İskender Kebab

About This Recipe

İskender Kebab was invented in 1867 in Bursa by İskender Efendi, who developed the vertical rotating-spit method of cooking marinated lamb on a tall döner. To serve it, he laid the thinly sliced meat over cubes of toasted Turkish bread (pide), drowned it in a hot tomato-pepper sauce, doused the whole construction in foaming hot brown butter at the table, and served it with a dollop of strained yogurt and a few grilled green peppers and tomatoes on the side. The combination of crisp bread soaked in tomato, fatty lamb, nutty browned butter, and cool tangy yogurt is impossibly satisfying. Bursa locals still go to the original İskender restaurant near Heykel square — and argue endlessly about how authentic any version elsewhere is.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 800 glamb leg or shoulder, sliced very thin (or use ready döner meat)
• 200 gfull-fat plain yogurt (for marinade)
• 2 tbspolive oil
• 1 tbspTurkish red pepper paste (biber salçası)
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tspdried oregano
• 1 tspAleppo pepper (pul biber)
• 1 tspfine salt
• 1/2 tspfreshly ground black pepper
• 1 mediumonion, grated and squeezed for juice (juice only)
• 4 clovesgarlic, microplaned
• 1 largeTurkish pide bread (or 1 thick naan), cut into 3 cm cubes
• 3 tbspolive oil (for crisping bread)
• 2 tbspTurkish red pepper paste (for sauce)
• 1 tbsptomato paste
• 1 can (400 g)good crushed tomatoes
• 1 tspsugar
• 1 tspAleppo pepper
• 400 gthick strained yogurt (Turkish süzme yoğurt)
• 120 gunsalted butter
• 4long green chilies (sivri biber)
• 4 smalltomatoes, halved
• extra Aleppo pepper, dried mint, and parsley to garnish

Instructions

1. 1

   Marinate the lamb

   Mix yogurt, olive oil, red pepper paste, cumin, oregano, Aleppo pepper, salt, pepper, onion juice, and garlic. Add sliced lamb and turn to coat. Marinate at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

2. 2

   Toast the bread

   Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a wide skillet. Toss the pide cubes to coat and toast over medium heat for 6 minutes, turning, until golden and crisp on all sides. Set aside.

3. 3

   Make the tomato sauce

   In a saucepan, warm 1 tbsp olive oil. Add the red pepper paste and tomato paste; cook 1 minute. Add crushed tomatoes, sugar, Aleppo pepper, and a pinch of salt. Simmer 10 minutes until thick and glossy. Adjust seasoning.

4. 4

   Sear the lamb

   Heat a wide skillet or grill pan over high heat. Cook the marinated lamb in batches in a single layer, 2 minutes per side, until charred at the edges and cooked through. Rest the lamb briefly.

5. 5

   Grill peppers and tomatoes

   On the same pan, char the long green chilies and halved tomatoes for 4 minutes until blistered and soft.

6. 6

   Brown the butter

   In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and cook until it foams and the milk solids turn deep golden brown with a nutty fragrance — about 4 minutes. Pull off heat immediately.

7. 7

   Assemble the plates

   On wide warm plates, lay a generous bed of toasted pide cubes. Arrange the sliced lamb in overlapping ribbons on top.

8. 8

   Sauce, butter, yogurt

   Ladle hot tomato sauce generously over the meat. Spoon a fat dollop of strained yogurt to one side. Place grilled chilies and tomatoes on the plate. Bring the saucepan of hot brown butter to the table.

9. 9

   Pour at the table

   At the table, drizzle the foaming brown butter directly over each plate — it will sizzle into the tomato sauce. Garnish with dried mint, Aleppo pepper, and parsley. Eat immediately.

Variations

• •

  İskender with veal: a milder version popular in Istanbul.

• •

  Bursa-style strictly: served on top of pide cubes; Ankara-style is served beside.

• •

  Chicken iskender: with marinated thigh meat for a lighter, less expensive variation.

Storage

Components keep separately 2 days: meat 2 days refrigerated, sauce 4 days, bread is best the day toasted. Reheat meat in tomato sauce, freshly toast bread, fresh-brown the butter — assembly fresh.

Frequently Asked Questions