Recipe | Kabob Koobideh

Kabob Koobideh has been my favourite kind of kabob since I was a child, and I will forever remain loyal to it. When it is made the right way using the right tools, it is seriously the best and most delicious type of kabob.


Usually, the best place to have them is at an authentic Persian Restaurant because it needs to be cooked over open flames or coals, but unfortunately, I haven’t even found one place in the East Coast that serves a great one. I tried a few Persian restaurants in the city, and all of them were below par. The last straw for me was when I ordered a koobideh sandwich for lunch from a Persian restaurant and it came in a tortilla! Traditionally the kabob should be wrapped in a sanghak or lavash bread with pickles and tomatoes. Imagine you order a taco and the filling came on a white square bread.

I have read the best Persian Restaurants in the country are in L.A, so if you would like to try one, I would recommend you do so there or follow my recipe :) Since I can’t fulfil my craving with restaurants here, I have resorted to making them at home. I was sceptical at first if it would even taste right, but to my surprise, it turned out amazing! Since then, I have made it a few dozen times and it gets better every time. The only lengthy process here is leaving the mixture to marinate for 24 hours prior to cooking. Here is how it goes;

Recipe: Kabob Koobideh
Serves 2–4

Ingredients

½ pound of ground lamb
½ pound of ground beef
1 medium onion grated
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon of chilli powder
½ teaspoon of sumac
½ teaspoon of whole cumin
½ teaspoon of whole coriander
Pinch of crushed saffron threads
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

In a mortar, crush cumin, coriander and saffron threads together till powdered. In a glass bowl, place ground lamb and beef, grated onion, turmeric, salt, pepper, chilli powder, sumac and powdered spice mix. Mix with hands or wooden spoon until fully combined. Cover the bowl with cling film and keep in fridge until an hour prior to cooking. Usually, the meat is left to marinate 24 hours prior to cooking.

Heat oven to 350 F, and once hot turn-off. Switch on the top broiler to low. Divide the meat into a half, and then half again. So you get four pieces You can make that 6 depending on how long you want the kabobs. Shape into a long kabob. The easy way to do it is on a skewer and then sliding it off into the pan. On the gas, heat a frying pan with a little bit of oil. Place the kabob, brush ghee or melted butter on the top. Place the pan in the oven directly under the fire. When one side is brown, take out the pan, flip the kabob, brush ghee on top, and place it back in the oven. When the other side is brown too, the kabob is ready to be served. Serve it with basmati rice, grilled whole tomatoes and pickles.