Qimah ke Luqmi
No wedding banquet in Hyderabad in earlier days were witnessed sans Luqmi in the menu, as a starter paired along with Qimah Kawab. Today other sophisticated entrées make their appearance on the wedding banquet tables. Luqmi is not much seen so nowadays, but it not forgotten, it is still one of every Hyderabadis most favorite snack.
Luqmi has Persian origins, and now is a popular Hyderabadi snack. Other snacks like Osmania biscuit, Pauna chai, Irani chai, etc all have Persian origins and made a mark in Hyderabad. Irani cafes in Hyderabad, seen at every other corner, selling these snacks and refreshments are always crowded with locals. Luqmi is preferred as a starter in the menu, a rectangular parcel stuffed with sauteed minced mutton cooked with a hint of spices and a delicious lemony zing to please your palate.
My miya yesterday had requested me to prepare a few Luqmi for the إفطار and الحمد لله he loved them.
Qimah – Minced meat (the filling)
Ingredients:
Qimah~Minced Veal/Lamb/Sheep meat – 700 gms
Onion -1, large, finely sliced
Cumin seeds – 2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Cilantro – 2 tbsp
Long green chillies – 3, chopped finely
Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
Salt – 2 tsp
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Lemon juice – 3 tbsp
Cashewnuts – chopped, handful
Qimah – Minced meat
Method:
In a large frying pan, pour oil and as soon as it warms up, add the onion and fry until evenly golden brown in color. Add the cumin seeds, ginger garlic paste, cilantro and green chillies. Fry for a few seconds. Add the minced meat and cook mixing it well. Add the red chilli powder, salt and turmeric. Mix well and cook stirring frequently until all the moisture has been dried up. Pour lemon juice, and add the chopped cashewnuts, mix well and remove from heat. Let it cool down completely.
Luqmi – Minced meat stuffed parcels
Makes – 15 Luqmi
Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour/Durum Atta – 2 1/2 cups+extra for dusting (you can also use All-Purpose flour/Maida instead)
Semolina/Sooji – 1/2 cup
Salt – 1 tsp
Yogurt – 1/3 cup
Warm water/milk – 1/4 cup
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Canola oil to deep fry
Luqmi – Minced meat stuffed parcels
Method:
1. In a mixing bowl, add all the above ingredients except ghee and oil and working with your fingers, form a soft dough. Add a few more sprinkles of warm water if needed to form the soft dough. Once the dough has formed into a ball, smear ghee and cover with a lid. Keep aside for 40 minutes.
2. Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes. Form the dough into 30 equal size balls and cover them all with a damp kitchen towel. Also divide the prepared Qimah filling into 15 equal portions. Pour cool water into a cup and keep aside.
3. Dust with extra flour and roll out two dough balls, one at a time into 8 cm in diameter circle each, using your rolling pin on the work surface. Make sure the rolled out circles are not very thin, they should be just a little bit thick. Place a potion of the divided Qimah filling in the center of the rolled out dough circle. Dip your fingers into water and smear lightly on the entire outer edge of the dough circle. Gently place the second rolled out disc over the filling and press the edges of the dough circle to seal them. Using a pizza cutter cut out the extra outer edges of the dough to shape into a rectangle. (You can collect the scraps until the last luqmi is done and roll it out into a ball and repeat the procedure again). With your fingers, press the edges once again to make sure they are sealed. Crimp the edges with a fork to form a pattern. Repeat until all the luqmi is prepared. Keep them on a tray, covered with a towel, until all are ready to deep fry.
4. Heat oil to deep fry in a kadai. Depending on the size of your kadai, you can fry the luqmi, one or two at a time, until lightly browned on both sides. Remove using a slotted spoon into a wire mesh strainer for the extra oil to drain away. Serve them warm.
Head over to Muneeba’s blog and have a look at her version of Luqmi. Enjoy!
Luv,
Mona
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August 27th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
I was just going to blog abt these today!! You’re so right abt luqmis and hyderabadis … my brother is now almost 25 years old, and luqmis are ALL that he will have for iftari! It’s been like this every since he was a kid. He is obsessed with them … and I love ’em too. Yours look deeeeeeelish. I think I’ll postpone posting abt mine for a couple of days .. so I can try your version first & see how it compares to my mom’s 😉
Muneeba, I will be looking forward to your Mom’s recipe inshallah. Do post it soon. ~Mona
August 27th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Adding semolina is an yum idea to make the parcels crunchy and yum…….Luqmi is my all time favouite snack……
August 27th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
I was just looking for a recipe for this yesterday! Thanks for posting it, I’ll have to make these this weekend. 🙂
August 28th, 2009 at 7:47 am
I didn’t know what they were called, but I love these! Thanks for the recipe, Mona.
August 28th, 2009 at 9:52 am
What a coincidence, yesterday when I was making luqmis with my daughter she asked me, why don’t you put all these recipes on a blog and I told her I am not sure if this is authentic recipe and I will just wait and see may be this recipe will show up on Zaiqa courtesy Mona and here it is today. Thanks.
Its so funny that my mom used to make them with all maida and my inlaws make it with all sooji so I have a new version now suji and maida both. Imagine this even Hyderabadis differ in their styles. How interesting!
Lubna, the thought of starting a blog is a very good idea. I will be looking forward to your recipe blog. ~Mona
August 28th, 2009 at 10:21 am
Thank you Mona!
This brought back a lot of memories of our childhood when we would go to our muslim friends houses for Ramzan & they would come to our house for all the Hindu festivals. What ever happened to that tolerance & friendship between Hyderabadis and for that matter- all people in India? Very sad.
Vasantha, I completely agree. I just wish and hope that the unity between all Indians just strengthens and blossoms like never before. ~Mona
August 28th, 2009 at 10:30 am
awesome!Its been ages since I ate the luqmi.I’ll definitely try after Ramadan,I’m not making many items for Iftar this year,since the Iftar is so late and besides I’m exhausted with 2 little ones tantrums at the end of the day 😀
Yasmeen, I can understand how your schedule might be with two little kids. The last year I was also not able to prepare anything special at Iftaar due to my college. ~Mona
August 28th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Wow mona … This Luqmi looks really good,love the idea of adding semolina to the dough.
inshalla I’ll give it a try tomorrow 😉 I bet it’s taste so good with soup..
Thank you for sharing the recipe.
August 28th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Salaam Mona, you are absolutely right, yester years wedding always started with Luqme and I use to fill myself up with plenty of luqmi’s since it was my fav snack. I noticed here they serve kheema samosa and call it luqmi, I remember back in Hyd in wedding they use to serve plain luqmi and dumm ka kheem on the side, which was much more delicious. I make this a lot my kids only wants to eat luqmi’s in Ramadan.
Thanks for the recipe
August 28th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
salam,
First of all ramadan mubarak to all our sister,
Mona thank you so much for this delious recipes, from last few days my husband is asking me to prepare luqme and i m constanly searching for it on internet but without any sucess now when i saw it on ur site belive me dil se dua nikle app ke liye,
thank’s once’s again
Wa-AlaiKum-AsSalaam Nousheen, Ramadan Mubarak to you too. Its my pleasure to share my recipes with you all. ~Mona
August 28th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
I love keema and this looks amazing, epecially filled inside one of those tasty parcels.
August 28th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Yum yum yum & yum.
August 29th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
assk mona
thx to u and ur miya for sharing this yummy recipe. i am sure ur miya/hubby is lucky and enjoying all ur yummy dishes and cooking, but alhdlh my miya also enjoy my cooking too , touchwood.
luqmi was my fav at weddings in hyd. i just try to do the other version of luqmi now , use tortillas or bake pepperidge farm pastry puff sheets stuffed with qeema..
i never knew till now u add yogurt and semolina to luqmi dough. i guess therefore the taste is different from samosas.
just waiting for ur dum ka qeema recipe.
rizruby
August 30th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Asak Mona,
Kindly post some of mutton/chicken gravy receipes…. I would be waiting desperately
Tx KH
Wa-AlaiKum-AsSalaam Hajira, you can refer to the Recipe Index on my blog for a wide range of mutton/chicken gravy recipes. Allahafiz ~Mona
August 30th, 2009 at 8:34 am
wonderful recipe monaji, samosas and luqmis are different that is i came to know now. thanks.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:21 am
Asak Mona, The lukhmis look delicious. I have been wanting to make one of these for so long. I have on question though ..Do you know how we make the kebab type tasting kheema? In hyderabad, the filling of kheema in lukhmi tastes not like our normal kheema but different. I will try yours and let you know.
Humaira, the kawab served along with Lukhmi is usually the Dum ka Qaeema with Kababchini. ~Mona
September 10th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Walaikkum salaam
Jazaakillahu khairan
I am so happy to read ur comment. I am eager to post many more recipes. Do visit my blog often
I came across ur blog before a month and your dishes are lovely. I would love to try some of ur recipes insha Allah
September 10th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Thank you very much for this recipe!!! Yes you r right, There used to be no Valima dinner without the Lukhmis as starters ( in Hyderabad).. I have been looking for this recipe from long time and gave it up.. I tried one of my own but it didnt come out good.. Thanks again for posting this, I shall try it for Iftar today.
September 10th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
I’d like to try these as they look delicious. I’m not sure what semolina is, though.
Cynthia, semolina are coarser grains of ground hard durum wheat. Semolina is also sold named as follows at most of the Indian stores: Sooji Rawa/Suji rawa/Sooji rava/Suji rava. ~Mona
September 12th, 2009 at 11:16 am
salaam mona, a wonderful website for us young learning cooks, mashallah, keep up the good work, could you tell me which is better to use, milk or water, and does the milk also have to be warmed? Ive been experimenting luqmi’s all of this ramadan and want to perfect them as everyone loves them in my home. many thanks for your reply
October 23rd, 2009 at 2:55 am
“Qaeema ke Luqmi” looks delicious; I do the same but with puff pastry 🙂
thank you for stepping into mine and for the comment 🙂 got a nice blog here!
March 1st, 2010 at 5:16 pm
salam mona
i heard abt them bt nvr saw them let alone tasting them
can u pls tell me hw it is texture wise…crispy like samosa?
or soft?
i have guests coming over so for appetizers i searched ur blog…this one caught my attention…as this will be different…my husband is not so familiar with hyderabad and its great cuisine, bt i m trying to introduce him to as many dishes as possible. as i love hyderabadi dishes…please revert back soon regarding the luqmi…i would be grateful
WaAlaiKumAsSalaam Sana. Luqmi are like just like Samosas. They are just a little bit soft but crispy in texture. I am sure your guests will enjoy them. ~Mona
June 28th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Dear Mona, read your recipe foe luqmi and will try it Inshallah. My hubby also loves good food. My family only used maida for the dough and added a lot of ghee to it and used milk for mixing the dough. The other difference is that garam masala was used in the qeema with yoghurt to give the dum ka qeema taste. In puris(choba as well as puran) semolina or rawa was used. If you want to use rawa, plz. add a little warm water or milk and keep it aside for 1/2 an hour and then add the maida or all purpose flour and ghee and form into dough. This tip is given by my sister’s mom-in-law who’s very well versed in old style detailed Hyderabadi cooking.
Waheeda, Jazakallahu Khairun for all the wonderful tips.
August 3rd, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Assalaam alaikum,
Thanks a lot, Mona. My working mom didnt have time to make these when I grew up outside India. The first time I ever ate them was at a wedding in Hyderabad. I still am looking for the recipe for the crumbly kabab that goes with these lukhmis. When are you going to put one up?
WaAlaiKumAsSalaam S.Fatima, I will post the recipe for the kawab that goes along lukhmi soon inshallah.
August 11th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Mona,
Salaam.
tried the luqmi’s today and they were fantastic. i made the dough with wholewheat flour and tried baking a few. i wouldnt recommend that. frying is the best way to go and the best taste is definitely using maida. but even with wholewheat, it came out tasting yumm.
thanks!
August 24th, 2010 at 4:05 am
hey!!
The search for lukhmi kebab recipe brought me Here and I’m glad I came to this blog 🙂
I’m all set to try this recipe today.I’m sure it’s gonna be a hit at the iftari today 🙂
Will definitely come back and post on how it was 🙂
Thanks a ton
September 6th, 2010 at 1:15 am
OMG! Mona I’m in love with you! lol! Thanks for this recipe! I’m just mad that I didn’t see this before I cooked all the meat I bought for the month! next month iA.
July 26th, 2011 at 11:09 pm
salaam mona ji,
one look at the picture you posted and i was craving the luqmis so badly.. i made these today, followed your directions to the T. alhamdulillah, they were an absolute hit with my husband and little son. thanks for posting and for the detailed instructions re: getting the dough ready – the main part.
was salaam 🙂
July 26th, 2011 at 11:48 pm
forgot to ask, what do you do with the oil once you are done frying ? can it be used for say another frying session in the next couple of days like for pakoday or other cooking ? or just dispose it ?
WaAlaiKumAsSalaam Yasmeen, you can add equal amounts of fresh cooking oil to the left over oil that was used for deep frying and use it for your regular cooking purpose.
July 27th, 2011 at 4:35 pm
okay, cool..thanx!
August 8th, 2011 at 6:42 pm
Salam,
This looks delish. I’m Pakistani, and have never heard of luqmi before, but I tried it last year at my Hyderabadi friends wedding. At first, I thought it was a pattie, you know those puff-pastry filled meat snacks. I’ll be sure to give this a try, thanx for the recipe.
August 27th, 2013 at 3:16 pm
[…] traditional dishes like Luqmi-Kawab, Mirchi Ka Salan, Kacche Gosht ki Biryaniand desserts/meetha like Double ka Meetha and Gajar ka […]
October 10th, 2013 at 2:07 pm
Can we freeze this after folding them?fry them once they are thawed?
NusratHubina, you can freeze them. But before you freeze them, fry them/bake them until you get a light golden color. Then let them cool to room temperature. Freeze. To use, fry/bake the frozen samosa at medium high heat.
November 25th, 2013 at 1:12 pm
Assalaamu alaikum, i made these alhumdulillah ! Came out very well. Jazakallahkhair !
December 10th, 2013 at 10:28 am
I really enjoy your blog! Unfortunately it appears to be experiencing some problems and I can’t see most of the posts. IA I hope it is resolved soon–you have such great directions and recipes! Always a win in our house, mashaAllah!