Lamb lula kebab with onions
8 servings
60 minutes
Emil Karimov, chef of the restaurant "Kazbek": "Lulya kebab is eaten all over the Caucasus. Where exactly it comes from, no one knows. Of course, the Azerbaijanis say - ours, the Georgians say - ours, the Armenians say - ours! A difficult conversation. But everyone knows that in Moscow, we, the Azerbaijanis, make the best lula kebab. Because we work the grill better than anyone else.
1
Chop the meat, fat tail, and onion into large pieces, add salt, black pepper, and paprika, then pass through a meat grinder twice. If desired, you can chop everything with a knife, but it will take a lot of effort and time.
- Lamb gigot: 1 kg
- Fat tail fat: 500 g
- Onion: 200 g
- Paprika: 4 g
- Ground black pepper: 4 g
- Salt: 15 g
2
Knead the minced meat like dough. First, knead it by hand for about 5 minutes, then hit it against the table three to four times with full force. This is necessary for all ingredients to bond together so that the minced meat doesn't fall off the skewer. A sign of ready minced meat is uniformity. The fat and meat should not separate from each other; they should be one whole. The texture of the minced meat will be slightly rubbery.
3
Finely chop the cilantro and mix it into the meat.
- Coriander: 30 g
4
For making lula kebabs, flat skewers 3-4 cm wide are needed. It's essential to moisten your hands with warm water. Then take about 200 grams of minced meat, shape it into a small sausage, and carefully thread it onto the skewer.
5
All movements should be made with four fingers: the thumb on one side and the middle, ring, and little fingers on the other. Carefully stretch the minced meat along the skewer: you can stretch it as long as you want, but within reasonable limits. You need to place locks at the top and bottom, sealing the meat by narrowing the sausage width to that of the skewer. This is necessary to prevent the meat from falling off the skewer.
6
Making minced meat is half the job. The other half is to properly prepare the grill and cook on it correctly. The grill should be prepared in advance, and the coals should be well heated. This dish is not for picnics with disposable metal grills; it's impossible to achieve even heating there; it's better to have a wide stone grill outdoors. The coals in the grill should be small and mostly gray, meaning not glowing red hot. Place the skewer on the grill, wait 2 minutes until a crust forms on one side, then flip it over. After another 2 minutes, flip it again. Repeat this for a maximum of 10 minutes. Serve the lula kebab garnished with half rings of red onion and pomegranate seeds.
- Red onion: 200 g
- Pomegranate seeds: to taste
7