Wash and soak chana dal for about 2 to 4 hours. Well soaked dal provides a good texture to the kababs. Drain it and add to a large pot.

Add ginger, garlic, salt, turmeric, red chili powder, whole red chilies, garam masala, cinnamon stick, jeera, green cardamoms and chicken. Add water to partially cover the chicken. Do not add too much water.

Cook all these partially covering the pot until chicken and dal are soft cooked.

Evaporate water completely. This step is very important otherwise the kebab mixture will turn mushy and will not hold shape.

Cool this completely and remove the whole spices and any bones if used chicken on bone.

Add this to a processor or a blender and make a coarse mixture.

The mixture should turn fairly dry and powdery.

Add green chilies, onions, pudina, coriander leaves. Mix and check the salt and spice. If needed add more.

Break an egg to a bowl and beat it lightly to mix the yolk and the white uniformly.

Add this little by little to the mixture and form a dough. Do not pour the egg at one time, do it in parts add use only as needed for binding. You can also squeeze this mixture a bit for the moisture to release. Then add the egg only as needed.

Divide the dough to 8 to 10 equal parts and make balls. Flatten them and make kebabs on your palm. Place them on a plate.

Heat oil for shallow frying in a wide pan. I fried all the kababs in 2 batches.

Break an egg to a bowl and beat it lightly just to mix the yolk and white uniformly.

When the oil turns hot enough, dip one kebab each time in the egg and lift it with a fork.

Gently shake off the excess egg to avoid the oil turning messy.

Drop these in the hot oil. Fry on a medium heat until golden, flipping to and fro.

When they are golden fried, transfer them to a plate with kitchen tissues.

Serve chicken shami kabab hot with mint chutney.