Kebab khashkhash is a garlicky Aleppo-family kofta skewer served under a bright, fresh tomato sauce sharpened with extra garlic and parsley. It sits between a dry grilled kebab and a saucy one — the sauce is spooned on at the table, not cooked in.
Also known as khashkhash kebab, khash khash, Kafta Khashkhash.
Reference video
Ingredients
- 600 g minced lamb
- 6 garlic cloves (4 for the meat, 2 for the sauce)
- 25 g parsley, divided
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 0.5 tsp Aleppo pepper
- 600 g very ripe tomatoes, grated
- 20 ml olive oil
- half a lemon, juiced
- 2 flatbreads
How to make it
- 1
Work the lamb with 4 crushed garlic cloves, half the parsley, salt and Aleppo pepper until it binds.
- 2
Mould onto flat skewers and char over hot coals 8-10 min.
- 3
Cook the grated tomato in the oil at a brisk bubble for just 8-10 min so it stays bright red, not brick.
- 4
Off the heat, stir the remaining raw garlic and the lemon juice into the sauce.
- 5
Bed the kebabs on bread, flood with sauce, and shower with the last of the parsley.
Pro tip: This sauce is barely cooked on purpose; it should taste of sun-ripe tomato with a raw garlic sting, nothing like a long-stewed ragu.
Where Kebab Khashkhash comes from
The name refers to the fine chopping of the chilli-and-garlic mixture worked into the meat. It is a fixture of Syrian grill houses and of the border kitchens in southern Turkey, where Aleppine refugees and traders have shaped local menus for generations, and it is frequently confused with kebab halabi by people who have eaten neither.
How Kebab Khashkhash is cooked
The garlic is the technique. It goes into the meat in quantity, crushed to a paste with salt so it distributes evenly rather than sitting in nuggets that burn on the coals. That salted-garlic paste is a standard Levantine preparation and it is what gives khashkhash its identity against the milder kafta.
The skewers are grilled fully — unlike kebab halabi, they are not finished in the sauce — and the tomato sauce is a fresh, brief one, cooked only until it thickens, with raw garlic and parsley stirred in off the heat. Pouring it over at the last moment keeps that raw sharpness against the smoky meat.
Ingredients and shopping
Lamb at 20 to 25 percent fat, minced with fine parsley — many cooks work in grated onion too, though here the garlic does that job. Garlic in quantity — six or eight cloves per kilo is not excessive — crushed with salt into a paste. Aleppo pepper for warmth.
The sauce wants good tomatoes, fresh or a decent tinned variety, cooked briefly with olive oil — some kitchens add a little pomegranate molasses — then finished off the heat with raw crushed garlic, lemon and parsley. Cooked long, the sauce loses the brightness that separates this dish from kebab halabi.
How Kebab Khashkhash is served
On a platter with the sauce spooned over and around, flatbread underneath or alongside, and a bowl of yoghurt to temper the garlic. Pickled turnips, olives and a fattoush. It is usually one component of a larger table rather than a solitary main.
Common mistakes
Chopped rather than crushed garlic
Chopped pieces burn on the grill and taste acrid. Crush it with salt into a paste.
Cooking the sauce too long
It should be fresh and sharp. A long-simmered sauce turns it into kebab halabi, which is a different dish.
Finishing the skewers in the sauce
Unlike halabi, these are grilled through and sauced at the end. Keep the two separate.
Skipping the raw garlic finish
The sauce gets raw garlic stirred in off the heat. That final sharpness is the point.
Kebab Khashkhash: questions and answers
What is the difference between kebab khashkhash and kebab halabi?
Halabi is grilled short and finished in a cooked tomato sauce over bread. Khashkhash is grilled through and served under a fresh, sharp garlic-tomato sauce spooned on at the end.
What does khashkhash refer to?
The texture of the mix — chilli and garlic broken down so fine they vanish into the mince, leaving no stray pieces to scorch over the coals.
How much garlic goes in?
Six to eight cloves per kilo of meat, crushed with salt into a paste so it distributes rather than burning in pieces.
Is it very spicy?
Moderately. It uses Aleppo pepper, which is fruity and warm rather than fiercely hot, and the heat is balanced by the garlic and the fresh sauce.
Is kafta khashkhash the same dish?
Yes — one dish, two menu habits. Kafta is the Levantine word for the minced skewer itself, so Lebanese menus tend to write kafta khashkhash, while Syrian and southern-Turkish grill houses say kebab. Either way you get the garlic-heavy skewer under that sharp tomato sauce.
Sources and further reading
- Frying pan kabab khashkhash — SBS Food (The Cook Up with Adam Liaw)
- Khashkhash Kebab — The Spicery
