I learned this koobideh recipe from my Persian friend Matt during one of his ski club cooking lessons. In it's simplest form, koobideh is ground meat (usually beef) mixed with grated onions, salt and pepper, and grilled on a skewer. But if you don't have a grill, you can form logs and broil them in the oven.
That's what we did for our ski club potluck when Matt taught a group of us how to make these.
And honestly, it's much easier in the oven since you don't have to shape the meat onto skewers and then worry that they would break off and fall into the grill. Plus you can make them into small logs so they can be served as either appetizers or as the main meal.
There are a couple of tips for successfully making juicy koobideh.
- Lean ground meat = hard dry koobideh. So now is not the time to be using the 99% lean ground turkey. Here I used 85% lean ground turkey (ie 15% fat) to ensure that the kabobs don't turn out too dry.
- Grate the onions with a food processor to ensure that the onions are as fine as possible (And to avoid tears. I cried up a storm the first time grating with a box grater.). Use both the grated onions PLUS onion juice. Some recipes say to squeeze out all the onion juice and discard it, but I like to add in the onion juice, cuz that's extra flavor! I just make up for the extra moisture by adding in some cornstarch.
- Aside from salt and pepper, add in a bit of garlic, sumac and turmeric to add extra "oomph" to your kabobs.
- Mix the meat mixture really really well with your hands until a paste forms. This affects the texture of your koobideh. You don't want loose meat or the koobideh will fall apart.
- Leave the mixed meat mix in the fridge for a few hours (and up to overnight) to allow the flavors to meld together before forming the koobideh and cooking. This also helps to firm up the mixture a bit and makes forming the kabobs easier.
These are also freezer friendly. I've pre-made these numerous times to bring up to Tahoe for an easy dinner after skiing. It keeps well in the freezer for up to a month. Just thaw and rewarm to serve over basmati rice with a side salad.
Here's how to make them step by step via pictures.
Yields 4 servings (about 18-20 mini koobidehs depending on size of each log)
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs ground turkey (85% lean)
- 2 eggs
- 1 t salt
- ½ t ground black pepper
- 3 T dried chopped onions
- 2 T sumac
- 2 t turmeric
- 1 large yellow onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 T cornstarch
Procedures:
1. Chop onions and add to food processor. Add garlic clove. Puree until onions and garlic are finely pureed. Set aside.
2. To a large bowl, add ground turkey, eggs, salt, pepper, sumac, turmeric, cornstarch and pureed onions and garlic and all the onion juice from the food processor.
3. Using your hands, mix all ingredients together in a bowl really well until a paste forms.
4.Place meat mixture in the fridge for a few hours (and up to overnight) to allow the flavors to meld.
5. Form small logs from the meat mixture and place on a greased broiler safe pan (with a lip to catch juices). I like to line my pan with foil (for easy clean up) and then grease the foil generously with oil (to prevent sticking).
6. Broil on low for 10 minutes on each side until browned and cooked through. Garnish with more sumac and chopped parsley or garlic chives if desired. Serve hot over basmati rice.