AI-generated image
Urfa kebabı
Minced lamb kebab
Urfa kebabı: mild, juicy hand-minced lamb kebab from Şanlıurfa, grilled with tomatoes and peppers
Where Adana's kebab is hot, Şanlıurfa's is gentle: lamb and tail fat chopped by hand with a curved zırh blade, seasoned with salt and a little isot and pressed onto wide skewers. Grill houses around Balıklıgöl serve it on thin lavaş with charred tomatoes, peppers, sumac onions and a bostana salad, and the sweet smoke of the meat is the whole point. Without tail fat, ask your butcher for fatty lamb shoulder mince, around 25% fat, or the kebab will be dry and fall off the skewer. Chef's tip: wet your hands with cold water while shaping; the fat stays firm and the meat clings to the skewer.
- Total time
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the kebab
- ½ red peppervery finely chopped
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
To serve
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 red onionthinly sliced
- 2 tsp sumac
- ½ oz flat-leaf parsleychopped
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Fresh ingredients (4)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Put 1 ½ lb coarse fatty lamb shoulder mince (about 25% fat) on a board with ½ red pepper, 2 tsp isot (Urfa chilli flakes), 1 ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper and chop through with a heavy knife for 5 minutes, folding, until sticky and evenly mixed.
5 minStep 2: Chill for 20 minutes so the fat firms up.
20 minStep 3: Divide into 8 and, with wet hands, squeeze each portion along a wide flat skewer into a 20 cm kebab, pressing ridges with your fingers.
Step 4: Toss 1 red onion with 2 tsp sumac and ½ oz flat-leaf parsley.
Step 5: Grill over hot charcoal or under a very hot grill for 8–10 minutes, turning often, until browned and cooked to at least 160°F in the thickest part. Grill 4 tomatoes and 4 long green peppers alongside until blistered.
10 minStep 6: Lay the kebabs on 4 lavaş flatbreads, pull out the skewers and serve with the grilled vegetables and sumac onions.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 640 kcal
- Protein
- 36 g
- Carbs
- 42 g
- Fat
- 37 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does urfa kebabı take?
- About 40 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of red pepper?
- Any colour of bell pepper, same amount.
- What can I use instead of tomatoes?
- Tinned chopped tomatoes: a 400g tin for about 6 tomatoes (in cooked dishes, not salads).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Pork souvlaki
This is a pork recipe. Walk through any Greek town after dark, from Athens to Thessaloniki, and the smell of souvlaki stands drifts down the street; cubes of pork shoulder grilled on thin skewers are the country's favourite cheap supper, eaten standing up or at a plastic-table taverna. At home you marinate the meat in lemon, olive oil, garlic and dried oregano, grill it hard and fast, and pile it on warm pitta with tzatziki, tomato and red onion. Chef's tip: cut the pork into even 2.5 cm cubes and leave a little fat on; lean loin dries out, shoulder stays juicy over high heat.
Greek
Pfälzer SaumagenStuffed pig's stomach
Saumagen is the pride of the Palatinate, served at wine-village festivals and family dinners from the Haardt hills to Ludwigshafen. A cleaned pig's stomach is stuffed with diced pork shoulder, pork sausage meat, potato and carrot seasoned with marjoram and nutmeg, poached slowly, then sliced thick and fried until crusty. The stomach works only as a casing and is ordered from a butcher; if you can't get one, bake the same filling in a covered terrine in a water bath. Serve with sauerkraut and mashed potato. Chef's tip: fill the stomach only three-quarters full, or it bursts as the potatoes swell.
German
Chha goshtLamb in buttermilk gravy
Up in the hill villages of Himachal Pradesh, where flocks are walked to summer pastures, lamb is often cooked in chhaachh, the thin buttermilk left after churning butter. Thickened with a spoonful of gram flour, it makes a pale, gently sour gravy that is milder and lighter than the red curries of the plains, and it is a favourite at dhams, the festive meals of the Kangra and Chamba valleys. Serve it with steamed rice or makki ki roti. Chef's tip: whisk the gram flour into the buttermilk until there are no lumps before it goes near the pot; once it hits the heat, any lumps stay lumps.
Indian