Kabab Koobideh (Kabab Koubideh or Kabob Koobideh, کباب کوبیده) is one of the most famous Iranian foods. Koobideh is the Farsi term for mashed, and Kabab is the Persian term for grilled. It is the soft meat that Iranians cook through unique methods with special equipment. Kabab Koobideh is the standard-bearer of Persian Kabobs.
You can find Koobideh in almost every region of Iran. In a fancy restaurant or a small street restaurant, you can order Koobideh. It is either served with Chelow or with Lavash bread. Nowadays you can find Koobideh sandwiches known as Kabab Loghmeh.
Nowadays, they usually put a Kabab under the Chelow with a small bar of butter. The heat of the rice melts the butter and makes a fantastic taste.
Iranians serve Koobideh in official ceremonies such as wedding parties and funerals.
First Kabab Koobideh:
First Kabab Koubideh was invented in Qajar time when Nasereddin Shah was king of Iran. They are evidence that shows this food had come from the Caucasus and then redesigned by Iranian chefs.
There are doubts about the first Chelo Kababi (Kabab restaurants ) in Iran. Some historians claim that the first Chelo Kababi was Nayeb restaurant in Tehran. However, many historians believe that first Chelo Koobideh was opened in Tabriz since it was the nearest region to the Caucasus.
In the past, Chelo Kabab is served Chelow in a cone shape in singular plates with a bar of butter, and everybody could have how many Kababs he or she wanted.
Different types of Kabab Koobideh:
In the past, there was only one type of Koobideh. Nowadays, people make different types of it by changing the ingredients. There are Koobideh Morgh that is made with mashed chicken instead of meat, Koobide Torsh, or Kabab Torsh which is mashed meat marinated in pomegranate sauce. This type of dish is available mostly in the north of Iran. Northern Iranians serve Kabab with Kateh, too. In that case, instead of Chelow Kabab, they call it Kateh Kabab.
Nutrition facts of Kabab Koobideh:
Kabab Koobideh has 256 kcal per 100 gr. Since its main ingredient is meat, it has a notable amount of protein, 21.26 gr per 100 gr. It has an average amount of 16 mg fat per 100 gr. It contains almost all kinds of vitamins. The amount of Vitamin C with 4 mg is considerable. Moreover, Koobideh is usually served either with bread or Polow. You should add the calories and nutrition of them, too to find a clear result about your Koubideh meal. Furthermore, depending on the type of Kabab Koobideh, it can have different calories and nutritions.
Serving Style:
Koobideh is usually served inside Lavash bread or next to a dish of rice. You can serve the Chelow and Kabab separately. However, in that condition, typically Kabab is attached to a skewer. Iranians, usually frost sumac on their Kababs while eating. Grilled tomatoes, fresh onions, and some herbs such as basil are common side items for Koobideh. A bowl of Saffron or barley soup is a proper appetizer before Kubideh. In restaurants, a dish of green salad is offered before Chelow Koobideh.
Vegetarian tip:
Usually, Persian Kababs are made out of meats and do not have vegetarian types. So there is no vegetarian Kabab Koobideh, and in Chelow kabab is, vegetarians can enjoy only the Chelow.
What are the ingredients?
The main ingredient for this food is mashed meat. However, the type and amount of the meat and the preparation method matters. For serving the food, you need Lavash bread or a dish of Chelow. There are some spices added to meat, too. You need some particular types of equipment such as a skewer and barbeque to cook this food.
Cooking process:
To cook Kabab Koobideh, you should ground a dedicated amount of lamb and beef together. For a better result ground the meat for two or three times. Then you should shred onions and mix it with the meat. The essential step that makes the difference in final taste is discarding the onion’s juice from the meat. There should be no liquid in the meat paste while cooking.
After you mixed the onions and spices and eggs with meat and you well distilled the onion’s juice, the mixture should rest in the fridge for 2 hours.
Again after taking out of the refrigerator, you should discard the liquid.
While cooking, you need to prepare a bowl of water to prevent the meat from sticking on your hands. Place the skewer in one hand and the meat on the other hand. Squeeze the meat with your thumb and finger on the skewer. Then you should cook it on hot coals in a barbeque. Consider turning over the skewers time by time to prevent burning.
Recipe:
This recipe is adequate for four people. You can make eight kababs out of this Koobideh recipe. The preparation for Kabab Koobideh time is about 3 hours, and the cooking time is about forty-five minutes. You need to prepare Lavash bread or Chelow for serving.
Kabab Koobideh
Equipment
- 1-inch wide skewer(stainless)
- Barbeque
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground lamb
- 2 onions
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ cup melted butter
- 4 large firm tomatoes
- Sumac as needed
Instructions
- Chop the onions until they become juicy.
- Discard the onion juice and add the distilled onions into a bowl
- Add the ground meats and the salt and spices.
- Mince the garlic cloves and add them to the mixture.
- Add egg.
- Mix the components with your hand for some minutes until it becomes like a paste that does not fall apart.
- Let the mixture rest at the fridge for at least one hour. Discard the onion juice again after taking out of the refrigerator, if there is any.
- Divide the composition into 8 equal pieces.
- Prepare a bowl of water and put it next to the meat.
- Get the skewer in your left hand and the meat in the right hand and squeeze the meat on the skewer until it doesn’t fall apart.
- Continue step 10 for all eight meat pieces
- Cut tomatoes into half and attach them to skewers (1 skewer for two tomatoes)
- Prepare your barbeque.
- Put the meat skewers on the barbecue.
- Brush the melted butter over the Kababs and tomatoes.
- Turn over the skewers time by time to prevent burning.
- After 45 minutes, all the Kababs are ready.
- Grill the tomato skewers.
- Put two kababs inside a Lavash bread or next to a plate of Chelow.
- Put tomatoes next to kababs.
- Frost the sumac on the Kabab to your taste.
Notes
Uniqop’s advice:
- Distilling the onion’s juice is an essential step that matters. Because your kabab can fall apart with a little amount of liquid.
- Grounding the meat for 2 or 3 times helps to lump softer meat.
- The meat should not be fragile after squeezing on the skewer.
- Squeeze the meat with your thumb and forefinger in distances of 1 inch to make grooves on kabab.
