Recipe for making lula kebab at home. Video recipes for cooking kebab at home

Outwardly, the kebab resembles oblong cutlets. This dish of Eastern and Caucasian cuisines is actually prepared from minced meat, but this is where its similarity with meatballs ends. Minced meat for kebab is made without the addition of eggs, potatoes, bread, semolina or other binders. Its composition is simple, but it is necessary to observe the proportions, besides, it is important to strictly adhere to the traditional technology for making minced meat for kebab. Otherwise, it won't be firm enough to stick to skewers and hold its shape when baked in the oven or pan-fried.

Cooking features

Without knowing some of the subtleties, the correct minced meat for kebab cannot be made. If you follow the traditional technology of its preparation, kebabs will come out appetizing and fried on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside, while not falling apart and not losing their shape.

• Traditionally, lamb is used for kebab, but today minced meat for this dish is made from all types of meat, often even mixing them. The taste of the finished dish depends on this, but in any case it will be wonderful if high-quality and fresh meat was used. That is, it is best to take the pulp, ideally - tenderloin or meat from the shoulder blade. If poultry meat is used, it is better to combine breast and leg meat so that the minced meat is juicier.
• Minced meat for kebab is not made from frozen meat, as it turns out to be loose and dry.
• Meat for minced meat must be chopped with a special hatchet or a heavy knife. To do this, the meat is usually cut into flat pieces about 1 cm wide. The pieces are placed on top of each other in two or three. Then they are cut in one direction, then in the other - perpendicular to the previous one, you can also cut them diagonally. Then the chopped meat is collected to the center, rammed and chopped in this way again. The process continues until all the meat is minced. In extreme cases, the use of a meat grinder is allowed, but then the meat should be turned through a grate with large holes. Such a laborious method of preparing minced meat for kebab is not just a tribute to tradition. If the meat is turned through a grate with small holes, it will lose a lot of juice during the grinding process, as a result of which the kebab will turn out to be not juicy enough. That is why you should not take purchased minced meat for kebab - you will have to make it yourself.
• As already mentioned, the minced meat for kebab does not include those products that hold the minced meat for cutlets together. They are replaced in it with fat tail fat or lard. Ideally, for 1 kg of meat, you need to take 300 g of lard or fat, although you can reduce their amount to 100–200 g, especially if you are going to bake kebabs in the oven or fry in a pan. Ground beef is prepared with the addition of a significant amount of bacon, it can be put less in pork. Sometimes lard is not put into minced chicken at all, although for cooking kebab on the grill it is better if lard is still included in the minced meat.
• Fat tail fat or lard must be carefully chopped before mixing with minced meat. They can be chopped in the same way as meat, but can be chopped in another way. For example, cool fat tail fat and grate on a coarse grater. Cut the salo into small pieces and chop with a blender. If it acquires a pasty consistency, it is even better: it will be evenly distributed and hold the minced meat together.
• An important component of minced meat for kebab is onion, and you should not refuse it, even though it releases a lot of juice. You just don’t need to chop the onion in a blender or turn it through a meat grinder - chop it finely with a knife. besides, when adding onions, it does not hurt to observe the measure. For 1 kg of meat, 200 g of onions is enough, although sometimes they put more of it.
• Salt, ground pepper, cumin, turmeric, coriander, dried herbs, and fresh herbs are also added to minced meat for kebab. You can focus on your taste, it is only important not to overdo it. Additionally, you can put in minced meat, deviating from the traditional recipe, cheese, sweet peppers instead of onions, boiled and finely chopped eggs, but these ingredients should not be too much in minced meat, since they are not in the traditional recipe.
• Kneading is important when preparing minced meat for kebab. You need to knead the base component with your hands for quite a long time, at least 15 minutes, usually 20-25 minutes. After that, beat the minced meat well, placing it in a bag to protect it from splashes. As a result, the meat base should turn out to be very dense and viscous.

Ready minced meat before cooking kebab is advised to cool for at least an hour. Thanks to this, it will become even denser, it will be easier to form kebabs from it, they will sit on skewers more firmly.

Minced meat recipe for kebab

• meat (lamb, beef, pork, chicken) - 1 kg;
• tail fat or lard - 0.2–0.3 kg;
• onions or bell peppers - 0.2–0.25 kg;
• fresh herbs (cilantro, parsley, dill, basil) - 100 g;
• hard cheese (optional) - 50-100 g;
• garlic (optional) - 2-4 cloves;
• salt, spices and spices - to taste.

Cooking method:

• Wash and dry the meat. Chop it with a special hatchet to the state of minced meat or scroll through a meat grinder using a grate with large holes.
• Pass through a meat grinder or grind in any other way fat tail fat or lard. Mix with minced meat.
• Peel the onion (or pepper). Cut into small cubes. You can take 100 g of pepper and onion. The traditional recipe calls for only onions, but modern recipes allow peppers to be substituted. Especially often the latter is added to minced chicken.
• Mix the minced meat with the vegetable component.
• If you decide to use garlic, squeeze it into minced meat. It goes well with minced pork and poultry meat.
• If you want to give the dish unusual notes, grate hard cheese and mix it with minced meat. It is preferable to use cheese only in those cases when the kebab is cooked in the oven. When cooking on the grill, it is better to stick to the traditional recipe with a minimum of ingredients (meat, lard, onions and herbs).
• Chop the greens, add to the minced meat along with salt and spices.
• Knead the minced meat well with your hands (you need to knead from 20 minutes).
• Put the minced meat in a bag, beat it off on a cutting board.
• Transfer the minced meat from the bag to a bowl, cover and refrigerate.

After an hour, you can form kebabs from minced meat and cook them in any of the chosen ways.

If the minced meat for kebab is prepared correctly, the appearance and taste of the finished dish will not disappoint you.

Like any other, it has its own characteristics - for example, the oblong “sausages” you get, taken from, traditionally include lamb, which is finely chopped with sharp knives, fat tail fat is added to them for juiciness and to achieve a certain consistency.

However, this is a classic. If you do not want to follow the traditions, these subtleties are not necessary. Minced meat can be cooked in a blender if you do not have the desire to grind lamb with a knife or hatchets. By the way, instead of it, you can take pork or chicken - it will be just as tasty.

Next, we will tell you how to make a kebab correctly so that you are recognized, if not as a chef, then as a born culinary specialist. Below are the main recommendations, some recipes and videos to make it easier for you to cope with this dish if you are just getting to know it.

Manually or through a meat grinder: cooking minced meat

This process requires skill, it is also rich in nuances, adherence to which is desirable, but not necessary. Why? Because even meat passed through a blender will be as juicy as chopped with a knife, if you follow all the rules.

So, what do we hear if the conversation turns to the reference kebab on coals?

Lamb, pork, beef or chicken must be chopped finely, carefully, by hand.

Onion must be added to minced meat. You can add fat tail fat if the piece you took is not fat enough.

The basis for the dish must be cooled - for this it is removed for several hours in the refrigerator.

Now, how do we do it. Turns out it's all about the fat. It must be taken in the following ratio - a third of the harvested meat. Maybe a little more, but definitely not less. Another ingredient, without which it is difficult to imagine - onions. If you do not like it, you can not add it - it will be tasty and juicy without it. But if you still decide to chop it, be careful - the more it is, the more likely the minced meat will slip onto the coals during frying. And we don't need this. So we take the same amount - about ⅓ of the weight of lamb, pork, beef, chicken.

So, we have prepared all the components. It remains to put them into action. What we do:

We chop all the products (meat, onions, garlic) by hand with a sharp knife or hatchets, making sure that their tip falls flat. When minced meat sticks to the metal, it is necessary to dip the hatchets in boiling water so that they warm up well. If there is no opportunity to use "piercing-cutting" tools, we grind the selected piece - either in a blender or in a conventional meat grinder.

Fat (if we use it) is brought to a certain consistency - it should resemble a paste that will reliably “glue” all the ingredients and will not allow the structure we created on skewers to fall apart.

The resulting mass is thoroughly kneaded, achieving an even distribution of products.

After that, add salt (1 tablespoon without a slide per kg), pepper to taste, other seasonings (ground coriander, cumin, paprika), herbs (for example, cilantro).

Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into the minced meat and mix again so that all the components are saturated with it.

Our base is ready. We put it in a suitable dish, cover the latter with foil, do not forget to make a couple of holes in it. We send it to the refrigerator for 2-2.5 hours. During this time, the fat inside the mass will harden, making it plastic.

Since we need to learn how to properly cook kebab, we are also interested in another important question - how to give it the desired shape and place it on skewers? Answer:

Option number 1 - we sculpt an oblong "sausage" right on the skewer.

Option number 2 - with hands dipped in hot water (so that the minced meat does not stick), we give the mass the desired shape - a perfectly smooth cutlet without cracks. After we string it on a metal rod and carefully distribute the meat along the length. There should be no holes or voids inside.

Preparing the grill or barbecue

Here are the conditions necessary for perfectly cooked meat:

High temperatures

"gray" coals

You can’t fry on “red” coals - the temperature they give will not be enough for the minced meat to seize and not fall apart. As soon as the ashes appear, we use skewers covered with meat mixed with fat, onions, and spices. Patience - soon the most juicy and delicious dish will be ready.

How long to cook kebab?

Approximately 5-7 minutes - during this time the minced meat should be covered with a golden crust on all sides. If juice flows from the tip, then you did everything right, congratulations! It remains only to call the guests to the table and prepare a side dish - fresh vegetables with green lettuce, baked on eggplant, mushrooms, tomatoes.

Another option is the original appetizer called Turkish dip. For her, we need sweet peppers (2 pieces are enough), a glass of ordinary yogurt, a little hot sauce (chili, tabasco), crushed garlic clove, 100 g of soft cheese, salt and vegetable oil (1 tablespoon). We cut the peppers in half and bake on a wire rack until they become tender, then remove the skin from them and leave the vegetables for a few minutes to cool the flesh. Then finely chop it and put it in a bowl. We also add garlic with salt, sauce, butter, yogurt, cheese. The resulting mixture is turned into a puree in a blender bowl. That's all. You can try our main dish.

Beginner mistakes: what not to do when cooking kebab

Adding semolina, soaked bread crumb, eggs

Don't forget: we're not making meatballs. We need only those ingredients that we already wrote about above: meat, onions, lard.

Insufficient heat

We repeat: the coals must be gray. If they are scarlet when you put the skewers on them, the meat will slide off the rod.

Lots of onions

If you add too many onions, the minced meat will be too juicy and will fall apart during the cooking process. So make sure everything is in moderation.

Stuffing with veins and films

Let's face it: such a dish will be simply unpleasant to eat. So in advance, remove all films and cores that cannot be chopped with a knife.

Onions passed through a meat grinder

In this case, a lot of juice is released from it, which is good during roasting, but not in the preparation process.

Excess spices

It is best not to overpower the taste of the meat itself and add them with care. If you want only juiciness and tenderness of lamb, your option is with salt and black pepper. Nothing extra.

"Unfinished" minced meat

That is, the one that was poorly kneaded. Do not forget: the longer you conjure over the mass, the more homogeneous and plastic it becomes. This will help her stay on the skewer and become a juicy kebab. If you are not sure that you have worked long enough, try to beat off the base - lifting it off the table or board and throwing it with force.

Lots of fat tail

This ingredient is one of the most important in the original recipe. But if you add too much fat, as soon as it starts to melt, your "sausages" on skewers will fall apart.

coals in the water

If the water with which you wet your hands during modeling and molding gets on the coals, they can not only go out, but they will also give the lamb (beef, pork) the emitted smoke with a far from the most pleasant smell.

How to cook tasty grilled kebab at home: recipes

This dish is almost impossible to radically change - yet we are used to the classic version. It is difficult for many to imagine something different with the same ingredients. But there are several ways to diversify the taste:

Do not be afraid to take different types of meat. For example, a chicken, as Glorious Friend did. Watch and be inspired. You can also use beef, lamb and even - for those who are on a diet - turkey. But the traditional dish is still made from lamb and lamb fat, so if you make it from another product, please come up with a different name for your culinary discovery.

Make minced meat a little sweet. In no case do not take fresh fruits - only dry ones (dried apricots, prunes), chopped into small pieces.

Add new spices - for example, ginger, ground to a powder, mustard seeds, turmeric. Or lemongrass, Chinese root (galangal) - if you can find those options.

And here are some proven recipes for those who want variety, even if we are talking about a traditional dish that is prepared strictly according to the rules. Since the process of making kebab has been described in detail above, we will indicate only the necessary ingredients.

with pork

the meat itself (1 kg);

3 onion heads;

8 cloves of garlic;

lemon juice;

pepper (black or red);

with beef

meat (2 kg);

lamb fat (about 500 g);

3-4 medium onions;

ground pepper or pre-crushed in a mortar;

coriander;

With mixed mince

1 kg of both lamb and beef;

finely chopped greens (cilantro, parsley);

2-3 heads of red onion;

5-6 garlic cloves;

nutmeg;

chilli;

Finally, you can watch a video from Glorious Friend: he tells what minced meat should be like and shows how to make one of the most delicious Arabic dishes at home, which we eat with pleasure and love for its great aroma and juiciness.

In this article, we told you how to cook a good kebab and gave a recipe with photos and videos. It remains to be recalled that a barbecue is still more suitable for this dish, but a delicious appetizer of baked vegetables can also be made on a kamado. Learn something new every day and show off your skills at picnics. Good luck and bon appetit!

It is difficult to say to which cuisine of the peoples of the world such a dish as Lula-kebab belongs. Traveling through the countries of the Balkan Peninsula, Asia, the Caucasus, you will definitely be offered to try this wonderful delicacy.

Necessary ingredients for cooking lula kebab

At first glance, kebab looks very similar to a traditional barbecue, but this is far from being the case. If we usually cook whole pieces of meat on coals, then kebab is a juicy cutlet that just melts in your mouth. Everyone can string meat for barbecue on a skewer, but to cook kebab you need to have certain culinary skills.

So, if you want to treat your friends with an original picnic dish, feel free to take on the preparation of kebab. For this you will need the following ingredients:

• meat - 1 kg;
• fat - 0.3 kg;
• onion - 0.3 kg;
• salt - 1 tablespoon;
• ground black pepper - 1 teaspoon;
• dried basil - 1 teaspoon.

The main ingredient of this dish is, of course, meat. Southerners traditionally use lamb, the youngest and freshest, and by no means frozen. But if it is absent, then chicken, beef, pork and even cold cuts can be used for cooking.

Minced meat preparation

The crucial stage is to clean the meat from all veins and films. This is necessary so that the minced meat is tender and uniform, and hard lumps do not come across while eating. The same requirement applies to fat. We pass the meat through a meat grinder with a large grate - this is a prerequisite.

The second ingredient is lard. Traditional recipes use fat tail fat. But if there is none, then the usual non-salted lard will do. First, it needs to be slightly frozen, which will greatly facilitate cutting. Then chop with a sharp knife into very small pieces. The viscosity of minced meat depends on fat, so its amount should be approximately 1/3 of the total mass.

The third ingredient is onion, which is also finely chopped. To prepare a kebab, its pieces must be dry and give their juice only inside the cutlet during frying, so you can not grind the onion through a meat grinder or cut it too finely. Wet onion gruel will make the minced meat more liquid, and it will be impossible to fix it on a skewer.

Next, we proceed to knead the ingredients. This is a responsible procedure that takes at least 10 minutes, but it is she who helps to form the mass of the desired viscosity. In the process of kneading, protein is released, which forms a kind of fibers that give the minced meat the desired consistency.

Next, pepper and salt. We put spices in moderation, since there is a risk of losing the juiciness of the meat. No fillers are used. The entire viscosity of minced meat is provided by lard. Again carefully mix the resulting mass.

Thorough kneading is the culinary secret that helps to easily cope with such a dish as kebab. During this time, the mass is compacted, becomes homogeneous, and lard and onions are evenly distributed in it. The mixture is considered ready when it easily separates from the palms. Be sure to cool the minced meat for several hours (but do not freeze) so that the fat freezes. This will allow you to string cutlets without any problems.

Rules for skewering and frying procedure

Now you can form the kebab. We prepare flat skewers and warm salted water. Wetting our hands in it, we form cutlets weighing 120-140 g, then we put them on a skewer. At the same time, slightly turning it, we distribute the mass along the plate, forming a kind of sausage. It is very important that the edges of the cutlets fit well to the skewer, and there are no voids in the middle, otherwise the juice may boil in them and the kebab will tear. The thickness of the meat sausage should be approximately 3.5 cm, then it will be well fried.

To speed up the cooking of a dish in nature, you can pre-form portioned sausages and wrap them individually in a film, which is removed just before frying.

Now the kebab is ready to go to the grill. The frying process lasts 10-12 minutes, while turning the skewers often so that the cutlets cook evenly and remain juicy inside.

The readiness of the dish can be determined by the ruddy crust. It is necessary to ensure that the coals do not smoke from the melted fat, otherwise the meat will be saturated with a pungent odor. You can also fry tomatoes and sweet peppers on a skewer, and use them as a side dish along with lettuce, onions, olives, fresh tomatoes and pita bread. Any hot sauce will be a great addition to your culinary masterpiece.

Secrets of cooking kebab at home

If it is not possible to go out into nature and cook kebab on an open fire, do not be upset. It is quite possible to fry it at home in the oven, stringing cutlets on wooden skewers using the technology described above. So that they do not burn in the oven, they must first be soaked in water.

Using these little tricks, you can safely take on the preparation of kebab. And the relatives and friends invited to the table will undoubtedly appreciate your culinary skills. Enjoy your meal!

Outcome

Knowing the secrets of cooking kebab, you can easily replace the usual kebabs with an unusual and interesting dish and surprise your friends on your next trip to nature or relaxing in your summer cottage. By choosing high-quality products and frying minced meat correctly, you will get an exquisite delicacy that can be prepared even at home.

Video of cooking kebab at home

Video: specialist recommendations for cooking kebab on the grill

The article describes the ancient recipe cooking kebab. This recipe has come down to our days from time immemorial, but still enjoys well-deserved popularity not only in the Caucasus and Central Asia, but in many countries of the world. Lyulya kebab is a kind of lamb cutlets that are fried like shish kebab on skewers over the coals of the grill. But a properly prepared kebab is much superior in taste and especially juiciness to shish kebab and other dishes cooked on the grill.

Cooking a real kebab is a real art, but if you strictly follow all the rules of cooking and treat this activity with all your heart, then any man can cook this yummy. After all, the preparation of this oriental dish should only be done by men. Barbecue, coals, hatchet, meat - not a woman's business.

To prepare a kebab, you need to prepare the necessary tools and accessories. As mentioned above, you need a barbecue and skewers, as well as firewood for coals. I won’t talk about firewood in this article - cooking shish kebab is common in our regions. The coals are cooked like a barbecue. A meat grinder is not suitable for minced meat, so you need to find a deck for chopping meat, a stump or a very thick and heavy kitchen board made from natural wood. You also need to prepare two large kitchen knives, long with a wide blade, heavy. Or two kitchen axes with even (not rounded) blades. Hatches should be of equal weight with thick, heavy blades.

The lower hatchet in the photo is a great tool for making kebab. And on the top hatchet, made in China, metal savings are visible - the blade is three times thinner than the bottom one. This hatchet is too light and almost not suitable for minced meat.

The main components of the products for the preparation of lula are lamb pulp of any fat content, fat tail fat and onions. Moreover, the replacement of these products is not permissible - it will not be a kebab!

Lamb must be fresh (not from the freezer) with a pleasant appearance and smell. Lamb is separated from the bones and all veins and films are removed from the pulp, then cut into large identical pieces. The deck or board must first be grated so that the chips do not chip off and fall into the minced meat. Put the meat on the board in a circle and, raising and lowering the hands with hatchets, chop until smooth. But - without fanaticism, you should get a homogeneous minced meat, not a cream.

When chopping, fat sticks to the blades of axes and meat begins to stick to them. To eliminate this, you need to periodically lower the hatchets into boiling water - fat will not stick to the heated hatchet.

Put the prepared minced meat in a clean metal bowl and add finely chopped fat tail fat and finely chopped onion. Before slicing, lard should be placed in the freezer so that it freezes and is easier to cut. Cut the onion as small as possible, but carefully, with a very sharp knife. Cut instead of chopping, and don't crush to keep the juice. A properly cut onion is dry to the touch.

For three kilograms of lamb of normal fat content, half a kilogram of fat tail fat and 600-700 grams of onion fall into minced meat. Minced meat is thoroughly kneaded by hand so that the products are evenly mixed and the meat releases protein. During kneading, the protein forms invisible threads that hold the meat together. You can determine the readiness of minced meat by a simple technique - the minced meat must be lifted and thrown onto the board with acceleration. If small granules do not bounce off the main mass, the minced meat is ready.

Add a heaping tablespoon of salt, a tablespoon of zira (cumin), a tablespoon of ground black pepper and two tablespoons of ground coriander for each kilogram of minced meat. You can add finely chopped cilantro to the minced meat.

All this is again thoroughly knead for an even distribution of spices and salt. Distribute the minced meat evenly over the bottom of the container, cover the container with foil, make several holes in the foil with a knife and place the container in the refrigerator for several hours.

Lamb is a very tasty meat! Just very. Lamb has only one drawback - it is not marbled.
Here beef is marbled - when layers of fat pass through the muscles. And that is why marbled beef cooked on coals - on the grill or on the grill - becomes a masterpiece. And pork comes with a layer - understanding people know how delicious it is. And lamb, no matter how tasty it is, always consists of meat separately, and fat separately.
But people in whose diet lamb plays a major role have learned to eliminate this drawback.

Surely, many people think that meat is chopped into minced meat so that when it is ready, it becomes softer than it would be in one piece. But it's not! Properly fried in one piece, it is in no way inferior in tenderness to minced meat, and sometimes even surpasses it.
The idea of ​​kebab and other minced meat products is to evenly distribute fat throughout the volume and add something to the meat that can improve its consistency and taste - onions, spices, or components to reduce the cost of the finished product - such as bread , cereals, etc.
Sometimes a kebab is cooked in order to utilize all sorts of trimmings, small pieces of meat, as well as meat with a high content of films, lived, and so on. But the result is a kebab that, at least, will not delight anyone. It is because of this approach that hack-cooks of lyulya-kebab are sometimes contemptuously called "chewed kebab".
But a real, properly prepared lyulya is a masterpiece. It should be served at the Louvre, with a glass of expensive wine, in the room where the Mona Lisa is exhibited.

MEAT SELECTION

For a good lula kebab, I take the meat exclusively from the back. And not everything fits!

Look, do you see this film and the vein? By its properties, it resembles rubber. And after 10-12 minutes of cooking on fire, it will remain the same rubber - this is if the film is in the middle of the piece. And if it is on the surface, then during frying it will begin to shrink, shrink, squeeze out all the juices from the neighboring meat due to compression, and itself, at best, will become hard and crispy.
And cutting, grinding will not save the matter! Just imagine that you were offered to chew a piece of a car tire. But to make things easier, they cut it into small pieces and then somehow glued it together to keep it together. Well, how? Strongly chopped rubber will differ on the teeth from rubber in one piece? That's it!
And all these films and veins tend to accumulate in a meat grinder, wind up on a knife, on an auger. As a result, pressure is exerted on the meat, and there is no way out for the meat! There is a cork in front, and a squeeze in the back. And the meat grinder turns ... into an excellent squeezer of meat juices. Rags are obtained from meat fibers separately, and meat juice - separately.

PREPARATION FOR THE GRINDER

For these reasons, we cut off all films and veins, leaving a clean meat fillet.

On the right - one kilogram of meat for kebab.
On the left is waste.
But in no case should they be thrown away - this is an excellent material for the broth! However, put these trimmings in a meat grinder and ... then you yourself know everything.

In a meat grinder, everything should be fine: a sharp knife, a grill with sharp corners, and a fairly powerful motor.
The stuffing should come out gently, in no case getting stuck in any holes. A soft, confident, flowing stream of minced meat - this is what should be at the exit from the meat grinder!

MAMO, WHERE IS THE LAD?

Do you know how fat works? Some of the protein that makes up cell walls. A bit of connective tissue - all the same films, which this time are perfectly disguised. But as soon as I lowered a few pieces of bacon into a meat grinder - yes, even the best, fat-tailed, and, please - lumps of some kind of threads, films and the devil knows what else are wound around the knife. But! Since a meat grinder does not chew it, how will our teeth chew it?

Therefore, fat - only handles! Freeze it so that it does not shake under your hands and does not crawl back and forth, and with a sharp knife.
First, like jamon - thin slices. Then - like a carrot for pilaf, only even thinner.

And then ... each piece is half a grain of rice - no more, that's the kind of fat I need for a good kebab.
- And I'm in a combine, and I'm on a grater, but what if? ..
I answer: nonsense! If only at the very first stage cut with a disk slicer, slicer. But then wipe this damned car, wash it, clean it, get it! Let's use a knife, shall we?

ONION

Moreover, for onions, too, no machine has been invented that would allow a good cook to relax.
No, of course you can check my words!

But I have these machines - choppers, cutters, combines, graters - yes, like a fool of eggs for Easter!

And a good, sharp knife and a pair of skillful, hard-working, stubborn hands will not replace all this in any way.

That's when you bring me chopped onions like this - so that everything is the size of the same half a grain of rice, but not a drop of onion juice - then yes, then I will agree to mechanization. Because the onion juice should stand out in minced meat only at the moment of heating the kebab on the grill and not a drop before that, at any stage!

WE CUT WITH AXES

But we heard, but we saw that in Azerbaijan until now, and earlier in Germany, and in Russia, and in all other countries, meat was chopped either with knives or hatchets.

Ha! Yes, here they are - those hatchets. Well, in a sense, practically those only taken in Moscow from photographs that I published in my books about six years ago. Masters even lied to my friend: Stalik ordered, but could not redeem. A friend bought it and brought it to me for my birthday - we laughed merrily when I showed four real Gaballin axes, twice the size of these and better made.
Do you know why they are now boiled in boiling water? Wait, I'll tell you now!

After all, first you need to get a good block for chopping meat or a large end board.
This one, ten years ago, was worth like a good salary! And under it, I also had to order a stand.

And every time, before each use, it must be rubbed with interior fat like this. Fat tail will not work - it slides, but it is necessary that the fat crumble and smear over the block. This is necessary so that during the cutting, the chips do not move away from the board and do not fall into the meat. Chips - worthless, not tasty seasoning for kebab, I say for sure!

In general, you put meat and tail fat in chunks on a block of wood and let's swing axes.

Only it is necessary not to chop with fists on a block, but to chop with the entire length of the blade. And aim not at the meat, but at the block itself, as if trying to cut it!

And do not pull the hatchets, lift them sharply upwards, as if scalded - so the meat will fly around, to the delight of cats and dogs. It should be like this: a blow and how much the hatchet flew up, so okay. And down sharply, and working not so much with the forearm as with the hands. Almost like a drummer beats drums - this is such a movement with axes.

Minced meat sometimes needs to be turned over so that the lower layers are at the top, and rotated 90 degrees - then chopped along, and now across.
And look - do you see fat and meat sticking to the ax blade? That's it, the ax will not chop properly - it is necessary to scrape off the sticky meat and fat from it and put it in hot water so that the cloth heats up and the fat is not as sticky to it as to the cold one.
How good is manual cutting with axes? What then is not very necessary to knead - the minced meat is already getting sticky. Well, so, if only for the sake of mixing onions, salt and spices evenly.

After each use of a block for chopping meat, it should be scraped out with an ax, and then covered with a layer of salt so that no rubbish starts up in the wood soaked in meat juice and fat. If you want to chop the meat again - they removed the salt, scraped a little stump for the sake of appearance, rubbed it with fat - and you are welcome.
I must say that taking into account the maintenance of the block, the assembly and disassembly of the meat grinder and the differences in the preparation of meat, manual cutting is even faster than using a meat grinder, especially when it comes to 3-5 kilograms of meat. Less - you should not bother, probably, but more - you should already get a meat grinder from the pantry.
Talk about what hand-made is tastier - past the money, but they will take place later, be patient.

MIX

And the one after the meat grinder must be kneaded. And than by hand, it is better to do it with a machine - a dough mixer, for example.
So either memorize or write it down.
For 1 kg of pure meat fillet, you should take 300 grams of bacon and 300 grams of onion.
If the meat is very young and tender, maybe 200 grams of both.
And the meat will be older, firmer - 400 grams of lard and onions. That's the norm!
The hand is worse because the minced meat is heated, it will take longer to knead, and you will inflict microbes.

So the spices in the car will disperse better.
Write it down.
The amount of onion and fat does not matter. The calculation is per kilogram of meat.
One tablespoon without top of salt.
One heaping tablespoon of ground coriander.
Half a tablespoon of zira.
Half a tablespoon of black pepper.

If you want, you can, of course, listen to the pretentious statements of those who have visited Azerbaijan: only salt and a little pepper! No zira!
I answer: this is nonsense. Because comparing mutton from Transcaucasia and mutton from central Russia is already stupid. This time.
Listening to fairy tales about Dagestan lamb in the markets is even more stupid. This is two. There are Dagestanis, but lamb has long been brought to Dagestan from Kalmykia - there is not enough of it themselves.
And so, our lamb is not bad, but due to feed, its taste is less pronounced. The assortment of spices that I have selected over several years of countless experiments just compensates for the lack of taste and aroma. If you take a lamb from Ganja or Gaballa, and another from any Moscow market, then after seasoning with spices, both kebabs will be very similar - in any case, few of you who can tell which one is which.

The minced meat will stick to the cold walls of the mixing bowl. Stock up on a spatula to occasionally roll it off the walls and remove it from the hook itself.

It is necessary to interfere until such threads appear in the minced meat, and the minced meat itself changes color from scarlet to lighter - this will mean that we knocked out some of the protein from the meat and now the minced meat is quite sticky.

But not cold enough. That minced meat after a meat grinder, that minced meat after hatchets should be cooled as soon as possible. To do this, it is removed in the refrigerator not in a lump, but spread out in a thin layer on a tray. You can also cover the tray with foil, just make a few holes in it with a knife so that moisture does not condense.
Look - on the left is minced meat after a meat grinder. On the right is minced meat after hatchets. There are external differences, they are on the face. The lard in the meat chopped with hatchets is, as it were, smeared over the meat, and the minced meat itself turned out to be even lighter - after all, it and the hatchets seemed to be kneaded while chopping, and then the dough mixer also interfered to distribute the onions and spices.
After all, onions still need to be cut by hand!

WE FORM

You can do this with clean hands, you can do it with gloved hands - it's just a matter of nails and your preferences.
So that minced meat chilled to + 2- + 4 C is not sticky to hands, hands must be moistened with water.
First you need to slap the cutlet so that there are no air pockets left inside. It is in them that the meat and onion juice will then accumulate, boil, and tear the cradle to the dog angels. After all, no one loves a kebab that has fallen into the coals like our four-legged friends!
But they say that such minced meat is harmful to them, so please try to make a cutlet so that it gets to you - it's good for you!

We string the cutlet on a skewer. For lule, I prefer wide skewers, but the cutlet should be even wider. And not so that the skewer ends and the lyulya ends. Where the edge of the skewer is, there should be enough meat to hold the top and bottom halves together. Do you understand me?

But make these ends thinner and, as it were, twist them. It is in this place that the lyulya usually begins to split into two halves. So let the thin layer of meat dry out sooner, get baked to the skewer itself and start holding the cutlet exactly in the place where it begins to fall apart at the suckers!

Spread the cradle with your index finger and thumb, making it even flatter.

Smooth the surface of the patty - there should not be the slightest crack, there should be a smooth, solid surface.

ON THE PAN

I'm already old, I know what questions readers will ask.
- I don't have a brazier, and what should I do now? Is it possible to fry kebab in a frying pan?

In a frying pan - no, it will not work. Rather, you get burnt cutlets, and not a kebab.
But over the pan just right! See, there is a small gap between the cradle and the cast-iron pan? That's it, now you get a real kebab!
Only the frying pan should not be with a fuflon coating, but a real, cast-iron, very heavy frying pan with low sides.
And there should not be any coatings on cast iron either - they will all just burn from the temperature to which the pan must be heated to make a normal kebab.

If the frying pan is warmed up so-so (as Mikhail Natanovich said, “it’s hot between the legs of a good woman”), then the cradles will gradually warm up and fall apart. Now the pieces of meat are held together by congealed fat. And when the surface of the lul is heated to the temperature of protein folding, then the heated protein itself - whitened and turned from liquid to solid, just like the protein of chicken eggs - will hold the pieces of meat together. This process should happen quite quickly, even though there is no direct contact between the heated pan and the surface of the minced meat.

And then ... fat will begin to melt from the fat and drip into the pan. The fat in the pan will burn without a flame, but with strong smoke. And this very smoke will smell like barbecue. And the kebab itself should be saturated with the smell of this smoke!

Meat juice will also drip, but the smell of burnt meat juice is somewhat different, it is smoking fat that smells delicious - you keep this in mind and don’t say “I don’t eat fat!” in front of me again! You do not want? Do not eat! But 300 grams of fat per kilo of six hundred minced meat is less than 20% of the total weight. I don’t know how much will be rendered - half of the fat, or a quarter. But a product with 15% fat is a more gentle food than a diet sausage! Here we at least know what fat was used, and now - it can be seen with the eyes, here is a piece of meat, here is a piece of bacon, and here is a piece of onion that has emitted juice. And in minced meat from meat products ground to a homogeneous state, you can add at least 60% fat and you will notice it.

In order for the lula to be fried on all sides, they will need to be turned on their sides.
But I don’t know where you will put the smoke. My professional hoods with fans of half a kilowatt did not really cope - I had to remove the grilles.

ON THE GRILL IN THE OVEN

Of course it is possible. 8 minutes in my oven on the grill program. The meat had time to cook, the vegetables too, and the ceramic grill itself had not had time to heat up enough to smoke with the same degree of desperation as the cast-iron skillet. In general, quite a kebab, but.

ON THE GRILL

But if you want a normal, proper kebab, breed coal and take a low brazier without any stupid holes "for traction". Some poorly educated people talk about this craving. They build barbecues and get incinerators.
Because there should not be holes in the brazier, otherwise uncontrolled burning of coal occurs. Imagine that you are trying to drive a car that has no brakes and the gas pedal is pressed all the way down. Well, how? It's better to change the nightmare, right?

Therefore, we take a normal barbecue and a fan in our hands. When you just put the cradle - wave, inflate the coal. Fan - here is your gas pedal! And now it is necessary to step on the gas so that the lyulas turn white as soon as possible and even blush on one side. Then you need to turn it over to the other side as soon as possible. Our goal and task is to cover the lyulya with a crust as soon as possible, until the minced meat has melted.

When should you flip the kebab? When it sizzles and smokes. What does hissing and sizzling mean?
The smallest bubbles of steam break out of the kebab, so they sizzle. What's rattling there? Drops of meat juice and fat drip down into the brazier and so they sizzle. Yes, and smoke from there!

But once it hissed, rustled, smoked, then it's time to turn over! Turned over and immediately silence and grace! Nothing sizzles, sizzles or smokes. But it won't be for long!

Cook the sides well as well, but pay attention to the color of the meat crust. This color, and the color in the previous photo, indicates the maximum disclosure of the taste of meat. No need to fry longer! Don't worry - everything is ready inside.
Lula kebab, with a thickness at its widest point of about three centimeters, with a length of 20 cm, with an initial sausage weight of 120-150 grams, will be completely ready in 10-12 minutes if it is brought to this color during this time.

There should not be black marks on the kebab, there should be only an appetizing blush.
Now here's what. Do you see the three kebab sticks? This is the maximum portion for one man. Whoever eats more is a fool, not a man. Because you can only foolishly overeat one meat. A normal person will certainly eat with onions, which are necessary for good digestion, with vegetables, with bread and a glass of wine. And the crazy one, who has seized upon, stuffs his belly, as he used to stuff it with empty, non-caloric food, and then he will sit like a stuffed pig with drowsy eyes. After the right meal, a man should start dancing, look at the girls, dance a lezginka with sabers or a hopak squatting Krakovyak.

And listen again: the classic kebab is lamb and tail fat. You can also cook beef, but what kind of fat do you take? Interior, kidney - will not work, it freezes very quickly, right on the palate, on the teeth. Ugh. You can make a good kebab from pork, lard from the back will well replace fat tail. You can mix pork, beef and lard - it will also work well. You can cook kebab from chicken, but it will be lean and therefore not tasty. There was a time, I added foie gras to minced chicken, but why remember now. You can cook it from oily fish, and to make the stuffing more sticky, add shrimp - tails without shells, raw, of course, and not boiled for beer.
Oh, my, tell me everything like children, and then they don’t care, it doesn’t matter what it is, but they’ll do it!
I’ll teach kittens to dance faster than readers who scroll through pictures but don’t read the text. I'll go to Kuklachevy!