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When grilling seekh kebab fat drips I notice it's yellow colour. If you grill plain mince or meat it's usually white colour so it must mean some ingredients are getting imparted into the seekh kebabs fat to give it that colour. I really like the taste of look of this fat.

What is giving the fat this yellow colour and what typical ingredients do you think are going into the fat since it doesnt seem to be pure fat?

I think typical ingredients for seekh kebab are garlic, ginger, onion, coriander, cumin, powdered pepper.

Cindy
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James Wilson
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2 Answers2

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Common sources of fat-soluble yellow colours are curcuma (curcumin as colorant, tends to give an almost fluorescent yellow), and chilli peppers (lycopene, tends more towards the orange in higher concentrations). But a lot of other carotene-containing items can give a yellow to orange colour (cumin among them, but it's less known as a colorant).

remco
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    Not just *almost* fluorescent -- curcumin extracted from turmeric actually glows under UV light [(an old answer of mine illustrates this)](https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/88156/20413) – Chris H Apr 18 '18 at 14:36
  • Are you sure cumin gives the yellow colour, isn't more towards a brown? – James Wilson May 03 '18 at 00:39
  • Cumin grains or powder are brown, but not all of that is fat-soluble. Carotenes are normally yellow to orange, and are fat-soluble. Also, in solutions, the colour depends on the concentration: a transparent yellow will appear brown if the solution is concentrated enough. – remco May 07 '18 at 07:21
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From things that goes into seekh kebbas that dye things yellow are:

  • paprika
  • cumin
  • ginger
  • bird's eye chilies

(also garlic, and onions)

Yellowish color is also strengthen by caramelization of sugars.

SZCZERZO KŁY
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