Döner Kebab

Introduction & method

The idea of the döner kebab - a huge cylinder of spiced meat thinly sliced as it rotates in front of a hot grill - comes from Turkey originally. The meat is generally lamb or chicken, and in the UK it's served with salad in a split-open pitta bread and drizzled with garlic mayonnaise or a hot chilli sauce. If you want to make your own, so you know the actual meat that went into it, here's my recipe.

Prep the Meat

The easiest way to do this is to use ready-minced lamb. Or you can use deboned chops or leg steaks and mince them yourself. Chop the meat into chunks that will fit through your mincer.

Prep the Mixture

Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Mix all the herbs and spices together with the meat, onion and garlic. If you are using a mincer, put the mixture through it using the fine plate, otherwise mix by hand until you have something like a paste.

Make It, Bake It

Preheat your oven to 180°C (356°F). Lay out a generous amount of aluminium foil on your worktop. Place half of the meat mixture across the centre of it. Lay a sharpening steel or wooden spoon handle across the top of the meat and place the rest of the meat over it. Press the meat together to form a fat sausage. Wrap the foil around it, rolling to get a uniform cylinder. Close up the end away from the steel's handle or spoon's bowl, remove the steel or wooden spoon and close up that end of the foil. Wrap the sausage 2 or 3 times in more foil. Place in the oven and cook until the internal temperature reaches 65°C (149°F), about 30-45 minutes.

Rotisserie Method

If you have a rotisserie, build the meat sausage around the steel shaft and leave it in. Wrap in foil, cook in the oven for 30 minutes, rest a little, then unwrap and cook on the rotisserie for about 10 minutes

Make a Kebab

When the meat is cooked, let it rest in the foil for about 20 minutes, then unwrap it. Insert your sharpening steel or wooden spoon handle into the hole you made earlier and hold the meat vertically. Brown the outside of the meat with a blowtorch. If you don't have a blowtorch, put the meat under a grill or broiler, turning frequently until it is evenly browned. Slice slivers of meat from the outside and place into a pitta bread with salad. Serve with garlic mayonnaise or chilli sauce - or both.

The video above is from the Keef Cooks YouTube channel. Click here to see the video recipe of Döner Kebab on YouTube.

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Ingredients & Info

1 kilo minced lamb (20% fat)

1 medium onion

3 cloves garlic

half a tsp oregano

half a tsp dried coriander

half a tsp thyme

half a tsp basil

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp salt

Makes 8 -12 kebabs
Prep time: 10 minutes.
resting time: 20 minutes.
Cooking time: 40 minutes.
Total time: 1 hour.

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