dishes prepared with spices such as pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, and aromatics such as orange. These dishes were served to Turkish royalty. Upon their subsequent arrival in the Indian subcontinent, local spices were used to season meat in the Mughal kitchen. This is how every turn in the journey of the kebab changed the dish. It would be difficult to pinpoint the precise time in history when and how a particular kebab travelled to the subcontinent. 

Early Mughals arriving in India travelled with Afghan cooks. But it took many historical events and processes of cultural exchange, spanning time periods of centuries, involving vast geographical regions, for the roughly ground meat bites with some basic black pepper seasoning to transform into kebab recipes. 

For instance, it was during the much later time of Islamic courtly culture in British India that many famous kebab recipes emerged as we know them now. When each court competed with the other in throwing banquets and holding feasts, efforts were made by royal cooks to outdo rivals, leading to many culinary innovations and much sophistication in cooking techniques. At the same time, many local recipes and also original ones brought from other regions survived along with new versions. 

The gola kabab appears to have originated in the Pashtun cuisine of Peshawar in northern Pakistan and Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. In time, it also became a traditional food across Pakistan and India. We can’t trace its precise origin and journey, but we can say with certainty that this kebab shows the strong historical and cultural ties between Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent. The region is a crossroads of cultures and traditions, where throughout its history, despite conflict and battles between various groups, people have continuously traded, coexisted, and intermarried.  

In this melting pot of culinary traditions, each has been influenced by the other, but has also kept its unique characteristics. The Afghan culinary tradition appeared with its specific flavors and textures as the result of the mixing and mingling of many regional influences, including Persian, Indian, and Central Asian. Afghani food is more aromatic and spicy than Central Asian, but not as bold as Persian and not as hot as Indian and Pakistani variations. It lays emphasis on mixing sweet and savory flavors to create subtle warmth. 

Innovation and tradition: How the gola kabab evolved 

With Pashtuns living both in Pakistan and Afghanistan, it is no wonder that Pashtun cuisine belongs as much to Afghan as Pakistani traditions. Gola kabab is a popular street food, an Eid-ul-Adha specialty on both sides. Regional kebab variations are found across Pakistan and India, with bolder flavors and more spices, with minced beef or chicken as preferred instead of the traditional Afghani mutton. While raw green papaya paste is used in the original recipe to tenderize the meat, this is sometimes replaced by gram flour or egg, or gram flour could be used together with papaya.

Despite innovations, the special features of the dish are preserved in the round shape and tenderness of the meat. The mince with its spice blend is left to marinate in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 to 4 hours, but preferably overnight for maximum tenderness and flavor. 

The spice blend used to prepare the Afghani gola kabab is dominated by the heat from black pepper, while the Indian subcontinent variations have more heat coming from red chilies and ginger. The traditional ginger garlic base and the richer Pakistani and Indian garam masala, compared to the Afghani char masala, make the Indian subcontinent versions of gola kabab far more spicy and hot. 

In original preparation methods, a smoky flavor is imparted to the minced meat mix by putting a piece of hot charcoal wrapped in foil on the raw meat and dripping some ghee or butter on top, but some recipes skip this step. Similarly, although the traditional preparation is shallow frying in a pan, these kebabs can be baked, air-fried, grilled over charcoal, or even steamed. You can see Hina’s recipe for a homemade version and also the different cooking methods. 

How to serve the gola kabab

Traditionally, gola kabab is eaten with naan or paratha, and it is also served together with Afghani pulao. Usually, green chutney is chosen as a tasty accompaniment to the meal. Find a quick recipe by the Good Food Team to make this healthy, fresh, and tangy condiment at home. 

The gola kabab is a versatile dish and can be eaten as an appetizer with a dip of your choice, as a side dish with rice, or as a main with bread and a side of grilled or steamed vegetables. 

You might be pleasantly surprised to know that you can also prepare gola kabab biryani. This could very well be a combination of your two all-time favorites. You can find a recipe to prepare this great fusion dish by the SuperChef Team. If the recipe seems to be a bit overwhelming, since you will need to prepare two separate dishes and combine them, why not choose Kaiser’s Chicken Kabab Biryani—and meet this culinary delight effortlessly?

This traditional Afghan kebab can easily keep up with the times and effortlessly find its place in modern food culture. If you want, it can become your burger patty with cheese and pickles, or a delicious snack in a tortilla wrap with a salad of your choice! With Kaiser’s Chicken Gola Kabab, you can make these healthy fusion fast foods quickly to satisfy your hunger pangs and your cravings. 

Concluding words…

We usually think that culture is a thing of the past. We forget that culture and tradition are constantly evolving processes. Think of how many times you have experimented with a dish and shared successful results with your family and friends? Or how many times have you managed to improvise a dish from leftovers or whatever you had in the pantry to create a new dish you started making regularly? 

We are all part of the process of preserving and handing down traditions, but also changing and enriching them. 

Have a little gola kabab snack while you dwell on the topic. It is often compared to a cannonball because of its round shape, but while the name comes only from the shape and has no connection to weapons, it does bring you an explosion of flavor that melts in your mouth!