Lahmakebab

Lahmacun (also lahmajun and other spellings) is a round, thin piece of dough topped with minced meat (most commonly beef or lamb), minced vegetables, herbs and spices. It’s an middle eastern dish.

I think its an effort at times to make small mince mixes so I decided well I aint having any of that…so here you have Lahmakebab!

I used kebab mix (I always make extra for my seekh kebabs simply for making Lahmakebabs!), added some more powdered spices, especially cinnamon powder, chilli, smokey paprika, tomato puree and proceeded to construct my Lahmakebab.

It really is delicious. Add whatever toppings you like! Experiment…build your flavours just as you would with pizzas!

To make Lahmakebab, the idea is to spread the spiced meat topping very thinly across the dough. You can bake the Lahmakebab briefly until the topping is well cooked through and the flatbread turns nice and crispy around the edges. I usually grill mine.

So here’s my take on a very classic dish which I have made a hybrid fusion of both Indian and Middle East.

I’ve used pitta bread this time, however I often use tortilla wraps or any flat bread that I can get my hands on.

I love these, they are amazing as party finger foods, a great build your own family meal and amazing as a part of a mezze!

If you’re using existing kebab mix, just add a little more ground spices, tomato puree and cinnamon powder.
If you’re starting from scratch use recipe mix below.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb chicken mince
1 tsp ginger
3 tbsp chilli flakes
2 oz green bell pepper minced
2 tbsp garlic
2 tbsp coarse black pepper
2 tbsp dried methi leaves
2 tbsp coriander powder
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
3 tsp salt
2 med onions finely minced.
1 cup fresh chopped coriander
8 green chillies mince
2 tbsp oil
Small wedge of butter if using lean chicken.

METHOD:

Mince all the fresh ingredients and then add this to your mince. Add your spices, butter and oil and really mix well.

Knead this for a good 5 mins.

Use a baking tray with foil. Place your flat bread. Add ball of mince on top and flatten out. Leave finger imprints and either baste or drizzle finely with oil or spray oil.

Grill in the middle 220 Celsius oven untill bread is slightly crispy and brown at edges and mince is cooked.

I serve mine with some finely sliced shallots, a scatter of fresh chopped chillies, chopped smokey roasted red peppers, umptious wee touch of Tahini and a generous, in my case, drizzle of chilli oil!

Wrap it, taste it and savour it!