Orange Blossom Water

Kabab Khashkhash is fatty minced meat mixed with parsley, pepper, crushed garlic and spices, then shaped into kabab and grilled, served on a bed of tomato sauce.

Let’s make Kabab Khashkhash:

Tomato Sauce

1. Bring red tomatoes, and wash them.

2, 3, 4. Score a cross in the skin of the tomato.

5, 6. Place tomatoes in an oven dish, with cross up.

7, 8. Traditionally tomatoes are grilled on charcoal grill but I grilled them in the oven. Heat the oven at 390 – 480 °F (200 – 250 °C). Turn on the oven upper burner “broiler” and turn off the bottom burner “bake function”. Place the dish in the oven and broil till tomatoes are cooked, and the skin turns to black, for 30 minutes.

9, 10, 11. Peel the tomatoes.

12. Use a knife and remove the core.

13, 14, 15. Tomatoes are peeled over a plate, so you will not lose the juice which will you get during peeling.

16. Pour the juice over peeled tomatoes.

17, 18. Add 1 tsp salt to tomatoes.

20, 21. Mash tomatoes using a fork, and set aside.

Kabab

21, 22, 23, 24. Finely chop parsley leaves, and put in a bowl.

25. Bring green pepper and red pepper (same kind in the photo).

26, 27, 28. Deseed green pepper.

29, 30, 31, 32. Finely chop green pepper.

33, 34. Transfer chopped green pepper to the bowl of chopped parsley.

35, 36. Deseed red pepper.

37, 38, 39. Finely chop red pepper.

40. Transfer chopped red pepper to the bowl of chopped parsley and chopped green pepper.

41, 42, 43, 44. Add crushed garlic to the mixture of (chopped parsley and chopped peppers).

45. Put fat free ground lamb meat in a bowl.

46. In the photo this is ground sheep/lamb tail fat “liyeh”.

47. Add ground sheep/lamb tail fat “liyeh” to ground meat.

48, 49, 50. Mix ground meat and ground fat until combined.

51, 52. Add mixture of meat and fat to the bowl of vegetable mixture (chopped parsley, chopped peppers, and crushed garlic).

53. Mix all the ingredients together until combined.

54, 55. Season the mixture with al-bhar al-halabi (bhar al-daqqa al-halabi), ground Aleppo pepper, salt and black pepper.

56. Mix all the ingredients together until combined.

Traditionally kabab is grilled on charcoal grill, but I used the oven and will show you different methods.

57, 58. Prepare skewers, they are either metal or wood. The skewers I used are long, flat and narrow. Wood skewers must be soaked in water.

59, 60. Divide meat mixture into balls, each ball equals to 60 grams.

61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68. Thread ball onto skewer into the middle, carefully mold the meat mix firmly around the skewer into a long sausage shape, wet your hand with water during the process of shaping kabab. Put skewers on an oven dish.

69, 70, 71, 72. Do same process with wood skewers.

73, 74. You may also make them without using skewers and put kabab in an oven dish.

75. Keep onion with skin, and cut in half.

76. Bring cubes of sheep/lamb tail fat “liyeh”, and season with salt and black peppers.

77. Thread onion onto skewers, and use sheep/lamb tail fat “liyeh” cubes to space onion apart.

78. Put kabab skewers and onion skewers on an oven dish.

79, 80. Heat the oven at 390 – 480 °F (200 – 250 °C). Turn on the oven upper burner “broiler” and turn off the bottom burner “bake function”. Place the dish in the oven and broil the kabab and onion till grilled on each side, turn skewers from time to time for equal grilling.

81, 82, 83, 84, 85. Take grilled kabab and onion out of skewers. Discard sheep/lamb tail fat “liyeh” cubes.

86, 87. Transfer kabab and onion into a dish.

88. This photo shows you kabab which are shaped without using skewers (refer to photos 73 and 74).

89. Put all grilled kabab and onion in one dish.

90. In a small bowl, put corn oil.

91, 92. Put the bowl of corn oil inside the dish of grilled kabab.

93, 94, 95, 96. Bring coal and burn it on stove till red.

99. Use a tong to hold the coal, and put the coal in the bowl of corn oil.

100. Coal will produce smoke.

101. Immediately cover the dish with aluminum foil and keep it covered for some time. This step will give kabab and onion taste similar to the taste you get from grilling them on charcoal grill.

102. Discard the oil and the coal.

103. Bring the dish of mashed tomatoes.

104. Layer grilled kabab and onion over tomato sauce.

105, 106. Cover the dish with aluminum foil, and put in the oven to keep dish hot at 210 – 300 °F (100 – 150 °C) for 15 – 20 minutes.

Biwaz Salad

107, 108. Coarsely chop parsley leaves, and put in a bowl.

109, 110. Cut onion into wedges, and transfer to bowl of chopped parsley.

111. Add sumac to chopped parsley and onion.

112. Cut cherry tomatoes in half.

113, 114. Transfer cherry tomatoes to bowl of chopped parsley, onion and sumac.

115. Mix all ingredients together until combined. Season with pinch of salt.

116. Serve kabab khashkhash hot with biwaz salad and Arabic flat bread.

125. Serve hot.

Kabab Khashkhash

From: Chef Mohammad Orfali / Servings: 5 People
PDF Text Only / Print With Images

Tomato Sauce 2 kg tomatoes 1 tsp salt Kabab 1 cup finely chopped flat parsley leaves 2 long green pepper, deseeded and finely chopped 1 1/2 long red pepper, deseeded and finely chopped 25 g crushed garlic 700 g fat free ground lamb meat 200 g ground sheep/lamb tail fat “liyeh” 1/4 tsp al-bhar al-halabi 1/4 tsp ground Aleppo pepper 1 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp black pepper Grilled Onion 6 medium red onions with skin, cut in half Sheep/lamb tail fat “liyeh” cubes Biwaz Salad 1 cup coarsely chopped flat parsley leaves 1 medium red onion, cut into wedges 2 tsp sumac 30 cherry tomatoes, cut in half Pinch of salt To Serve Arabic flat bread

Tomato Sauce Bring red tomatoes, and wash them. Score a cross in the skin of the tomato. Place tomatoes in an oven dish, with cross up. Traditionally tomatoes are grilled on charcoal grill but I grilled them in the oven. Heat the oven at 390 – 480 °F (200 – 250 °C). Turn on the oven upper burner “broiler” and turn off the bottom burner “bake function”. Place the dish in the oven and broil till tomatoes are cooked, and the skin turns to black, for 30 minutes. Peel the tomatoes. Use a knife and remove the core. Tomatoes are peeled over a plate, so you will not lose the juice which will you get during peeling. Pour the juice over peeled tomatoes. Add 1 tsp salt to tomatoes. Mash tomatoes using a fork, and set aside. Kabab Finely chop parsley leaves, and put in a bowl. Bring green pepper and red pepper (same kind in the photo). Deseed green pepper. Finely chop green pepper. Transfer chopped green pepper to the bowl of chopped parsley. Deseed red pepper. Finely chop red pepper. Transfer chopped red pepper to the bowl of chopped parsley and chopped green pepper. Add crushed garlic to the mixture of (chopped parsley and chopped peppers). Put fat free ground lamb meat in a bowl. Add ground sheep/lamb tail fat “liyeh” to ground meat. Mix ground meat and ground fat until combined. Add mixture of meat and fat to the bowl of vegetable mixture (chopped parsley, chopped peppers, and crushed garlic). Mix all the ingredients together until combined. Season the mixture with al-bhar al-halabi (bhar al-daqqa al-halabi), ground Aleppo pepper, salt and black pepper. Mix all the ingredients together until combined. Traditionally kabab is grilled on charcoal grill, but I used the oven and will show you different methods. Prepare skewers, they are either metal or wood. The skewers I used are long, flat and narrow. Wood skewers must be soaked in water. Divide meat mixture into balls, each ball equals to 60 grams. Thread ball onto skewer into the middle, carefully mold the meat mix firmly around the skewer into a long sausage shape, wet your hand with water during the process of shaping kabab. Put skewers on an oven dish. Do same process with wood skewers. You may also make them without using skewers and put kabab in an oven dish. Keep onion with skin, and cut in half. Bring cubes of sheep/lamb tail fat “liyeh”, and season with salt and black peppers. Thread onion onto skewers, and use sheep/lamb tail fat “liyeh” cubes to space onion apart. Put kabab skewers and onion skewers on an oven dish. Heat the oven at 390 – 480 °F (200 – 250 °C). Turn on the oven upper burner”broiler” and turn off the bottom burner “bake function”. Place the dish in the oven and broil the kabab and onion till grilled on each side, turn skewers from time to time for equal grilling. Take grilled kabab and onion out of skewers. Discard sheep/lamb tail fat “liyeh” cubes. Transfer kabab and onion into a dish. In a small bowl, put corn oil. Put the bowl of corn oil inside the dish of grilled kabab and onion. Bring coal and burn it on stove till red. Use a tong to hold the coal, and put the coal in the bowl of corn oil. Coal will produce smoke. Immediately cover the dish with aluminum foil and keep it covered for some time. This step will give kabab and onion taste similar to the taste you get from grilling them on charcoal grill. Discard the oil and the coal. Bring the dish of mashed tomatoes. Layer grilled kabab and onion over tomato sauce. Cover the dish with aluminum foil, and put in the oven to keep dish hot at 210 – 300 °F (100 – 150 °C) for 15 – 20 minutes. Biwaz Salad Coarsely chop parsley leaves, and put in a bowl. Cut onion into wedges, and transfer to bowl of chopped parsley. Add sumac to chopped parsley and onion. Cut cherry tomatoes in half. Transfer cherry tomatoes to bowl of chopped parsley, onion and sumac. Mix all ingredients together until combined. Season with pinch of salt. To Serve Serve kabab khashkhash hot with biwaz salad and Arabic flat bread.

Notes and Tips

My oven is gas oven and it has two functions:
The oven upper burner “broiler”.
The oven bottom burner “bake function”.
I can turn on both of them together, and I can turn off one of them and keep the other on.

80 g is the weight of 2 green peppers I used.

75 g is the weight of 1 1/2 red peppers I used.

Peppers were not hot, but of course you can use hot peppers if you like spicy food.

Click here for the recipe of Al-Bhar Al-Halabi.

Here is a photo of ground Aleppo pepper, and click here to know more about it.

For Biwaz, you can use 1 – 2 regular tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes.

Here are larger photos for:
– Skewers
– Kabab on skewers
– Onion and sheep/lamb tail fat “liyeh” cubes on skewers
– Kabab and onion on oven dish before grilling
– Grilled kabab
– Grilled kabab

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 9th, 2015 at 6:35 PM and is filed under Syrian Cooking, To Aleppo With Love. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.