Kebab


Kebabs are various cooked meat dishes, with their origins in Middle Eastern cuisine. Many variants are popular around the world.
In most English-speaking countries, a kebab may be the classic shish kebab or shashlik – small cubes of meat cooked on a skewer – or, outside of North America where it is better known as gyros, the more recent and now-ubiquitous fast-food doner kebab. By contrast, in Indian English and in the languages of the Middle East, other parts of Asia, and the Muslim world, a kebab is any of a wide variety of grilled meat dishes. Some dishes ultimately derived from Middle Eastern kebab may have different names in their local languages, such as the Chinese chuan.
Kebabs consist of cut up or ground meat, sometimes with vegetables, and various other accompaniments according to the specific recipe. Although kebabs are typically cooked on a skewer over a fire, some kebab dishes are baked in a pan in an oven or prepared as a stew such as tas kebab. The traditional meat for kebabs is most often mutton or lamb, but regional recipes may include beef, goat, chicken, fish, or more rarely due to religious prohibitions, pork.

History

Evidence of hominin use of fire and cooking in the Middle East dates back as far as 790,000 years, and prehistoric hearths, earth ovens, and burnt animal bones were spread across Europe and the Middle East by at least 250,000 years ago. Excavations of the Minoan settlement of Akrotiri unearthed stone supports for skewers used before the 17th century BC. In ancient times, Homer in the Iliad mentions pieces of meat roasted on spits, and the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian text, also mentions large pieces of meat roasted on spits.
In Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq's 10th-century Baghdadi cookbook Kitab al-Tabikh, a compendium of much of the legacy of Mesopotamian, Persian, and Arab cuisine, there are descriptions of kabāb as cut-up meat, either fried in a pan or grilled over a fire. The method of cooking smaller chunks or slices of meat on skewers has a long history in the region, where it would be practical in cities where small cuts of meat were available in butchers' shops, and where fuel for cooking was relatively scarce, compared to Europe, where extensive forests enabled farmers to roast large cuts of meat whole. Indeed, many cultures have dishes consisting of chunks of meat cooked over a fire on skewers, such as the anticucho that has been prepared in South America since long before contact with Europe and Asia.
However, while the word kebab or shish kebab may sometimes be used in English as a culinary term that refers to any type of small chunks of meat cooked on a skewer, kebab is mainly associated with a diversity of meat dishes that originated in the medieval kitchens of Persia and Turkey. Though the word has ancient origins, it was popularized by Turks to refer to this range of grilled and broiled meat, which may be cooked on skewers, but also as stews, meatballs, and other forms. This cuisine has spread around the world, in parallel with Muslim influence. According to Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan traveller, kebab was served in the royal houses during the Delhi Sultanate, and even commoners would enjoy it for breakfast with naan. Kebab dishes have been adopted and integrated with local cooking styles and innovations, from the now-ubiquitous doner kebab fast food, to the many variations of shish kebab, such as the satays of Southeast Asia.
The word likely came to English in the late 17th century from the Arabic kabāb, partly through Urdu, Persian and Turkish. According to linguist Sevan Nişanyan, the Turkish word kebap is also derived from the Arabic word kabāb, meaning roasted meat. It appears in Turkish texts as early as the 14th century, in Kyssa-i Yusuf, though still in the Arabic form. Nişanyan states that the word has the equivalent meaning of "frying/burning" with "kabābu" in the old Akkadian language, and "kbabā/כבבא" in Aramaic. In contrast, food historian Gil Marks says that the medieval Arabic and Turkish terms were adopted from the Persian kabab, which probably derived from the Aramaic.
The American Heritage Dictionary also gives a probable East Semitic root origin with the meaning of "burn", "char", or "roast", from the Aramaic and Akkadian. The Babylonian Talmud instructs that Temple offerings not be kabbaba. These words point to an origin in the prehistoric Proto-Afroasiatic language: *kab-, to burn or roast.

National varieties

Africa

Suya is a spicy kebab which is a popular food item in West Africa. It is traditionally prepared by the Hausa people of northern Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Ghana and some parts of Sudan.
Kyinkyinga is common and popular in West Africa. It is a Ghanaian dish, very similar to or synonymous with the Hausa suya kebab, also known as sooya, tsinga, chichinga, tsire agashi, chachanga or tankora.
Sosatie is a traditional South African dish of meat cooked on skewers. The term derives from sate and saus. It is of Cape Malay origin. Sosatie recipes vary, but commonly the ingredients can include cubes of lamb, beef, chicken, dried apricots, red onions and mixed peppers.

Afghanistan

Afghan kebab is most often found in restaurants and outdoor vendor stalls. The most widely used meat is lamb. Recipes differ with every restaurant. Afghan kebab is served with naan, rarely rice, and customers have the option to sprinkle sumac or ghora, dried ground sour grapes, on their kebab. The quality of kebab is solely dependent on the quality of the meat. Pieces of fat from the sheep's tail are usually added with the lamb skewers to add extra flavor.
Other popular kebabs include the lamb chop, ribs, beef, buffalo, and chicken, all of which are found in better restaurants.
Chapli kebab, a specialty of Eastern Afghanistan, is a patty made from beef mince. It is a popular barbecue meal in Afghanistan. The word Chapli comes from the Pashto word Chaprikh, which means flat. It is prepared flat and round, and served with naan. The original recipe of chapli kebab dictates a half meat, half flour mixture, which renders it lighter in taste and less expensive.

Armenia

Khorovats is a dish of pieces of meat grilled on flat skewers known as shish or shampoor. It is very popular, especially on festive occasions. In contrast to shish kebab, the meat pieces are typically larger, and left on the bone. While sometimes coated in salt, pepper, onions, and herbs shortly before cooking, vinegar-based marinades are not used. Various kinds of meat are used, the most common is pork, with ribs being the most popular cut. Vegetables are not cooked on the same skewer.
Seasoned oblong meatballs cooked on skewers, known in other regions as lule kebab or kufte, are called kyabab, with the emphasis on the first syllable. Karsi khorovats is the Armenian name for doner kebab, which the city of Kars became known for during the time of the Ottoman Empire.

Azerbaijan

In the Republic of Azerbaijan, the main varieties include tika kebab, lyulya kebab, tas kebaby and tava kebab. The meat for tika kebab is sometimes prepared in basdirma and then goes onto the skewers. It may be served, wrapped in lavash, with sauce-like pomegranate addon and other condiments.

Bangladesh

In Bangladesh there are various types of kebabs. In the old Mughal province of Bengal Subah's capital of Dhaka, various Perso- and Arab-influenced dishes started to be made. Amongst these were kebabs. In Bangladesh most kebabs are made using beef. Amongst the popular kebabs in Bangladesh are:
In Bulgaria, the word кебап is a generic term for meat stews with few or no vegetables. The döner kebab is widespread as fast food and is called дюнер. Shish kebap / shashlik is also common, and is called шишче.

China

, often referred to as "chuanr" throughout the north, or kawap in Uyghur, is a variation of kebab originating from the Uyghur people in the western province of Xinjiang and a popular dish in Chinese Islamic cuisine. The dish has since spread across the rest of the country and become a popular street food.
Although the most traditional form of chuan uses lamb or mutton, other types of meat, such as chicken, beef, pork, and seafood, may be used as well. Small pieces of meat are skewered and either roasted or deep-fried. Common spices and condiments include cumin called "ziran", pepper, sesame, and sesame oil.

Greece

While the history of street foods in Greece goes back to ancient times, the iconic Greek gyros and souvlaki as it is known today arose only following the Second World War. Introduced to Athens in the 1950s by immigrants from Turkey and the Middle East, gyros was originally known simply as döner kebab. It is typically served as a sandwich rolled in pita bread, or on a plate, with french fries and various salads and sauces such as tzatziki. Later in the 1960s, vendors also began selling dishes in the same style made with souvlaki, which resembles Turkish shish kebab, but is usually made with pork.
Around the same time, the Greek word gyros replaced döner kebab, and the Greek style of the dish spread to become popular, particularly in North America, and various other parts of the world.
In contrast to other areas of Greece, in Athens, both types of sandwich may be called souvlaki, with the skewered meat being called kalamaki.
Although gyros is unquestionably of Middle Eastern origin, the issue of whether modern-day souvlaki came to Greece via Turkish cuisine, and should be considered a Greek styling of shish kebab, or is a contemporary revival of Greek tradition dating as far back as 17th century BC Minoan civilization, is a topic of sometimes heated debate, at least between Greeks and Turks. While English speakers may refer to souvlaki skewers as kebabs, they are not properly called that in Greece.

India

Though spit- or skewer-cooked meat dishes are noted in the Hindu text, the Mahabharata, and a Medieval Indian text, the Manasollasa, modern-day kebabs in India mostly trace their origin to the influence of Mughlai cuisine. Some varieties of kebab in India are more or less similar to kebab preparations elsewhere but with a distinctive taste, which can be credited to the use of Indian spices. Other varieties are entirely distinct versions native to India. such as Tunde ke kabab, Tikka kebab, Shami kebab, Soovar ki Saanth and Rajpooti soolah. The prevalence of vegetarianism in much of India also means that there are many local vegetarian varieties made from Paneer or potato.
Kebab in Indonesia are the same as other kebab. Indonesian kebab are served as dinner.

Iran

There are several distinct Persian varieties of kebab. Kebab may be served with either steamed, saffroned basmati or Persian rice and called chelow kabab, which is considered the national dish of Iran. It may also be served with the various types of bread that are the most commonly eaten in Iran, such as lavash.
It is served with the basic Iranian meal accompaniments, in addition to grilled tomatoes on the side of the rice and butter on top of the rice. It is an old northern tradition that a raw egg yolk should be placed on top of the rice as well, though this is strictly optional, and most restaurants will not serve the rice this way unless it is specifically requested. "Somagh", powdered sumac, is also made available and its use varies based on tastes to a small dash on the rice or a heavy sprinkling on both rice and meat, particularly when used with red meat.
At Persian restaurants, the combination of one kabab barg and one kabab koobideh is typically called Soltani, meaning "sultan's feast". The traditional beverage of choice to accompany kebab is doogh, a sour yogurt drink with mint and salt.
In the old bazaar tradition, the rice and accompaniments are served first, immediately followed by the kebabs, which are brought to the table by the waiter, who holds several skewers in his left hand, and a piece of flat bread in his right. A skewer is placed directly on the rice and while holding the kebab down on the rice with the bread, the skewer is quickly pulled out. With the two most common kebabs, barg and koobideh, two skewers are always served. In general, bazaar kebab restaurants only serve these two varieties, though there are exceptions.
In Iranian Azerbaijan, "Binab Kebabi" is very famous in Azerbaijani cuisine for its large size. It is named after the city of Binab in East Azerbaijan province. This kebab and other types can be served alone or with rice and fresh salad on the side. In this region Kebabs come usually with yogurt, hot bread, tomato, onion, parsley and paprika-salt, and tarragon.
Kabab koobideh it kūbide is an Iranian minced meat kabab which is made from ground lamb, beef, or chicken, often mixed with parsley and chopped onions.
Kabab Koobideh contains: ground meat, onion, salt, pepper, turmeric, and seasoning. These ingredients are mixed together until the mixture becomes smooth and sticky. One egg is added to help the mix stick together. The mixture is then pressed around a skewer. Koobideh Kabab is typically long.
Kabāb-e barg is a Persian style barbecued lamb, chicken or beef kebab dish. The main ingredients of Kabab Barg – a short form of this name – are fillets of beef tenderloin, lamb shank or chicken breast, onions and olive oil.
Marinade is prepared by the mixture of half a cup of olive oil, three onions, garlic, half teaspoon saffron, salt and black pepper. One kilogram of lamb is cut into 1 cm thick and 4–5 cm long pieces. It should be marinated overnight in refrigerator, and the container should be covered. The next day, the lamb is threaded on long, thin metal skewers. It is brushed with marinade and is barbecued for 5–10 minutes on each side.
Jūje-kabāb consists of pieces of chicken first marinated in minced onion and lemon juice with saffron then grilled over a fire. It is sometimes served with grilled tomato and pepper. Jujeh kabab is one of the most popular Persian dishes.
Kabab Bakhtiari is a combination of Jujeh kabab and Kabab barg on the same skewer. Its name comes from the Bakhtiari region of Iran.
Kabab Kenjeh, also known as Chenjeh is a kabab traditionally made with chunks of marinated lamb meat. It is typically served with grilled tomatoes and rice or bread.
Other Iranian kababs include:
Several types of kebab are popular in Iraq, although the word kebab in local use is reserved for skewers of spiced ground lamb, traditionally grilled on natural wood charcoal to give the kebab its special flavor. Skewers of grilled marinated meat chunks are called tikka, the most popular of which is the chicken tikka.
Kebabs in Iraq are consumed any time of the day, including for breakfast.

Israel

brought various types of grilled meat from their native Middle Eastern countries to Israel, where they are an essential part of the cuisine. Among the most popular are skewers of elongated spiced ground meat, called kabab, which have become a staple dish of meat restaurants and the main dish of the traditional holiday barbecues, alongside the shishlik. They are commonly made of beef, though lamb is also occasionally used, and are almost always served with the local pita bread.

The Levant and Egypt

Several varieties of kebabs can be found at most restaurants representing this region. Among the most common are shish taouk, which are grilled chicken skewers marinated in olive oil and spices, and lahem meshwi, charcoal-grilled skewers of prime lamb cubes lightly seasoned with herbs.
Shawarma, although not considered a kebab in most countries of the Levant and Egypt, is another very popular type of grilled meat preparation that characterizes this region.

Nepal

In Nepal it is a popular dish in Nepalese cuisine as well as Newa cuisine and known as Sekuwa. It is a meat roasted in a natural wood/log fire in a real traditional Nepalese country style. At first while the meat is still in its raw stage is mixed with homemade natural herbs and spices and other necessary ingredients. Sekuwa could be of pork, lamb, goat or chicken, or a mixture. Sekuwa is very popular in Nepal, especially in the Eastern Nepal and Kathmandu. Tarahara, a small town in Sunsari District of Koshi State in the Eastern Nepal could be called as the sekuwa capital of Nepal.

Pakistan

Kebabs in Pakistan trace their origin to the influence of the Mughlai cuisine.
Varieties such as sheesh, doner, shammi, tikka, and other forms of roasted and grilled meats are found in Pakistan.
Pakistani cuisine has different kebabs. Meat including beef/buff, chicken, lamb and fish is used in kebabs. Some popular kebabs are:
Satay is a kebab of seasoned, skewered, and grilled meat, served with a sauce. It is a dish of Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Satay may consist of diced or sliced chicken, goat, lamb, mutton, beef, pork, fish, other meats, or tofu. Traditionally skewers from the midrib of the coconut palm frond are used, although bamboo skewers are often used instead. It is grilled or barbecued over a wood or charcoal fire with spicy seasonings. It may be served with various sauces, though most often a combination of soy and peanut sauce. Hence, peanut sauce is often called satay sauce.
Satay was developed by Javanese street vendors as a unique adaptation of Indian kebab. The introduction of satay, and other now-iconic dishes such as tongseng and gulai kambing based on meats such as goat and lamb, coincided with an influx of Indian and Arab traders and immigrants starting in the 18th century. It is available almost anywhere in Indonesia, where it has become a national dish. In Sri Lanka, it has become a staple of the local diet as a result of the influences from the local Malay community.

Turkey

Burrah

Burrah kebab is another kebab from India. This is usually made of goat or lamb meat, liberally marinated with spices and charcoal grilled. It uses cuts of chops and not other meat cuts.

Ćevapi

Ćevapi or ćevapčići, which comes from the word kebab, is a grilled dish of minced meat, a type of skinless sausage, found traditionally in the countries of southeastern Europe. They are considered a national dish in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and are also common in Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Albania, Slovenia, as well as in Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania. Ćevapi has its origins in the Balkans during the Ottoman period, and represents a regional speciality similar to the kofte kebab. A dish with similar origins is in Romania called mititei.

Chapli

Chapli kebab is a patty made from beef mince, onions, tomatoes, green chilies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, salt, black pepper, lemon juice or pomegranate seeds, eggs, cornstarch and coriander leaves. Chapli kebab is a common dish in Pashtun cuisine and popular in Afghanistan, Pakistan. The kebab originates in Afghanistan. Mardan is famous for chapli kabab not only locally but also internationally.
Chapli kebab is prepared flat and round and generally served with naan.
The word Chapli comes from the Pashto word Chaprikh, which means "flat".

Galouti

The Galouti kebab is a dish originating from the Indian subcontinent, made of minced goat and green papaya. It was supposedly made for a Nawab in Lucknow who could not eat the regular Kebabs due to weak teeth. Like Lucknowi biryani and Kakori kebab, it is a hallmark of Awadhi cuisine.
Many leading Indian hotel chains have taken to popularising the Awadhi food tradition, with the Galouti kebab being a pièce de résistance. The home of this kebab is Lucknow. It is most famously had at the almost iconic eatery "Tundey Miyan" at Old Lucknow.

Kakori

Kakori kebab is an Indian kebab attributed to the city of Kakori in Uttar Pradesh, India. The kebab is made of finely ground mince goat meat with spices and then charcoal grilled on a skewer. It is commonly served with Roomali Roti, onion and a mint chutney. The meat is ground to a fine paste and kept moist so the texture is soft. There is a legend that it was first prepared for old and toothless pilgrims.

Kalmi

Kalmi kebab a popular snack in Indian cuisine. The dish is made by marinating chicken drumsticks and placing them in a tandoor. Various kinds of freshly ground Indian spices are added to the yogurt used for the marination of the chicken. When prepared, the drumsticks are usually garnished with mint leaves and served with onions and Indian bread.

Kebab Halabi

A kind of kebab served with a spicy tomato sauce and Aleppo pepper, very common in Syria and Lebanon, named after the city of Aleppo. Kebab Halabi has around 26 variants including:
Pinchitos or Pinchos Morunos is a Moorish-derived kebab dish in Spanish cuisine. The name pinchitos is used in the southern Spanish autonomous communities of Andalusia and Extremadura. They consist of small cubes of meat threaded onto a skewer which are traditionally cooked over charcoal braziers. Similar dishes in North Africa or other Muslim majority countries tend to be lamb-based, but pork and chicken are the most popular meats for the dish in Spain. Pinchitos are also extremely popular in Venezuela, due the heavy influence Spain had in Venezuelan cuisine during many years.

Shashlik

Shashlik is similar to, or sometimes a synonym for, shish kebab. It is popular in many countries, particularly in Eastern and Central Europe, the Caucasus, and the Baltics. In non-Muslim-majority countries, shashlik and equivalent dishes like Romanian frigărui may sometimes be prepared with pork.

Kebab in Western culture

Kebab cuisine has spread around the world together with Muslim influence. Although non-Muslim Westerners may be increasingly familiar with some of the many other international kebab dishes, only two have become an established and widely popular part of the culture in many Western countries. In English, the word kebab commonly refers to shish kebab and, outside of North America, to döner kebab or related fast-food dishes. These dishes are also served in many other countries, where they may have different names.

Shish kebab

In English, kebab, or in North America also kabob, often occurring as shish kebab, is now a culinary term for small pieces of meat cooked on a skewer. The word kebab, most likely derived from Arabic, has been used with various spellings in this sense since at least the 17th century, while the Oxford English Dictionary records the earliest known publication of the term shish kebab, derived from şiş kebap, in 1914.
In many English-speaking countries, it refers to the now well-known dish prepared with marinated meat or seafood together with vegetables such as onions, tomatoes, and bell peppers threaded onto the skewer, also sometimes known as shashlik. This preparation is different from the typical Turkish shish kebab style, where vegetables are usually cooked on a separate skewer. Shish kebabs are customarily prepared in homes and restaurants, and are usually cooked on a grill or barbecue, or roasted in an oven.
The word kebab may also be used as a general term in English to describe any similar-looking skewered food, such as brochette, satay, souvlaki, yakitori, or numerous small chunks of any type of food served on a stick. This is different from its use in the Middle East, where shish is the word for skewer, while kebab comes from the word for grilling.

Doner kebab

English speakers from countries outside North America may also use the word kebab generally to mean the popular fast food version of the Turkish döner kebab, or the related shawarma or gyros, and the sandwiches made with them, available from kebab shops as take-away meals. This usage may be found in some non-English parts of Europe as well. In North America, the Greek variant gyros is most widely known.
The döner kebab originated in 19th century Turkey, but it became widely popular in the West only in the latter half of the 20th century. Many layers of meat are stacked onto a large vertical rotating spit; the outer surface is gradually cooked and sliced off, and typically served either mixed or topped with vegetables and sauces in a sandwich made with pita or other flatbreads. Certain regional variants also include cheeses. Sandwiches served in the same manner, but with other meats or cheese, may also sometimes be called a "kebab". It is available in most parts of Europe, and many other countries, though sometimes with different names or serving styles. In Germany, the highly popular sandwich, introduced by Turkish immigrants, is called a Döner, though Arab shops there serve shawarma.

Similar dishes

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