Sunday, February 3, 2013

311. Iraqi Fried Kebobs


These little fried kebobs (كباب عراقي مقلي) are somewhat of a cross between traditional kofta and fried iroog.
They are meaty and delicious, as well as packing quite a bit of vegetable goodness.
They go well with a simple farmer's salad or tabboula and maybe even some yogurt sauce.
For the sake of children, you may omit chili from the mixture, but some hotsauce on the side would definitely make things better!

I came across this recipe on Obsessive Cooking Disorder, who learnt it from her bibi (grandma). Recipes passed from one generation to the next are my favorite by far, so I really love it when people share these little nuggets of gold.
In fact, this recipe can give you two different kebobs: the first with the vegetables listed, and the second only with the onion (omitting the tomato, potato, and parsley).
I halved the original recipe and still got 15 pieces.



Ingredients:

500g ground meat
1 1/2 onions
1/2 bunch of parsley
1 small tomato
1 small potato
1 1/2 burger buns or 3 slices of bread
1/3 cup flour


Method:

Toast the bread in the a 350 F oven for 20 minutes or until bread dries out.
Let cool, place in food processor and grind until bread is fine in texture.

Mix onions and all the vegetables in the food processor until they reach a puree consistency.
Add vegetables to the meat mixtures.
Add the bread crumbs and mix well.
Add flour gradually, mixing between additions until you reach desired texture.
Mixture should be very firm and holds shape.
Add salt, black pepper, and Seven Spice to taste.

Heat oil in a frying pan.
Take a small amount of mixture and shape it into a thick log about as long as your hand.
Flatten the face of the kebob with the fingers of your other hand.
Place in oil and fry until red-brown in color.
Remove from oil and leave it on a paper towel to absorb the oil.

Serve hot with salad and sauces of choice.



 صحة و عافية

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

marhaba..this looks fantastic,,what is the difference between this and fried irooq..also is the potato boiled first? ty in advance nadia

Maryam said...

Hi Nadia!
The main difference is the meat content: fried iroog traditionally have little meat, or often no meat at all, and are served as a side dish. Iroog kebabs have much more meat and can be served as a main dish either in a sandwich or accompanied by a salad.

The potatoes are uncooked, just simply peeled and cut into chunks before pulverizing.

I hope this helps, and, as always, thanks for your visit.

Anonymous said...

Hi Maryam

Can dried breadcrumbs be used instead of the bread buns?

Thanks

Maryam said...

Hi!
Perhaps if you were to use breadcrumbs it would be better to use fresh breadcrumbs as they retain more moisture and are less dense than regular breadcrumbs. This has an impact on the final texture and taste of the fried kebobs.

I hope this helped!
Feel free to ask anytime.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for recipe I prayed for you for being so kind to share your recipes. I made these changes: I did not use bread crumbs I just used more flour. Instead of 7 spice I used tumeric, and curry since that's how I grew up eating it. this is an authentic Iraqi recipe at it's finest. Ah I forgotnto mentionni did not have parsley on hand so I used cilantro instead and to my surprise it was real good I also added like 4 big leaves of spinach for more nutrition. I couldn't taste the spinach which is good. Sarah-

Maryam said...

May Allah grant you the same and better as your duaa to others my dear sister Sarah.
Your creation sounds delectable! You have an ability masha Allah to adapt as per your liking/what is available which not many people have. Keep it up and Allhuma barik.