Skip to main content

Dirty Doner Kebab... without the dirty ;)

 I don't know about you, but I BLOODY love a Doner Kebab! 

I don't mean those disgusting regurgitated meat things that you get at 3am after leaving "da club"...No no no no! I mean the delicious Turkish national dish!! 

A Doner Kebab is a thing of wonder! It should be flavoursome, rich and fresh all at the same time. 

I learnt how to make this dish a few years ago when I had just returned from a holiday to Cyprus to see my parents. If you're not aware, the northern part of Cyprus is Turkish occupied and for a while, you couldn't cross into Northern Cyprus from the south. However, when they opened the boarders it was like stepping into a completely different world from the rest of Cyprus. Anywho... we had one of these amazing kebabs from a street market and it BLEW MY MIND. 

Traditionally served with shredded cabbage and pickled chillis, Turkish Cucumber yoghurt sauce (Cacik), which is very similar to the Greek Tzatziki, and a chilli sauce. 

My version is a riff on the traditional one, using what I had in the fridge but realistically have what you want with it! There shouldn't be any rules when it comes to what you want to eat. 

Here are my recipes to make a "Doner Kebab": All of these recipes serve 4 or 2 VERY hungry people. 



Homemade Doner Kebab meat:

You will need:

  • 420g of Lamb Mince (at room temp)
  • 1.5 tsp each of:
    • Cumin
    • Hot Smoked Paprika
    • Onion granules
    • Sea salt
    • Garlic granules
    • Ground coriander
    • Dried oregano
    • Chilli flakes (optional)
  • A few good cracks of black pepper
  • Tin Foil
  • Stand mixer with paddle attachment (or this can be done by hand using a wooden spoon and some serious elbow Grease!)
  • Electric Pressure cooker (Ninja Foodi or instant pot) or a slow cooker. 

 HOW:

  1. In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, add the lamb mince and the spices and beat the mix until the mince turns into a paste-like texture. If you’re doing this by hand, this will take a while or in the stand mixer on a medium setting for 2-3 mins…  The process of beating the meat (LOL) helps to breakdown the proteins and is essential so please don’t skip this bit.
  2. Once you have made the meat paste, form a log type shape, and tightly wrap it in two layers of tin foil.
  3. If you’re using a slow-cooker: Put the tightly wrapped meat in the pot covered in water and slow cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for at least 7 hours.
  4. If you are using an electric pressure cooker: Put the meat in the bowl and put enough water in to cover half of the meat package. Pressure-cook on high for 25 mins and allow to slow release. 
  5. Once you have cooked the meat, take it out of the foil and sear the meat log all over to get a nice crispy edge.
  6. Stick a fork in the top and thinly slice to get your doner meat strips. 

Flatbreads: 

  •  250g of Plain flour
  •  200g 0% fat Greek yoghurt
  •  ½ tsp of baking powder
  • Big pinch of salt

 HOW:

  1. Mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl and if it's too wet add more flour, if it's too dry add more yoghurt.
  2. Knead it in the bowl for a few mins. And then leave it to rest.
  3. When you’re ready to cook them, divide them into 4 portions onto a lightly floured worktop and either by hand or using a rolling pin, roll out to about 1cm thick bread.
  4. Heat a skillet until its realllllllly hot! Cook the bread for a few mins each side until they start to puff up. Repeat until all your bread is ready. 

Tzatziki: 

  • 150g of 0% fat greek yoghurt 
  • 100g of Cucumber
  • 1 fat clove of garlic, finely grated
  • 1 tbsp of good extra virgin olive oil 
  • Sea salt and pepper 
HOW:

  1. Grate your cucumber and using a fine sieve, press it down using a wooden spoon or something similar & extract as much of the fluid from the cucumber as you physically can.
  2. Mix all the above ingredients and leave to rest in the fridge for the flavours to develop for at least an hour until serving. 

Quick Pickled Red Onions: 

  • 1 red onion very thinly sliced ideally using a mandolin.
  • 100ml of red wine or cider vinegar (enough to cover the onions)
  • 1 tbsp of sugar

HOW: 

  1.       Shove it all in a bowl and leave it to pickle for about 30 mins or so. 
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION PER KEBAB:
  • Calories: 565
  • Protein: 35.7g
  • Carbohydrates: 64.1g
  • Fats: 17.9g 
  • Fibre: 3.7g 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Are you even in Lockdown unless you make fresh Pasta?

With the UK going nuts for bog roll and baking ingredients - I imagine it is easier to get class A drugs than a bag of strong white flour at the moment! With that in mind, I'd normally recommend 00 flour for pasta, however, whatever you have will do as long as it's not self-raising!  Like a lot of people, I went through a range of emotions when social distancing measures where imposed- especially when they closed schools and nurseries! I had positive days where I did home workouts and yoga in the garden listening to the bird song. I also had days where I cried and felt intense guilt for having to go to the supermarket to get milk and a relentless sense of impending doom.  I think this dish was the catalyst that reignited my love of cooking (I didn't realise that it had gone until I made this) and actually gave me something to focus my mind.  The best thing about this dish is that you don't need to own a pasta machine that will just sit in a cupboard gatheri
Post a Comment
Read more

Slow cooked Beef Ragu

In the previous post, I detailed how to make fresh Pappardelle pasta - I served this with the slow-cooked Beef Ragu. Consider this a posh spag bol! Honestly, this is my fave! Serves 4 You'll need: 2 tbsp of good quality olive oil 500g of good quality beef steak mince (or for a vegetarian option use 250g of diced chestnut mushrooms and 200g of Puy Lentils) 1 glass of red wine or glass of port. 4 cloves of garlic - minced 1 medium carrot - finely diced 1 medium brown onion- finely diced 2 stalks of celery - finely diced 2 Tsp Dried Oregano 500g of passata 1 tbsp of tomato puree 1 stalk of rosemary & a couple of bay leaves. Salt & Pepper Fresh Basil Large Saucepan with a lid Patience  How I did it!: Once you have very finely diced your onion, carrots and celery, heat your pan and pour in a glug of good quality olive oil and slowly sweat down your veg mix. Don't be tempted to whack the heat up on this stage, the slower you sweat down the ve
Post a Comment
Read more

Chicken Katsu Curry

This dish has probably been the most requested recipe from any of my friends or family who has tasted it. I can't explain how delicious this is! Whilst it has quite a few processes involved, I promise you it is worth the washing up!  Chicken Katsu Curry with Sticky sushi rice is one of the all-time favourite Japanese dishes here in the UK. What's not to love? Crispy fried chicken, Spicy but sweet curry sauce and sticky rice? YUM! Traditionally the chicken would be coated in Panko breadcrumbs and deep-fried, delicious but calorie-dense and not so great for the old arteries. This version is much healthier saving a lot of calories and better for your ticker too.  I will split this recipe up into 2 components making it a bit easier to follow- Serves 2 I haven't added the rice here, because of it being complete preference as to how you want to serve this. I often serve with a microwave bag of Thai Jasmine rice or Basmati just for ease. However, if you do want to cook rice, make
Post a Comment
Read more