Orange Blossom Water

Kabab Bathenjan (Eggplant Kabab) is Aleppine dish that consists of grilled lamb meatball and grilled eggplants, served with a mixture of sauteed onion and peppers.

Let’s make Kabab Bathenjan:

1, 2. Put fat free ground lamb meat in a bowl.

3, 4. In the photo this is ground sheep/lamb tail fat “liyeh”.

5, 6. Add ground sheep/lamb tail fat “liyeh” to ground meat.

7 to 14. To meat and liyeh, add 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper, 1/4 teaspoon al-bhar al-halabi (bhar al-daqqa al-halabi), 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.

15, 16. Mix meat, liyeh and spices together until combined.

17, 18, 19, 20. Divide meat mixture into balls. Each ball equals to 35 grams. Set aside.

17. Bring 2 long eggplants, the weight of both of them is 335 grams.

18, 19, 20. Wash and rinse eggplants with water.

25, 26, 27. Cut of  the cap and the stem.

28, 29, 30, 31. Cut eggplants into 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) thick slices. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Traditionally Kabab is grilled on charcoal grill, but I used the oven.

32. Prepare skewers. The skewers I used are long, flat, and narrow. Wood skewers must be soaked in water.

33 to 44. Start with eggplants. First piece should be the bottom part of eggplant, thread eggplant onto skewer then the meatball. Repeat the process, maintain the order of the eggplant pieces, alternate meatball and eggplants while skewring. End with the top part of eggplant.

45, 46, 47, 48. Put skewers on an oven dish. The skewers should not touch the bottom of the dish.

49, 50, 51, 52. 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 turn them from time to time till grilled evenly in all sides.

53 to 62. Transfer kabab into a clean oven dish.

63. In a small bowl, put corn oil.

64. Put the bowl of corn oil inside the dish of grilled kabab.

65, 66, 67, 68, 69. Bring coal and burn it on stove till red.

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

71. Coal will produce smoke.

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

73. Discard the oil and the coal.

74, 75, 76. Add 100 ml water to the dish of grilled kabab.

77, 78, 79, 80. Cover the dish with aluminum foil, and put in the oven at 210 – 300 °F (100 – 150 °C) for 15 – 20 minutes.

81, 82. Meanwhile slice white onion lengthwise. First cut onion in half as you would normal slice an onion, the slice lengthwise into strips.

83, 84. Measure 100 grams onion strips, and set aside.

85. Bring green bell pepper and red bell pepper.

86. Slice green pepper into strips similar to onions. First, cut out the stem, then slice pepper in half lengthwise, then into quarters, then remove the seeds and ribs, then slice into strips.

87, 88. Measure 75 grams green pepper strips, and set aside.

90. Slice red pepper into strips similar to onions. First, cut out the stem, then slice pepper in half lengthwise, then into quarters, then remove the seeds and ribs, then slice into strips.

91, 92. Measure 75 grams red pepper strips, and set aside.

93, 94. In a pan, put 25 grams unsalted butter.

95. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil to butter.

96. Turn on heat and melt butter.

97, 98. Add onion strips to butter, and saute onion on medium heat until tender, do not turn into golden brown.

99, 100, 101, 102. Add pepper strips to onion strips, and toss until crisp-tender.

103. Season the mixture of onion strips and pepper strips with 1/8 teaspoon al-bhar al-halabi (bhar al-daqqa al-halabi) and 1/8 teaspoon salt.

105, 106, 107, 108. In a pan, 1/2 teaspoon heat ghee, add pine nuts and keep until golden brown in color, then remove and place on paper towel and set aside.

109 to 116. Serve Kabab Bathenjan in a serving plate with sauteed onion and peppers, and garnish with pine nuts.

Laban Bi-Khiar

Prepare this early so you serve it cold with hot Kabab Bathenjan.

117. In a bowl, put yogurt.

118. Add water to yougurt, and whisk.

119, 120. Cut cucumber into small cubes.

121, 122. Add cucumber cubes to yogurt.

123, 124. Season with salt, and keep it in the fridge until time for serving.

125. Serve Kabab Bathenjan hot with Laban Bi-Khiar, Biwaz, and Arabic flat bread.

Kabab Bathenjan

From: Chef Mohammad Orfali / Servings: 2 People
PDF Text Only / Print With Images

300 g fat free ground lamb meat 75 g ground sheep/lamb tail fat “liyeh” 1 tsp ground Aleppo pepper 1/4 tsp al-bhar al-halabi 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp black pepper 2 long eggplants 1/2 tsp salt, for eggplants 100 ml water 100 g white onion strips 75 g green bell pepper strips 75 g red bell pepper strips 25 g unsalted butter 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil 1/8 tsp al-bhar al-halabi 1/8 tsp salt 1/2 tsp ghee, for pine nuts 1/8 cup pine nuts Laban Bi-Khiar 300 g yogurt 125 ml water 1 medium cucumber, cut into small cubes 1 tsp salt To Serve Biwaz Arabic flat bread

Put Put fat free ground lamb meat in a bowl. Add ground sheep/lamb tail fat “liyeh” to ground meat. To meat and liyeh, add 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper, 1/4 teaspoon al-bhar al-halabi (bhar al-daqqa al-halabi), 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Mix meat, liyeh and spices together until combined. Divide meat mixture into balls. Each ball equals to 35 grams. Set aside. Bring 2 long eggplants, the weight of both of them is 335 grams. Wash and rinse eggplants with water. Cut of the cap and the stem. Cut eggplants into 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) thick slices. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Traditionally Kabab is grilled on charcoal grill, but I used the oven. Prepare skewers. The skewers I used are long, flat, and narrow. Wood skewers must be soaked in water. Start with eggplants. First piece should be the bottom part of eggplant, thread eggplant onto skewer then the meatball. Repeat the process, maintain the order of the eggplant pieces, alternate meatball and eggplants while skewering. End with the top part of eggplant. Put skewers on an oven dish. The skwers should not touch the bottom of 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 the kabab and turn them from time to time till grilled evenly in all sides. Transfer kabab into a clean oven dish. In a small bowl, put corn oil. Put the bowl of corn oil inside the dish of grilled kabab. 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 meatballs taste similar to the taste you get from grilling them on charcoal grill. Discard the oil and the coal. Add 100 ml water to the dish of grilled kabab. Cover the dish with aluminum foil, and put in the oven at 210 – 300 °F (100 – 150 °C) for 15 – 20 minutes. Meanwhile slice white onion lengthwise. First cut onion in half as you would normal slice an onion, the slice lengthwise into strips. Measure 100 grams onion strips, and set aside. Bring green bell pepper and red bell pepper. Slice green pepper into strips similar to onions. First, cut out the stem, then slice pepper in half lengthwise, then into quarters, then remove the seeds and ribs, then slice into strips. Measure 75 grams green pepper strips, and set aside. Slice red pepper into strips similar to onions. First, cut out the stem, then slice pepper in half lengthwise, then into quarters, then remove the seeds and ribs, then slice into strips. Measure 75 grams red pepper strips, and set aside. In a pan, put 25 grams unsalted butter. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil to butter. Turn on heat and melt butter. Add onion strips to butter, and saute onion on medium heat until tender, do not turn into golden brown. Add pepper strips to onion strips, and toss until crisp-tender. Season the mixture of onion strips and pepper strips with 1/8 teaspoon al-bhar al-halabi (bhar al-daqqa al-halabi) and 1/8 teaspoon salt. In a pan, 1/2 teaspoon heat ghee, add pine nuts and keep until golden brown in color, then remove and place on paper towel and set aside. Serve Kabab Bathenjan in a serving plate with sauteed onion and peppers, and garnish with pine nuts. Laban Bi-Khiar Prepare this early so you serve it cold with hot Kabab Bathenjan. In a bowl, put yogurt. Add water to yougurt, and whisk. Cut cucumber into small cubes. Add cucumber cubes to yogurt. Season with salt, and keep it in the fridge until time for serving. Serve Kabab Bathenjan hot with Laban Bi-Khiar, Biwaz 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.

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

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

This entry was posted on Friday, March 31st, 2017 at 5:59 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.