Chicken Kabab Koobideh (Iranian Chicken Kebabs) 

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Kabab Kооbideh is a popular Middle Eastern dish made from ground meat, usually beef or lamb, mixed with spices and shaped into oblong shapes.

It is fried on broad skewers and served with rice, bread, or vegetables. In Persian cuisine, there is a variant of this dish in which ground chicken is used instead of red meat.

This juicy, flavorful, and easy-to-make dish is ideal for a barbecue outdoors, which would be great. I, on the other hand, will show you how to make chicken kebab koobideh at home, using an oven and a frying pan.

While it may not compare to a kebab cooked over charcoal, it’s better than nothing.

After roasting, the finished kebab is wrapped in pita and removed from the skewer. Leaving you alone with this kebab and without a recipe for thin, soft lavash, I certainly could not. So catch it and don’t forget to pre-cook it.

You can add your favorite vegetables and herbs to the pita, wrap it up tightly, and eat the kebab like shawarma, or you can spread the pita on a plate and serve it with salad and rice.

⏱ Cooking time — 60 minutes overall. Includes 30 minutes of preparation and cooking + 30 minutes unattended.

🥣 Ingredients

🍽 For 4 kebabs:

• 500 g (1,1 lb) minced chicken (I used minced filet, but a 70/30 to 50/50 mix of filet and thighs is better)
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. chili flakes (I used roasted chili powder)
• 1 tsp. sumac
• 2 shallots (you can substitute 1 medium sized yellow onion)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp. full-fat greek yogurt
• 50 g (3.5 tbsp.) butter
• 1 tsp. salt

Optional:

• 4 skewers (wide, the wider the better)

 🔪Step by step Directions

Preparing

Cut 2 shallots in half and peel.

Crush 2 cloves of garlic, put a knife on it with the back of the knife and strike it with your fist and peel it.

Transfer 500 g (1,1 lb) of minced chicken to a bowl and rub the peeled onion and garlic directly into it.

Add 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. sumac, 1/2 tsp. turmeric, 1/2 tsp. ground chili, 2 tbsp. yogurt, 50 g (3.5 tbsp.) butter.

Mix the minced meat with the spices

Stir and knead the stuffing with your hands. Knead for about 2-3 minutes to mix everything properly. Cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge for half an hour.

If there is no time – you can start cooking right away. But for half an hour in the refrigerator minced meat will be more saturated with flavors of spices, and butter and fat will solidify a little, which will simplify the work with minced meat in the future.

Place the minced meat on skewers and form kebabs

Take the bowl of minced meat out of the refrigerator, prepare skewers and a bowl of clean water.

Moisten your hand in the bowl with water and take 1/4 of the minced meat. Roll the minced meat on the side of the bowl to form it into a ball.

Try to make the ball as dense as possible, to do this, press the mince against the walls harder, squeezing out the excess air.

When the ball is ready – take a skewer, lean it against the side of the ball and sort of wrap the minced meat around the skewer. Now, pressing the stuffing with your hand, stretch it into a sausage about 20 cm (8 inches) long.

Moisten your hand in water again and try to achieve the same thickness along the whole length.

Press the edges of the kebab with your fingers so there is no hole.

Wet your hand again. Press the minced meat with your thumb to make diagonal grooves along the entire length of the kebab.

“Seal the kebabs” under the grill

Place the kabab skewer on the baking tray and shape the remaining kebabs.

Turn the oven on the grill, set the temperature regulator to maximum.

Place the kebabs on a baking tray lined with foil or parchment. So that the skewers lie on its sides, and kebabs overhang it.

When the upper heat of the oven is red hot, place the tray with the kebabs as close to it as possible. Cook for about a minute, then flip the skewers (without removing the tray from the oven, carefully – hot) and cook for another minute on the other side.

This is done to seal the meat. This way it will grip and not fall apart during roasting.

Take the tray out of the oven.

Roast the kebabs in a frying pan

Heat a large frying pan over high heat. Add about 1-2 tbsp. of vegetable oil and heat it for about 1 minute, reducing the heat to medium.

Remove the kebabs from the skewer and transfer to the pan. Pre-emptively nudge them lightly around the edges.

Cook for about 8 minutes, until 70°C (160°F) in the center of the piece, turning occasionally.
While flipping, also fry the kebabs on the sides, holding them with tongs.

My kebabs were in the fridge for about 2 hours, so they needed a little more time. If your kebabs are too badly fried on the outside but still raw on the inside, put the lid on, turn down the heat and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more.

Serve

Serve with lavash or pita bread, sprinkled with onions and your favorite herbs. Or with your favorite vegetable salad and rice.