Afelia's Lamb Kebabs
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1.5 kg lamb mince
  • 2 medium onions peeled
  • 4 - 5 large green chillies (this is a mild kebab, adjust for a spicier kebab)
  • 2 stalks of celery
  • ½ a bunch of coriander
  • 1 tbsp minced ginger
  • 1 tbsp minced garlic
  • 1 thick slice of bread (equivalent to 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs)
  • 1 level tbsp salt (or to your taste)
Method
  1. I don't wash my mince and would recommend you don't wash it either as washing removes fat and flavour and is an unnecessary step. Ask your butcher to wash the meat prior to mincing if it bothers you.
  2. Tear the slice of bread by hand and place in your mini chopper/food processor...
  3. blitz until fine. Place the fresh breadcrumbs in a large mixing bowl and leave to one side.
  4. To make chopping the ingredients in the mini chopper easier, chop the 2 onions into quarters, roughly chop the coriander (this stops the coriander spinning around the centre of the chopper)....
  5. and roughly chop the 2 stalks of celery. Place the ingredients into the mini chopper (in batches if your food processor is small like mine) and blitz until very fine, I started with the 2 onions, 5 chillies and half of the coriander. Blitz to a fine pulp, DON'T add any water!
  6. Next I blitzed the 2 stalks of celery and the remaining coriander.
  7. Add all the blitzed ingredients to the bowl with the breadcrumbs and add 1 tbsp of ginger and 1 tbsp of garlic.
  8. Next add the lamb mince, followed by 1 level tbsp of salt. Mix well by hand and ensure the pulped ingredients combine with the mince.
  9. Kebabs have a tendency to reduce in size after being cooked which is why it's important to mould them largely to start off with. I take a large portion of mincemeat and use the base of my palm as a measure of how large each kebab should be. At this point it is always a wise idea to test a small kebab for seasoning; pan fry, grill or air fry a small kebab and taste, adjust if necessary.
  10. Carry on moulding them and place them on a plastic chopping board or flat surface to freeze. I find these flexible boards extremely useful as the kebabs don't stick to the boards and release with ease after being frozen.
  11. As an alternative to the Shami Kebab shape, you can also mould these as Kebab Pops (my daughter invented this name). Soak some cocktail sticks in some water, this prevents the sticks burning when the Kebab Pops are baked in the oven/airfryer. Take a small amount of mincemeat and shape into an oval shaped ball, then place a cocktail stick into the ball. Place the Kebab Pops on a flat surface and freeze.
  12. When you want to cook the Shami Kebabs you can cook them from frozen, pan fry them for about 10 mins either side or oven bake them for 30 - 40 mins (depending on how brown you want them). Use a good quality non stick pan to prevent the kebabs sticking and turn over once you have a nice brown colour. Serve this with a delicious Greek Tzatziki sauce. It's a delicious cooling Greek yoghurt and cucumber sauce that goes perfectly with these kebabs and makes a nice change to the usual ketchup we serve with most snacks.
Recipe by www.afeliaskitchen.com at https://www.afeliaskitchen.com/afelias-lamb-kebabs/