Fry
by: aargersi
June26,2012
4
3 Ratings
- Makes 6 to 8 kebabs
Jump to Recipe
Author Notes
Lamb ranks extremely high on my list of favorite things—MonkeyMom thought I was going to sprout wool during the lamb contest awhile back I was cooking and eating so much of it. It's such a perfect match for mint and right now my mint plants are insane—I have to beat them back daily. This recipe uses a lot of mint, but in the kebab it is somewhat tamed in cooking, and the yogurt tempers the chutney. Still, you will for sure know you are eating mint. I use a mini food processor for recipes like this where you are grinding smaller batches, you should consider getting one—I use mine A LOT!!! —aargersi
Test Kitchen Notes
I am a fan of Middle Eastern flavors and am always looking for new and creative ways to make kebab. Aargersi's delicious lamb kebab and chutney is reminiscent of a tagine with the savory lamb and sweet dates and chickpeas, but in a simple portable form. The yogurt chutney, bright with lime and a generous helping of fresh herbs, is the perfect accompaniment. I served this for dinner for guests along with warm lavash and a cucumber salad—it was a memorable meal that everyone loved. —sdebrango
- Test Kitchen-Approved
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- For the yogurt mint chutney:
- 1/2 cup(packed) fresh mint leaves
- 1/2 cup(packed) fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 small clove garlic, chopped
- 1 large jalapeño, leave a few seeds for extra heat if you like
- 1 1/2-inch knob ginger, peeled and chopped
- 1 tablespoonolive oil
- 1 teaspoonsalt
- Juice from 1 lime
- 1 cupGreek yogurt
- For the kebabs:
- 1 cupcooked chickpeas
- 1/4 cupmint leaves
- 2 tablespoonsolive oil (plus a bit more to cook with)
- 1 large clove garlic, chopped
- 1 poundground lamb
- 1/2 teaspoonsalt
- 1 teaspoonground pepper
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper (I make it a BIG pinch but that is up to you)
- 1/2 cupchopped dates
Directions
- For the yogurt mint chutney:
- Process everything except the yogurt until it is a rough paste, you want a bit of leafy texture but no big chunks of garlic or ginger. Mix into the yogurt and taste for salt; adjust if needed. Chill the chutney until the kebabs are ready.
- For the kebabs:
- Process the chickpeas, mint, olive oil, and garlic in that little processor until it is a thick paste. A bit of chickpea texture is good!
- Mix the chickpeas and dates in with the lamb, salt, and both peppers. Heat olive oil in a pan and fry up a quarter-sized bit of lamb—eat that so you can check your seasoning. Add salt or either pepper if you need to.
- Form the lamb into slightly flattened balls—I made mine each about the size of a lemon. Put them in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes to set.
- Heat some oil in a large skillet (alternately, you could grill or broil them, but I find them easiest to manage stovetop). Fry the kebabs on medium-high heat until they are nicely browned on both sides—the center should be medium-rare to medium, which they will be since you chilled them a bit and have your heat on high-ish. Mine cooked about 4 to 5 minutes per side.
- Serve with the chutney—and a cold dry rosé is a pretty good thing too!!
Tags:
- Kebab
- Middle Eastern
- Date
- Mint
- Lamb
- Chickpea
- Yogurt
- Fry
- Entree
Contest Entries
- Your Best Recipe with Dates
- Your Best Recipe with Mint
See what other Food52ers are saying.
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luvcookbooks
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wssmom
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arielleclementine
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Beautiful, Memorable Food
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aargersi
Country living, garden to table cooking, recent beek, rescue all of the dogs, #adoptdontshop
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7 Reviews
Gardener April 7, 2017
I was intrigued by this recipe and had to try it. The yogurt sauce is excellent and the kebabs were good but the sweet note from the dates confused my tastebuds. I'd probably use less next time to accentuate savory with just a hint of sweet. We used a stovetop grill pan to cook and that did the job perfectly.
luvcookbooks March 21, 2017
Tested this for the date contest. So good!! Was able to use the blender for the yogurt sauce- added the yogurt to the herbs. The chickpeas cut the richness of the lamb. Brilliant!
aargersi March 21, 2017
Yay I am glad you like it!
wssmom July 1, 2012
Love lamb. Love mint. ant to try this soon - I am assuming the lamb is ground?
arielleclementine June 27, 2012
these sound so wonderful, Abbie! love that there are chickpeas in the lamb kebabs- i bet Henry would be happy to eat this too!
aargersi June 29, 2012
I will make them for him! You guys need to come have lunch and swim soon!
Beautiful, M. June 27, 2012
Love the classic pairing of lamb with mint. This sounds wonderful!
