The Armenian take on the hand-minced skewer: lamb worked with onion, cognac in some family recipes, and plenty of fresh basil and parsley until it clings to a wide flat blade. It is served draped over lavash that soaks up the drippings, with sumac onions on top.
Also known as: lula kebab, lyulya kebab, lyulya-kebab, Armenian lula, lula kabob
Ingredients
- 800 g lamb (20-25 percent fat), minced twice
- 1 onion, grated and squeezed dry
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley and a little basil
- 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper
- half tsp paprika
- Lavash, sumac onions and grilled tomatoes to serve
How to make it
- 1
Knead the lamb with onion, herbs and seasoning 8-10 min until sticky and pale — the knead IS the binder.
- 2
Chill 1 h so the fat firms up.
- 3
With wet hands, press the meat along wide flat skewers into long even sausages.
- 4
Grill over hot coals 8-10 min, turning often, until browned but still juicy.
- 5
Slide off into fresh lavash with sumac onions; the bread catches the juices.
Pro tip: No egg, no breadcrumbs — Armenian lula binds by kneading alone. If the meat will not grip the skewer, knead longer and colder; never add filler.
The story of Armenian Lula Kebab
The Armenian lula belongs to the same Caucasian family as the Azerbaijani lülə but has a distinct character, and Armenian cooks are firm about the difference. Where the Azerbaijani version is austere — lamb, tail fat, onion, salt — the Armenian one is herbaceous, built on quantities of fresh basil and parsley worked into the meat.
It is diaspora food as much as homeland food. Armenian communities in Lebanon, Iran, France and California all carry versions, and the family recipes that travelled with them accumulated their own habits: a splash of cognac in some, a little paprika in others, and in nearly all of them more herbs than an Azerbaijani cook would countenance.
The technique that defines it
The bind is achieved the same way as anywhere in the Caucasus — fatty lamb worked until the proteins dissolve and the mass turns tacky — but the herbs complicate it. Chopped basil and parsley carry water, and adding them too early or too wet slackens a mixture that has just been brought to the right texture.
The working order that solves it: knead the meat, onion and salt to stickiness first, chill it, then fold in the chopped herbs at the end and chill again briefly before shaping. Grilling is fast over hot coals on wide flat skewers, turned once, until the skin is taut and browned. The herbs scorch slightly at the surface, which is part of the flavour.
Choosing your ingredients
Fatty lamb — shoulder with its fat, or mince at around 25 percent — is the requirement, exactly as for lülə. Fresh basil is the signature herb and should be the sweet, purple-tinged variety if you can get it; flat-leaf parsley in quantity supports it. Dried herbs do not work here at all.
Onion finely chopped, salted, drained and squeezed. Cognac, where a family recipe calls for it, goes in at a tablespoon or two per kilo and is a real Armenian-diaspora habit rather than an invention. Wide flat skewers and lavash for serving.
Mistakes that ruin it
Adding wet herbs to the kneaded meat
Chop and dry the herbs, and fold them in after the meat has already been worked to stickiness and chilled.
Dried basil
The dish depends on fresh basil. Dried is a different flavour entirely and contributes nothing to the texture.
Lean lamb
Same rule as every kebab in this family: below 20 percent fat the mixture will not bind.
Shaping at room temperature
Chill after kneading. Warm fat makes the mixture slack and unshapeable.
How it is served
Draped over lavash so the bread absorbs the drippings, with sumac onions piled on top, grilled tomato and pepper alongside, and plenty more fresh herbs on the table. Armenian yoghurt (matsun) or a garlic-yoghurt sauce is common. Wine or brandy, and the toasts that come with any Armenian table.
Questions about Armenian Lula Kebab
How is Armenian lula different from Azerbaijani lülə?
The Armenian version is worked with quantities of fresh basil and parsley, and some family recipes add a splash of cognac. The Azerbaijani version is deliberately plain — lamb, tail fat, onion and salt.
Can I use dried herbs?
No. The dish depends on fresh basil and parsley, both for flavour and for the way they behave in the mixture.
When do the herbs go in?
After the meat has been kneaded to stickiness and chilled. Adding them earlier slackens the bind.
What fat content does the lamb need?
Around 25 percent. Lean mince cannot be worked into a mixture that grips the skewer.
