Yes, you read it right. But I mean by “as many kebabs as cooks” is the variety of exotic and delicious mouth-watering kebabs that was equivalent to the number of cooks in the royal kitchens of ancient Indian rulers.
Each cook had their own unique way of making and serving the kebabs to their king and this is what differentiated them from each other. Once the kebab was presented to the ruler of the region and he/she appreciated it, the recipe would be tried again and again for the royal feasts and thus will be carried from one generation of cooks to another. Indian cuisine has always been influenced by the travellers from neighbouring countries who brought with them their techniques and recipes for their kebabs. Hyderabad is one such place that can undoubtedly be called the home to the best of the cooks and has exerted considerable influence on traditional kebab making.
One such kebab from the kitchens of royal India is “Pathar ke Kebab” — you read it right but am sure are misunderstood the meaning; I am not going to make kebab with “pathar” (stone) as its ingredient but will use a hot stone to cook the kebab. So what makes this kebab unique is the method of cooking. The method is slow but the resulting kebab is absolutely delicious and simply melts in the mouth.
Stone being a good conductor of heat has a property to retain the heat and give a constant temperature for cooking on its surface, which is very essential for cooking perfect tender kebabs. The other reason for this kebab to be called so is the spice called “pathar ke phool” or “kalpasi” or “darad ke phool”. This is a peculiar spice with a peculiar shape and can be found along with other spices if you buy a whole curry powder packet in south India. In Tamil “kal” means stone and “passi” means green coloured moss that grows on rocks in running streams or rivers or on trees in hill stations.
Kalpasi does not have any particular shape and is very light. It is in the form of a curly dried flower. You can spot shades of black, white, grey, green and pale green. There is no smell when it is raw, but it imparts its unique flavour that is close to star anise when cooked in curries.
I came to know of this exotic recipe from my mentor Chef Sushil Chug, who is a master of the trade and has always been a great inspiration to me.

Pathar ke kebab

Serves 4
Ingredients
Lamb muscle meat 1 kg
Ginger, fine chopped 1 tbsp
Garlic, minced 1 tbsp
Raw papaya, paste 2 tbsp
Green chili paste 3-4 no
Black cumin powder ½ tsp
Cinnamon powder 1 tsp
Black pepper powder 1 tsp
Garam masala  ½ tsp
Kalpasi or darad phool 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Desi ghee 2 tbsp
Lemon juice 1 tbsp

Garnish
Onion rings to garnish
Lemon wedge 5-6 no

Equipment required
Granite stone to cook
Charcoal to heat the stone

Method
Wash and pat dry the lamb muscle meat and place in a clean bowl.
Marinate with ginger garlic paste, green chili paste and raw papaya paste and refrigerate for 2-3 hours (preferable overnight).
In a separate bowl combine desi ghee, black cumin powder, cinnamon powder, Garam masala, kalpasi, salt and lemon juice and make a marinade.
Marinate the lamb muscle slices in the above marinade and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Place a granite stone over hot charcoal to make it hot.
Once the granite stone is hot enough, place the marinated lamb muscle meat on it.
The meat should sizzle at first and the sizzling will reduce as the stone gets a bit cold due to lamb.
The hot charcoal will raise the temperature of the stone, causing the meat to sizzle again. The lamb will cook in its own juices and will absorb the moisture.
Turn the meat to cook evenly from both the sides.
Once the lamb is cooked and the moisture evaporates, remove from stone.
Serve hot garnished with onion rings, lemon wedge and choice of bread.

Note: In case you can’t use charcoal to heat the stone, place the stone in the oven to make it hot and place the kebab covered with silver foil on top so that the kebab incorporates the flavour of hot stone. Other option is to place the stone over your kitchen stove over very low heat and make it hot gradually and cook the kebab on top. Be careful about gradually heating the stone otherwise the stone will crack due to sudden change in temperature.