INGREDIENTS:

1 lb ground lamb (80/20) ratio lean to fat
1 medium onion, grated
1/4 cup Bengal gram flour or 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg, slightly beaten (optional)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon Garam masala (optional)
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground sumac
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cloves garlic, minced fine
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper corns (Tellicherry)
Fresh mint leaves, chopped fine (scant handful) or 1/2 teaspoon ground mint
Fresh coriander, chopped fine (scant handful) or 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 lemon juiced
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
8 flat metal skewers

Drain the juice from the grated onion very well.  Mix all ingredients well; cover and refrigerate overnight.  Divide the meat into 8 portions.  Press each portion around long metal skewers and shape evenly (you're looking for a sausage shape).   Place the skewers a few inches away from the grill coals.   Turn frequently to brown and then cook each side for a few minutes. 

Serve with roasted peppers, tomato quarters, onion quarters, saffron or yellow rice, lavish flat bread and Tzatziki sauce.

YIELD:  8 Kabab (Kabob) Koobidehs

Kabab Koobideh is normally made from beef and lamb and the range of spices used in the recipe can go from several ingredients to a dozen or more.  Lamb is spiced up more so than  beef.   You can use a food processor to chop the onion, mint, garlic, coriander, spices if desired and add the mixture to the ground lamb and flour and/or bread crumbs.  Many TV show food chefs are pan frying the Koobideh rather than grilling them.  One thing is for certain, they stay together much easier than grilling on a skewer but then you are getting away from the traditional way of doing a Kabab (kabob).  This type of Kabab is similar to the Greek Gyro meat that is roasted on a vertical spit of which sandwiches are called Gyros.

Click on sequence thumbnails pixs below for a larger view:

Above Kabab Koobideth grilled on 09-10-12 and came out very well.  My bride is not a big fan of lamb and the Mediterranean spices used but I developed a taste for those spices many decades ago while overseas in Morocco.  One thing is for certain, if you are grilling the Kabab Koobideh, you need a wide flat metal skewer to keep the kabab from rotating around on the skewer since there is about 20 percent fat content in the meat mixture and they do not cling to the skewers that well!  

I have a 2/3 HP electric meat grinder but used the small hand crank one since it is much easier to clean than the larger unit and with only a pound of meat to grind, seemed like the "work smarter not harder" philosophy.  

Web posted by Bill aka Mickey Porter 07-28-12 with pixs added on 09-10-12.

LEAVING ON A SPIRITUAL NOTE