A spring-only Gaziantep tray kebab in which whole heads of fresh green garlic braise among lamb köfte until mellow and sweet. Locals prize the young garlic more than the meat itself.
Also known as: sarımsak kebabı, sarimsak kebabı, garlic kebab, Gaziantep sarımsak kebabı
Watch it made
Ingredients
- 500 g fatty lamb mince, coarsely ground
- 400 g fresh green (spring) garlic, heads trimmed, stalks on
- 30 g tomato paste
- 20 g Turkish red pepper paste (biber salcasi)
- 300 ml hot water
- 30 ml olive oil
- 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pul biber
- Flatbread for scooping
How to make it
- 1
Work the lamb with salt for a minute or two, then roll it into walnut-sized kofte.
- 2
Arrange kofte and whole green garlic heads snugly in an oiled shallow baking tray, alternating so every meatball touches garlic.
- 3
Whisk both pastes into the hot water with the pul biber and pour it around (not over) the meat.
- 4
Bake at 200 C for 35-40 minutes, until the garlic collapses sweet and the sauce has thickened at the edges.
- 5
Rest 5 minutes and bring the tray to the table; it is eaten by scooping with torn flatbread.
Pro tip: Only spring garlic works. Mature dry bulbs stay sharp and never melt into the mellow confit this Gaziantep tray kebab exists for, which is why locals cook it a few weeks a year.
