Persian Koobideh Kabob + Video recipes - Main course
Author: Dario Louden
Koobideh kabob is a Persian recipe featuring skewers of juicy ground lamb, beef, and onion. Kabab Koobideh is made from ground lamb or beef or a mix of both.
Kabob Koobideh (Minced Meat Kebab)
Koobideh kabob are the most juicy and amazingly flavorful minced meat kebabs ever! Using minimal ingredients, these are the epitome of perfection when it comes to grilling ground meat. Step by step photos at end of post.
Provided by: Roxana Begum
Total time: 35 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Prep time: 25 minutes
Yields: 8 servings
Cuisine: Persian
Number of ingredients: 18
Provided by: Roxana Begum
Total time: 35 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Prep time: 25 minutes
Yields: 8 servings
Cuisine: Persian
Number of ingredients: 18
Ingredients:
- 1 lb ground lamb (see note)
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 onion (large)
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper (ground)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 pinch baking soda (optional)
- 2 tbsp olive oil (or melted butter)
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp onion juice (optional)
- 1 pinch salt
- 8 flat 1-inch wide metal skewers (Persian style)
- 2 flat 1/4 inch thin skewers
- Sumac (ground)
- Lemon wedges
- 4 tomatoes (roma)
- 2 red onions (small, peeled and halved)
- 2 peppers (bell or hatch chilies)
Nutrition:
- Serving Size: 1 kabob
- Calories: 228 kcal
- Carbohydrate: 1 g
- Protein: 20 g
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Cholesterol: 79 mg
- Sodium: 663 mg
- Make the Kabob Mixture
- Peel the onion and grate it using a box grater and squeeze out the juices. Save the juices for later.
- Combine the ground meat, grated onion, salt, pepper and turmeric in a mixing bowl. Knead the mixture for about 5 minutes into a cohesive pasty dough-like mass that can be molded and will not drop off easily.
- The kabob mixture should neither be too wet nor too compact. Make sure that the meat has no extra juices before adding to the mixing bowl. Tip: Freshly ground meat works great.
- Set the kabob mixture aside.
- Start the Charcoal Grill
- Start the grill about 30 minutes before grilling. We recommend using hardwood charcoal and not briquettes for optimal flavor.
- The coals are ready when the flame has subsided, are glowing uniformly and covered with some ash. A portable fan or hair dryer can be helpful. Checkout this tutorial if you are new to charcoal grilling.Tip: Koobideh kabobs can be made on a gas grill but charcoal grill gives you the best results.
- Shape the Kabobs
- Divide the kabob mixture into 8 portions. Dampen your hands with the saved onion juice or plain water.
- Take a portion of the mixture and roll it into an oval sausage shape of 4 to 5 inches.
- Holding it in one hand, press the thin edge of the sword-like skewer into the lump, simultaneously wrapping the meat around the middle section of the skewer by squeezing it all around.
- Continue to squeeze the meat gently unto the skewer, gradually spreading and molding it into a 7 to 8 inches long kabob that is snugly and evenly held all around the skewer. The kabob thickness should be about 2/3 inch.
- Using your thumb and index finger press indentations that are spaced about an inch apart. Alternatively you may use your index and middle fingers and press indentations in a scissor like manner, along the length of the kabob.
- Place the kabob skewers over a long tray or baking sheet with elevated rims to support the skewers just at the top and bottom. The meat should not touch the base of the pan.
- It is best to shape these kabobs just before grilling. Sprinkle a few drops of onion juice over the kabobs before placing on the grill.
- Grilling the Vegetables (optional)
- Start grilling the vegetables ahead of the kabobs (or grill them separately).
- Carefully slide the tomatoes and onions on one skewer. Quarter the bell peppers and slide those or the hatch chilies on other skewer. Brush some olive oil over the veggies.
- Place the skewers on the grill (check the next section for grilling tips). And when they are about half done, start with grilling the kabobs.
- Grilling the Kabobs
- Arrange the skewers spacing them apart, directly over the grill without the grate, about 3 to 4 inches above the glowing coals.Tip: Depending on your grill, you may place metal pipes on either side to help support the skewers. Bricks are sometimes lined on either side to create a platform for placing the skewers.
- Make sure that the kabobs do not touch the grill and are cooked with direct heat from the coals.Tip: If you are testing koobideh recipe first time and prefer to keep the grate on the grill, make sure the skewers are a bit elevated and the meat does not touch the grate. So while you are learning, even if the meat drops off, you don't lose the kabobs into the coals completely.
- Within a few seconds, start flipping the skewers over. This helps cook the meat on the outside and attach it to the skewer. It is important to flip them over before they cook too much on one side, or the meat on the other side will fall off.
- Once the other side is also cooked lightly, turn them over. A good way to do this is, to arrange the eight skewers one by one and then go back to the first skewer and start flipping it in the same order.
- The kabobs should be grilled for a total time of 4 to 5 minutes on each side. The meat should have a nice brown sear outside and cooked well inside (not pink).
- Take them off the grill while they are still juicy and tender. Do not overcook the kabobs or they will dry out.
- Brush the basting mixture just before taking the kabobs off the grill.
- Serving the Kabob Koobideh
- Using a small piece of flat bread gently loosen the kabobs from one end and slide them out to a serving platter that has been lined with flat breads, such as, lavash or sangak. The hot juices from the kabobs soak up the bread.
- Garnish with a sprinkle of sumac or lemon juice. Keep the kabobs warm by covering with more flat breads.
- Serve the kabobs fresh off the grill with saffron flavored rice or flat breads, grilled veggies, sumac, fresh herbs and doogh (Persian mint-flavored fizzy yogurt drink).
How To Make Persian Beef Koobideh Kebab
WELCOME TO HENRYS HOWTOSI am a fulltime self trained executive chef as well as having alot
Duration: 6:35
Persian Kabob کباب کوبیده
#koobideh #persiankabob Kabob Koobideh | Grilled Minced Meat Kabobs | Persian Kabob
Duration: 7:45
Koobideh Kabob (How To Make Persian Kebab)
Chapters. View all · Koobideh kabob recipe · Peel and grate the onion. · Combine the
Duration: 6:16
Persian Koobideh Kabob + Video
Koobideh kabob is a Persian recipe featuring skewers of juicy ground lamb, beef, and onion. Make grilled meat skewers for a quick, easy meal!
Provided by: Kevin
Total time: 28 minutes
Cook time: 8 minutes
Prep time: 20 minutes
Yields: 8 servings
Cuisine: Iranian,Middle Eastern,Persian
Number of ingredients: 12
Provided by: Kevin
Total time: 28 minutes
Cook time: 8 minutes
Prep time: 20 minutes
Yields: 8 servings
Cuisine: Iranian,Middle Eastern,Persian
Number of ingredients: 12
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion (peeled and grated (red or white))
- 1 lb lean ground lamb
- 1 lb lean ground beef ((90/10 mix))
- 4 cloves garlic ( peeled and finely chopped)
- 2 tbsp parsley (finely chopped )
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika
- ground sumac ((optional))
- 1 lemon ((optional))
- toum garlic spread ((optional))
Nutrition:
- Calories: 236 kcal
- Carbohydrate: 3 g
- Protein: 22 g
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Trans Fat: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 77 mg
- Sodium: 374 mg
- Fiber: 1 g
- Sugar: 1 g
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Grate the onion (See Note 1) and place onion in a sieve set over a bowl to drain. Press and squeeze out all the excess water. Discard onion juice or save for soup or other use.
- In a bowl add the ground beef, lamb, shredded onions, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, turmeric, paprika, and mix well. Divide meat mixture evenly into eighths and form the meat onto 8 skewers, molding and flattening meat around skewer with wet hands to make each kebab about 8" long (See Note 2). For a traditional look, gently press meat between thumb and index finger once meat is on skewer (see photos). If not using skewers, shape meat into eight 8" hot dog/sausage shapes. Set kabobs aside.
- Clean your grill and heat to 350°F. Oil your grill so these don't stick. Place the skewers on grill and cook until browned on each side and cooked through, 3–4 minutes per side.
- Allow meat to rest for 3-5 minutes and sprinkle with a little ground sumac, squeeze of lemon and or toum garlic spread. Serve immediately.
- Broiler Method
- If you use skewers they need to be all metal, otherwise make the kabobs into long rolls and place them on a broiler rack lined pan to catch the juices. Move the oven rack to the second highest setting from the top. Broil the kabobs until browned, about 6-7 minutes on each side.
Kabab Koobideh
Kabab Koobideh is made from ground lamb or beef or a mix of both. It translates to slammed kabab, because of how it was made in the past.
Provided by: Hami
Total time: 155 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Prep time: 30 minutes
Yields: 10 servings
Cuisine: Persian
Number of ingredients: 9
Provided by: Hami
Total time: 155 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Prep time: 30 minutes
Yields: 10 servings
Cuisine: Persian
Number of ingredients: 9
Ingredients:
- 1 kg (2.2lbs) ground lamb or beef (ideally lamb shoulder or 25% fat beef)
- 3 onions
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp ground paprika
- 1 tsp baking soda ((optional))
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground saffron
- Tomatoes, basil, sliced red onions, sumac and flat bread or rice to serve with
How to cook:
- Prepare the meat
- Peel and grate the onions using the corse setting. Then squeeze most of the moisture out of the grated onions. Simply take a handful of grated onions and squeeze it with both hands. I weighed the grated and squeezed onions and 3 of them resulted in 300g or 10.5oz.
- Combine the ground meat with the grated onions, ground paprika, black pepper, salt and baking soda. The baking soda is an optional ingredient. It is used to make the kabab puff up a little. Knead all the ingredients together until the mixture becomes slightly sticky. You will notice the meat releasing the fat and that’s a sign that you kneaded enough.
- Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge for at least 2 hours. This causes the meat to firm up at little, which makes it easier to work with later. Also, the ingredients have some time to get to know each other.
- Before starting with the Koobideh in 2 hours, I recommend sorting out all the rest because when it’s time you need to focus on the Koobideh and the Koobideh only.
- Bloom the saffron
- If you have saffron threads grind them, using pestle and mortar. Sprinkle the ground saffron over the ice cubes and set them aside until later.
- Prep any side dishes
- This means, prepare the rice. Chop onions, if you want any. Peel garlic or whatever preparations you want to make, depending on how you serve your Koobideh. Get the barbie going.
- Speaking of which, definitely use lumpwood charcoal, not brickets. Lumpwood reaches a higher temperature and doesn’t last long, which is ideal for Koobideh. Brickets last longer but don’t get as hot, so they are more useful for slowly grilled or smoked dishes.
- Barbecue the tomatoes beforehand, even if there’s enough space on the bbq. They take way longer than the kababs.
- Prep the saffron butter
- Melt the butter and combine it with the saffron water. We’ll need it in the end.
- Skewer the kababs
- Now it’s time to shape the meat around the skewers. Koobideh is usually barbecued on wide flat skewers (around 15mm / 0.6″) but if you only have the regular Persian kabab skewers, you can use those.
- There are a few reasons the meat falls off the skewers in the bbq. Most of them are easily prevented. We’ll get to the rest later.
- 1. The skewers shouldn’t be hot.
- 2. The skewers shouldn’t be wet.
- 3. If it’s a hot day and the meat has warmed up again, place it in the fridge once more. The meat being too warm and therefore soft can cause it to fall off, even before it gets on the bbq.
- Knead the meat mixture until it becomes sticky once more. This shouldn’t take longer than a minute. Divide the meat in about 130g / 4.5oz portions. Have a small bowl of water nearby to wet your hand before working the meat. By the way, I’m still talking about Koobideh.
- You need the right place to put the finished skewers. Don’t just put them on a plate! Use a large baking tray for example, so that the meat doesn’t come in touch with any surface.
- Take one portion of meat in one hand and a skewer in the other. For some reason holding the meat in the left is much easier for me, although I am right-handed. Try what works best for you.
- Form the meat into a sausage shape, about the length of the width of your hand (if you have googooli hands like me). Then push the centre of the skewer sideways in the meat sausage. Close the meat around it and spread it across the skewer by closing and opening your hand in an upward un downward motion. X’D
- We will barbecue the Koobideh over very high heat for a short amount of time, so you don’t want them too chunky, which won’t allow them to cook through. You also don’t want them too thin, so that they burn or lose their juiciness. Also, try to get them as even as possible, so one side doesn’t burn while the other stays raw.
- When the meat is spread out evenly, make dents into the meat in bitesized intervals. This is the signature look of Koobideh and the part that I haven’t mastered yet. According to my Maman’s feedback I should push more to make the dents. However, not so much that the skewer shows through. If this is something that you’re good at, I’d love to give you a thumbs up! Share your Koobideh photo with me on Instagram or Facebook and tag me with @igotitfrommymaman.
- Grill the Kabab Koobideh
- Then the moment of truth has come. The bbq should be really hot, so before you get started make sure it’s fired up. Try to place all the skewers on the barbie at once (if they all fit on it, otherwise bbq them in two batches). Get some help from someone sober. And here is where trick number four comes in.
- 4. After only 10 seconds after all the skewers are on the hot bbq, turn them starting with the one you put on first. Your sober friend may give you a hand again. This prevents one side from fully cooking while the top side is raw, which can cause the cooked side to drop into the flames of hell and never return.
- Continue in this rhythm, starting to turn the skewers only a few seconds after you turned the last one.
- Don’t worry if flames pop up in the beginning. That’s because of the fat dripping down on the charcoal. As soon as the outer layer of both sides is sealed (which happens in a matter of seconds) there shouldn’t be any flames anymore. If there are any, lower the charcoal, if your bbq allows for that, because this can cause the kababs to burn.
- The whole process only takes about 5 minutes. Take them off the bbq as soon as they are done. Kabab Koobideh should be juicy and it shouldn’t be charred like some other types of kabab.
- Brush the kababs with the melted saffron butter. Serve the Kabab Koobideh with the grilled tomatoes and any other sides you enjoy!
