Video by Henry Tadevosian
Negini Kebab is a combined marinated chicken breast & lamb mince on skewers, grilled and normally served with saffron rice.
“I am a full-time, self-trained executive chef dedicating my time in my two family restaurants; Anais Restaurant – Taste of Persia, and Jazzveh Woodfired Pizza Cafe in Sydney, Australia.”
Ingredients:
- 1 small chicken breast, finely sliced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp saffron water
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp greek yoghurt
- 1kg lamb mince
- 1 brown onion, grated and strained
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp red sumac
- 1 tsp saffron water” – Henry Tadevosian
Instructions: (courtesy of “Mr. Iroonia” – rowhanisaffron.com)
Step 1:
To start, you must first wash and peel the onions. Then grate them and separate the onion juice. Now grind the beef and mutton and pour into a large bowl. Brew saffron and prepare it. So that you have brewed two tablespoons of saffron.
Step 2:
In a bowl, add the minced meat, grated onion, one egg, a tablespoon of previously brewed saffron, salt and black pepper. At this stage, you can add any other spices such as nutmeg or a variety of spices for barbecue in the bowl.
Step 3:
At this stage of preparing the shredded kebab, you have to knead the meat mixture well. Keep doing this until the meat is one-handed and sticky. Now cover the dish or pour the meat mixture in a closed container and put it in the refrigerator. The meat should be refrigerated for 2 hours to absorb the taste of the ingredients and make your kebab more delicious.
Step 4:
While the meat is in the refrigerator, it is time to prepare the chicken rolls. Thoroughly clean and wash the chicken breasts. Then prepare one third of them for kebab roll and the rest for kebab negini. Cut one-third of the chicken wide with a sharp knife. Each piece of chicken should give you two to three wide and thin slices. Now, like the chicken schnitzel method, beat the chicken pieces well to make them thinner and wider. You can use a meat grinder or steak grinder to beat the chickens. To prepare the kebab in the shape of a gem, you have to cut the chicken into small pieces.
Step 5:
Now that the chicken breasts have reached the desired size, you have to put them in a bowl. Then brew olive oil or liquid oil, a tablespoon of leftover saffron, and pour lemon juice, salt, pepper and other spices on the chicken. Let the chicken rest for half an hour with these flavors to make it tastier.
Step 5:
Now take the pieces of chicken that you have prepared for the kebab roll and put the pieces for the kebab negini aside. Also have the shredded kebab that you have prepared and flavored available. Now spread a piece of chicken breast on the work surface. Take some meat from the batter and place it in the center of the chicken breast.
Now roll the chicken breast so that the batter is completely inside it. Repeat this for all the chicken pieces. Then carefully pull them on the skewer until your saffron roll kebab is ready to cook. If you feel that the meat may spill out of both ends of the roll during cooking, you can close both ends of the roll with the help of small toothpicks.
Step 6:
Now, with the rest of the shredded kebab meat and chicken, prepare Negini kebab. Skewer the batter in the usual way. Then make a shallow space with your finger on the pieces of meat that are on the skewer. Place the minced chicken at these intervals. Cover both sides of the chicken with the batter so that it sticks well. In the method of preparing this kebab, you only need to garnish one side of the skewer with chicken. As much as you have space on the skewer, place the chicken between the batter and make sure they are completely stuck together. Continue this for the rest of the kebab ingredients.
If you wish, you can create various designs with chicken on the batter according to your creativity to have a more special kebab.
Step 7:
If you use charcoal fire to cook kebabs, be aware that saffron roll kebabs need a gentle heat and shredded kebabs need a lot of heat. Of course, Negini kebab can also be prepared in the oven and there is no problem for it. When the kebabs are cooked and ready, you can serve them with melted butter, fresh bread or pilaf, grilled tomatoes, fresh vegetables and buttermilk.
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