Iskander-kebab is a Turkish dish known throughout the world. It is considered the most popular kebab and the most common food in the assortment of fast food in Turkey. Here you can order it in any kebabchi - an institution that specializes in kebabs.
Dish description
The classic version of the dish is a piece of lamb lying on a piece of bread and sprinkled with tomato sauce and yogurt. But other options are possible: meat - not in a whole piece, but in the form of minced meat; not lamb, but for example chicken, beef, veal; from above it is poured with melted hot butter, served with fresh tomatoes and peppers and so on.
The dish iskander-kebab is very satisfying, like most oriental dishes. It is prepared using the same technology as the shawarma - thin pieces of meat are strung on a vertical pin and grilled. Photo of iskander-kebab can be seen in the article.
A bit of history
It is impossible to say exactly when and under what circumstances this dish was first prepared, but, as it was customary, there was a legend about its origin, and not one, but two. Which one to believe, let everyone decide for himself.
According to one of them, this kebab was named after Alexander the Great (the name Iskander is an Arabic analogue of the name Alexander). According to this legend, the great commander once used a flat cake instead of a plate on a halt and laid a piece of meat on it. Of course, he could not pour yogurt and tomato sauce at the time, but his descendants did it, and a modern version of the Iskander kebab appeared. It’s hard to believe in this story, but nevertheless it is spread among tourists who come to Turkey on vacation.
According to the second legend, the kebab was named in honor of one cook who lived long ago in the city of Bursa, and his name was Iskander effendi. And this cook decided one day to put the skewer in an upright position, because cooking in this way was more convenient than on the traditional horizontal: firstly, this design took up much less space, and secondly, the fried meat was not removed from the skewer cut off and immediately hit the prepared plate or dish. So the iskander-kebab appeared. And also no less popular shawarma.
Well, now it's time to go directly to the preparation of iskander-kebab recipes with photos that are presented below.
And it does not matter that the apartment does not have a special vertical skewer, the meat can be fried on a stove, in a pan or on a grill.
Beef Turkish Iskander Kebab
Required Products:
- 0.3 kg of beef (tenderloin);
- two tablespoons of vegetable oil;
- one onion;
- 50 g butter;
- one and a half tablespoons of tomato paste;
- salt and sugar;
- ground red pepper;
- natural yogurt;
- tortilla (oriental bread).
Order of preparation:
- Cut the meat into thin leaves, almost transparent, lightly fry in vegetable oil (do it very quickly) and salt.
- Cut the onion into thin half rings, put it on the meat, pepper with red pepper and fry to make it soft.
- Cut the bread into medium-sized pieces and dry in a pan, then transfer it to a dish.
- Put pieces of meat with onion on bread.
- To prepare the sauce, melt the butter, combine it with tomato paste, salt, add a little bit of granulated sugar and stew for a short time on the fire. After that, pour a glass of water, wait for a boil and leave on fire until the color changes (should become bright) and the sauce thickens. Salt the finished gravy to your liking.
- Pour meat over with sauce, and put yogurt or sour cream on a plate next to bread.
With minced meat
For this recipe you will need minced meat, for example, from lamb or veal. Minced meat is usually used minced, as for Turkish kebab. In addition to it, it is necessary to prepare the following products that are taken by eye:
- wheat unleavened tortilla;
- tomato sauce or salmon from tomatoes (ketchup and Krasnodar sauce will not work);
- vegetable oil for roasting minced meat;
- 1 onion;
- 1 egg
- kaymak or thick natural yogurt;
- ghee;
- two spoons of breadcrumbs;
- salt and ground black pepper.
If desired, pepper salmon, cumin, garlic, mint, thyme can be included in the iskander-kebab recipe.
To serve the finished meal you will need hot green pepper, which will need to be baked, and fresh tomatoes.
Order of preparation:
- Add ground chopped onion (garlic if desired), egg, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and other seasonings if desired. Stuff the minced meat and keep it in the refrigerator for half an hour.
- Make small patties out of the minced meat and fry them until golden brown in vegetable oil.
- Cut bread into pieces, lightly fry in a pan.
- Put pieces of bread on a plate, on them - minced meat patties, on minced meat - tomato sauce or bacon. Put kaymak or yogurt next to it. Pour with warmed ghee.
Serve with slices of fresh tomatoes and baked pods of hot pepper.
With boiled meat
What you need for 6 servings:
- Georgian pita bread;
- 0.5 kg of beef pulp;
- 250 ml of natural yogurt;
- 2 onions;
- 5 pieces of bell pepper;
- 100 ml of refined vegetable oil;
- 4 cloves of garlic;
- 4 tomatoes;
- two pinches of salt and ground black pepper.
Order of preparation:
- Put meat in a saucepan, add water and cook for one hour.
- Cool boiled meat and cut into thin slices.
- Fry the beef slices in a pan in vegetable oil for about 20 minutes, then salt and pepper.
- Finely chop the tomatoes, chop two cloves of garlic and both onions.
- Put the tomatoes in a separate pan and simmer for about 20 minutes, then add chopped garlic and onions to them and continue cooking for another 10 minutes.
- Place sweet pepper on the wire rack and put in the oven. Bake at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes.
- Cut the pita bread into six pieces.
- Squeeze the remaining two cloves of garlic into yogurt and mix.
- Put lavash, meat, pepper on a plate, pour with tomato sauce and yogurt.
With chicken
What do you need:
- four chicken breasts;
- four pita cakes;
- a spoon of olive oil;
- two onions;
- 150 g of tomato paste;
- 1 clove of garlic;
- ground cumin;
- coriander;
- 100 g butter;
- a glass of thick natural yogurt;
- ground black pepper;
- a bunch of fresh parsley;
- salt.
Order of preparation:
- Put the pits on a baking sheet, place in the oven and brown. Then cut the bread into pieces and wrap them in foil.
- Chopped chicken, chopped garlic and onion - finely. Dilute tomato sauce with water (three quarters of a glass). Chop parsley.
- Heat olive oil in a pan, put pieces of chicken, onion and garlic in it, fry over medium heat until the chicken becomes white.
- Pour tomato sauce into the chicken, add cumin, pepper and salt, simmer for about another ten minutes.
Expand the foil and put the pieces of bread on the dish, pour them with melted butter, put chicken on top, then yogurt and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Appetizing kebabs can be served on the table.
Lamb recipe
What do you need:
- 0.5 kg of lamb (pulp);
- 1 bell pepper;
- 2 tomatoes;
- one and a half tablespoons of tomato paste;
- a tablespoon of butter;
- a glass of natural yogurt;
- vegetable oil;
- ground black pepper;
- salt;
- thyme;
- a pack of yeast;
- two glasses of wheat flour;
- ½ teaspoon red hot pepper.
Order of preparation:
- Sift flour into a dish, put yeast and salt. Pour in warm water gradually and knead the dough, it should turn out soft. Cover it with a towel and leave it warm for 40 minutes to suit.
- Roll out the dough into a layer (about 1 cm thick), place it on a baking sheet and put in an oven, heated to 180 degrees, and bake for 20 minutes. The cake should turn out slightly ruddy.
- Cut the lamb pulp into thin slices or slices. Heat vegetable oil in a pan, fry the lamb in it, salt and pepper to taste.
- Cut the cake into small pieces, put them on a large plate, on them - yogurt.
- Separate stew, slightly salted, chopped peeled tomatoes and bell pepper. Simmer until soft - about 10 minutes.
- In a pan, combine butter, tomato paste, salt, ground pepper, thyme. Pour water into the mixture, mix and warm on a stove over moderate heat to make a sauce of medium consistency and homogeneous.
- Slices of lamb, stewed tomatoes with pepper on yogurt cakes, then pour sauce.
Cooking recommendations
For iskander-kebabs, a fresh cut of lamb or beef is best - it cooks faster and turns out softer. Before you cut the meat into thin translucent plates, you need to slightly freeze it, so it will be easier to cope with the task.
It is necessary to fry the meat plates in vegetable oil very quickly, otherwise it will boil and be too hard. When the meat is ready, put onions on it and put in a warm place. You can fry tortillas and kebab meat on the grill by putting them on the grill, as in the photo below.
Further actions need to be performed quickly, so the bread should be cut in advance. This can be done both with medium pieces and rather small cubes.
Yogurt can be replaced with thick kefir, yogurt, sour cream, kaimak. Most often it is placed not on top of bread and meat, but next to it, on the free part of the plate.
Serving the dish is recommended in an oblong clay dish. There should be enough sauce to soak both meat and bread.
Summary
Home-made kebab iskander does not cook too fast, but it does not present any special difficulties, but its main difference from fast food is the ability to use healthy ingredients.