Street Food Style
Unlike the Fancy Kebab – this version of kebab fits better to eat on the go and not as a fancy appetizer when you host a BBQ dinner. As a street food dish, I suggest serving it in pita bread with tomatoes and onions with tahini – see Don’t Buy The Dip.
This recipe is simply another version of the previous post. Due to the different spices, the taste here is completely different, as I like to change from time to time so I don’t get bored.
As an added bonus – I made these kebabs without any added oil. Using a good non-stick pan you can fry meat without using oil, making the dish slightly healthier. The trick is heating a non-stick pan on high heat (make sure to use a good one that can stand high heat), and press the patties on the pan just as you put them in. Pressing the patties will make more of the patty touch the pan directly, so it will brown almost as much as if there was oil (see the image of the post). Just remember you should only press on the patties at the beginning of the cooking (less than 1 minute), afterwards you risk getting juice out of the patty and drying it too much.
Choosing The Meat – you should use minced meat from a fatty cut. You can use lamb, beef, or a combination of the two, for example, adding lamb fat to a beef cut. It is important to use a fatty cut or even add fat to the mix to make it at least 20% fat, otherwise the kebab will be too dry.
If the kebab you made is too dry – go for extra fat next time or cook it to a lesser degree. Also, I add the salt just before placing the meat on the pan, to avoid moisture loss as much as possible.
Ingredients
- ½ kg high-fat minced beef or lamb [1 lb]
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp sweet or smoked paprika
- black pepper
- salt
- canola oil (optional)
To Serve
- 3 pieces of pita bread
- tahini
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 onion
Instructions
- Mix the meat and spices in a bowl, except the salt.
- Create patties from the beef (about 6cm/2½inches in diameter).
- Heat the pan to high heat and add the oil if using.
- Place the patties in the pan and immediately press them gently with a spatula.
- Salt the patties. When they brown on the side facing the pan (~5 minutes), flip them and salt the other side as well. Don't press them again.
- When the patties are browned on both sides, take them out and serve immediately with pita bread, tomatoes, onions, and Tahini on the side or all inside the pita bread. As the patties should be served immediately, prepare the sides in advance.
- If you want the patties well done, you can leave them for more time on the pan and lower the heat. For lesser cooked patties, create thicker patties.
