Adana Kebab - Restaurant-Style Recipe

1. Place 600 g of mixed ground beef and lamb in a large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of Aleppo pepper flakes and knead by hand for about 15 minutes.

2. Seed the red bell pepper and blitz it in a food processor — or chop it as finely as you can. Add it to the meat along with 2 dessert spoons (about 4 tsp) of salt and 1 tablespoon of butter. Knead for another 5–6 minutes.

3. Wet your hands occasionally while kneading; it keeps the mixture from sticking and makes the job easier.

4. Once the mixture is smooth and uniform, pinch off fist-sized portions and press them onto skewers. Wooden skewers work fine if you don't have metal ones.

5. Refrigerate the skewers for 1–2 hours to let the meat firm up and the flavors settle.

6. After resting, cook them in the oven or in a cast-iron pan. If using a cast-iron pan, don't lay the skewers flat on the pan surface — the sticks should be long enough to rest across the rim so the meat hangs above the pan. This gives you something close to a grilled result.

7. For the oven, preheat to 180°C (350°F) and bake for about 20 minutes, turning halfway. You can use a baking sheet lined with parchment or set the skewers directly on the oven rack — the rack gives better browning, with a tray underneath to catch the drippings.

8. Sprinkle extra Aleppo pepper flakes over the top at serving, if you like.

Serve alongside rice pilaf, yogurt carrot salad, sumac-dressed onions, and grilled tomatoes and peppers.

Tips

• Authentic Adana kebabı is made with lamb only, but the strong smell puts some people off at home — so a beef-lamb mix is the practical fix. Pure lamb still gives the most traditional result if you want to go that route.

• Always place a baking tray under the oven rack — the fat drips as the kebabs cook.

• Run the oven on the conventional (non-fan) setting. The fan dries the meat out faster than it should.

• Brushing the rack with fat before cooking helps the meat pick up color and flavor. Ask your butcher for tail fat (kuyruk yağı) if you want the most traditional approach.

Cooking Note

• You can swap the butter for 100 g of tail fat for a richer, more traditional flavor.