Adana Kebab - Turkish Lamb Kebabs
Adana Kebab - Turkish Lamb Kebabs - Adana Kebab is a delicious Turkish Kebab made with Lamb Meat containing a high percentage of Fat (around 20 % or with a ratio of 5:1 Meat to Fat) and a few other ingredients. It is usually cooked over Charcoal to give it the perfect smoky flavour. The recipe itself hails from the Adana region of Turkey and has now become popular world wide.
Ingredients
- 4 lb Lamb Mince Shoulder, Coarse or Fine, If coarse chop it down to make it finer
- 2 Red Romano Peppers
- Handful Parsley Flat Leaf
- 10 Garlic Cloves Crushed
- 4 ½ teaspoon Salt
- 2 tablespoon Pul Biber AKA Aleppo Pepper
- 2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- 2 tablespoon Urfa Chilli AKA Isot Pepper
- 2 tablespoon Sumac
- 4 teaspoon Cumin Powder
- 35 g Tail Fat or use 2 tablespoon Ghee
Instructions
- Step 1 - Finely chop the Pepper. Transfer to a muslin cloth or sieve and squeeze out the juice.
- Step 2 - Combine the Meat (after it has been made finer or buy meat that is more ground), with Peppers, Parsley, Garlic if using, Salt, Aleppo Pepper (aka Pul Biber), Black Pepper, Urfa Chilli (aka Isot Pepper) or Chilli Flakes, Sumac, Cumin and Fat or Ghee.
- Step 3 - Knead by hand until the mixture is fully combined, turns sticky and leaves a thin greasy layer at the side of the bowl. This will take a while but the mixture must remain cold.NOTE - If it is a particular warm day, I would suggest placing it in the fridge a few times or adding a tablespoon of ice cold water.
- Step 4 - Place in the fridge to chill.
- Step 5 - Use wet hands to divide the Lamb mixture into even balls weighing roughly 90g each. Place a large chunk of Kebab mixture onto the middle of a wide skewer. Then use your fingers to shape them onto the skewers. This gives you a thin Kebab that cooks quickly but remains juicy. Try and get ridges if you can but it isn’t essential and takes a lot of practice.NOTE - It is best to use flat metal skewers if you can find them but wooden skewers also work. As long as they are flat and not too thin. Some people shape foil to mimic the skewers instead. Wooden skewers should always be pre soaked for 30 minutes. You can also just create the shape using your hands and do them without skewers at all but that would mean that they can’t be placed on the BBQ.
- Step 6 - Time to Cook!You have a few options here but if you can, doing it over a BBQ or an Outfoor grill is the best option.Note - In Turkey, they would cook it over coal and we want to try and recreate some of that magic. It gives the best smoky flavour because as the Meat cooks, the fat drips onto the coals and creates smoke which cannot really be replicated as well indoors (you could try the Coal lighting method). The level of heat makes a difference too because it changes the texture and taste of the outside of the Kebab.When my husband makes these, he makes sure that the heat is pretty intense so a crust in formed very quickly and then he rotates them very regularly until they are fully cooked.
- If you are using a BBQ, get it going. Once the coal is ashy, add the Skewers one by one vertically across the entire BBQ (if they are long enough). Cook for around 10 minutes turning regularly and make sure you sprinkle some Sumac and Salt on them while they are cooking.
- Alternatively grill them indoors on high for the same amount of time making sure you turn them every 1-2 minutes.
Notes
How to Serve
Adana Kebabs are usually served on a platter with Rice, Salad such as Ezme, Sumac Onion Salad and Turkish Flatbread like Lavash. The Kebabs are then sprinkled with more Sumac, Cumin, Salt and grilled Turkish Chillies, Tomatoes and Onion. It is also often served alongside Ayran - a cooling Yoghurt based drink. I also like to serve it with a Garlic Yogurt Sauce.Sumac Onion Salad
Slice 1 Red or White Onion and sprinkle over 1 tablespoon of chopped Parsley, Salt, 1 tablespoon Sumac and 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice. I don't mix this together.Garlic Yoghurt Sauce
Combine 150g Greek Yoghurt (Full Fat) with 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice, 1 teaspoon dry Mint, a pinch of Sugar and ¾ teaspoon Salt.Notes and Tips
Keep the Meat Cold One of the things that you will want to keep in mind is that the Meat must be kept cold. We tend to put it in the fridge once the ingredients are mixed together. This does 2 things - It makes it easier to shape the Kebabs and it also means no Fat leaks out of the Meat. If it is a particular warm day, I would suggest placing it in the fridge a few times during the kneading stage or adding a tablespoon of ice cold water. Shaping To shape the Meat onto the skewers, it is best to keep a bowl of Water to hand to prevent the Meat from sticking to your hands. This also helps to keep them juicy. Smoking The smoke from the fat drippings give the kebabs their signature smokey flavour. So be careful because you may occasionally get loads of Smoke in your face. Skewers It is best to use flat metal skewers if you can find them but wooden skewers also work. As long as they are flat and not too thin. Some people shape foil to mimic the skewers instead. Wooden skewers should always be pre soaked for 30 minutes. You can also just create the shape using your hands and do them without skewers at all but that would mean that they can’t be placed on the BBQ. Ingredients Very few ingredients are needed to make the perfect Adana Kebab because it is really all about the Meat. If you look at the recipe provided via Anissa above, it is just meat, fat, onions, red pepper, chilli, salt.So essentially, traditional recipes have fewer ingredients then even I have used here and you can eliminate any that you do not have. Most traditional recipes will often only add fatty Meat, Salt and some Chilli. Heat However you cook these, the heat needs to be super high in order to get the crust on the outside of the Kebabs.
Storage and Reheating
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can reheat kebabs in the Oven or an Air Fryer. Or simply Microwave them. In the Oven Sprinkle the Kebabs with a little Water and wrap in foil then cook at 200 C/400 F for 7 - 10 minutes. You can then place them under the grill for a minute or 2 to crisp them up a little on the outside. In the Airfryer Sprinkle the Kebabs with a little Water and wrap in foil. Then cook at 180 C/375 F for 7 - 10 minutes.Nutrition
Calories: 200kcalCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 12gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 51mgSodium: 450mgPotassium: 165mgFiber: 0.1gSugar: 0.02gVitamin A: 4IUVitamin C: 0.4mgCalcium: 16mgIron: 1mg
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