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El Baboor lamb kebab was inspired by the Syrian kebab halabi, grilled and then baked in a spicy tomato sauce. Janna Gur mentioned in her The Book of New Israeli Food cookbook that this El Baboor lamb kebab was introduced by two Israeli to her with few delicious changes: grilled tomatoes and onions for the sauce and a disk of pita dough to seal the baking dish. In this home version recipe, the pita dough can be substituted with pita or laffa bread to seal the dish and wrap it tightly with aluminum foil.
I like the slightly spicy bites from the chili (I used jalapeno. You can use whatever chili you like and as many or as little as you like) and the tomato sauce complements the kebab very well. I substituted the onions quartered with shallots. You can even put some bell peppers on the skewers too if you like.
EL BABOOR LAMB KEBAB
Ingredients
- 1 kg 2 lb 4 oz fresh lamb (shoulder or thigh, with the fat), chopped with a knife or ground coarsely
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 hot green pepper chopped finely (more if you like)
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ Tbsp baharat spice mix
- 4-5 large ripe tomatoes
- 2 onions quartered
- 1-2 regular pitas
- FOR BAHARAT SPICE MIX:
- 2 Tbsp ground cardamon
- 1 Tbsp ground black pepper
- ½ Tbsp ground allspice
- 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp ground dry ginger
- ½ Tbsp ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Mix the meat with half the hot pepper and garlic, season with baharat and salt and shape into oval kebabs
- Roast the tomatoes over an open flame or on a charcoal grill. peel and chop coarsely. Season with the rest of the garlic and hot pepper
- Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C)
- Skewer the kebabs, alternating them with onions quarters. Grill 3-4 minutes on each side until the kebabs are half-done
- Remove the kebabs and onions from the skewers and transfer to a deep baking dish or ovenproof earthernware plate together with the roasted tomatoes. Cover the dish with a pita, wrap with aluminum foil and bake for 10 minutes. Serve immediately
