Pita halves stuffed with raw spiced kafta and grilled until the bread crisps and the meat juices fry it from the inside — the name means 'brides'. It inverts the kebab wrap: the bread goes on the fire, not around the finished meat.
Also known as: aarayes, arays, arayes kafta, arayess, meat-stuffed pita
Watch it made
Ingredients
- 4 pita breads with good pockets
- 450 g lamb-beef mince
- 1 small onion, grated and squeezed dry
- 30 g parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tomato, seeded and cut into tiny dice
- 1 tsp seven-spice, 1 tsp salt
- 40 ml olive oil, for brushing
- Yogurt-tahini sauce, to dunk
How to make it
- 1
Mix the mince with onion, parsley, tomato, seven-spice and salt just until combined.
- 2
Split each pita along its equator into a pocket and spread a 1 cm layer of raw kafta right to the edges, pressing it flat.
- 3
Paint both faces of the stuffed breads with olive oil.
- 4
Cook over medium coals or a heavy griddle about 4 minutes per side, pressing lightly, until the bread is deep gold and the meat within is cooked through.
- 5
Quarter with a serrated knife and serve hot, the cut edges facing up.
Pro tip: Thin filling is the entire trick: pack it a centimeter deep at most. Overstuffed arayes burn their bread jacket long before the core cooks, while a thin layer fries the pita from inside with its own juices.
