İskender Kebap (Turkish Lamb on Bread with Tomato Butter)

About This Recipe

İskender kebap is the proudest culinary export of Bursa, the green Anatolian city at the foot of Mount Uludağ, and arguably the most theatrical kebap in all of Turkish cuisine. Invented in 1867 by İskender Efendi, who turned the traditional horizontal cağ kebap onto its vertical axis to create the modern döner, the dish bearing his name has been served almost unchanged for over 150 years in his family's restaurant on Atatürk Caddesi. The construction is a masterclass in contrast: at the base, pieces of toasted pide bread are laid in a wide shallow dish; over them goes a generous layer of thinly shaved lamb döner, still hot from the rotating spit; on top of the meat goes a ladle of bright, vinegary tomato sauce that the kitchen has been simmering all morning; beside or under everything goes a quenelle of thick strained yogurt; and finally — the showstopper — a small copper pan of foaming brown butter is poured table-side over the whole composition, hissing and sputtering and saturating everything with toasted dairy aromas. The first bite is meant to deliver every flavor and texture at once: crispy bread, savoury lamb, tart tomato, cooling yogurt, nutty butter — five elements that should never work together but, in Bursa, somehow do.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 800 glamb shoulder or leg, thinly sliced against the grain (substitute for döner)(freeze 30 minutes for easier slicing)
• 3garlic cloves, grated, plus 1 tbsp tomato paste and 1 tsp Turkish red pepper paste (biber salçası)
• 2 tspground cumin, 1 tsp Aleppo pepper, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp salt
• 2large pide breads, cut into 4 cm squares (or thick naan/Turkish flatbread)
• 500 mlpassata or sieved tomatoes
• 1 tbsptomato paste and 1 tbsp red wine vinegar (for the sauce)
• 1 tspsugar, plus 1 tsp dried mint and 1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper
• 400 gthick Turkish süzme yogurt or Greek-style yogurt, cold
• 100 gunsalted butter (the finishing butter)
• 2green chillies and 2 tomato halves, charred briefly under broiler to garnish

Instructions

1. 1

   Marinate the lamb

   Combine the sliced lamb with garlic, tomato paste, red pepper paste, cumin, Aleppo pepper, oregano, salt, and 2 tbsp olive oil. Mix thoroughly with your hands so every slice is coated. Marinate refrigerated at least 2 hours, ideally overnight — the longer, the more döner-like the flavor.

2. 2

   Make the tomato sauce

   In a saucepan, warm 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the tomato paste and bloom 30 seconds, then add the passata, vinegar, sugar, dried mint, Aleppo pepper, and 1/2 tsp salt. Simmer gently 15 minutes until slightly thickened and glossy. Taste — it should be assertively tangy and slightly sweet. Keep warm.

   If the sauce tastes flat, add another splash of vinegar; tartness is the whole point of an İskender sauce.

3. 3

   Toast the pide

   Heat the oven to 200°C / 400°F. Scatter the cubed pide bread on a sheet pan and toast 6–8 minutes, turning once, until golden-crisp on the outside but still chewy inside. Keep warm.

4. 4

   Sear the lamb

   Heat a large heavy skillet (cast iron is ideal) over high heat until smoking. In two batches, add the marinated lamb in a single layer. Sear without moving for 90 seconds, then toss and cook 90 more seconds — you want browned edges and just-cooked interiors. Pile each batch into a warm bowl as you go.

5. 5

   Char the garnishes

   Under a hot broiler or over an open gas flame, char the green chillies and tomato halves until blistered and softened — about 3 minutes. Set aside for plating.

6. 6

   Assemble the plates

   On 4 warm shallow plates, lay a generous bed of toasted pide cubes. Pile the seared lamb on top — about 200 g per plate. Spoon a generous ladle of the warm tomato sauce over the meat, making sure some sauce soaks into the bread underneath.

7. 7

   Foam the butter

   Just before serving, melt the butter in a small saucepan over high heat. Swirl constantly and let it foam, then go nut-brown — about 3 minutes. Pull from heat the instant it smells toasty; it will keep cooking in residual heat.

8. 8

   The pour and serve

   Carry plates to the table. Spoon a generous mound of cold yogurt next to or on top of the lamb. Pour the foaming hot butter over the meat and yogurt — it should sizzle audibly. Garnish with a charred chilli and a tomato half. Eat immediately while the contrast of hot meat, cold yogurt, and sizzling butter is at its peak.

Variations

• •

  Beef İskender — substitute thinly sliced sirloin or top round; cook even more briefly.

• •

  Chicken İskender — modern variant with thinly sliced chicken thigh marinated the same way; popular with younger diners.

• •

  Garlicky yogurt — stir 1 grated garlic clove and a pinch of salt into the yogurt for extra punch.

• •

  Aleppo-style: use harissa-spiked tomato sauce and add a sprinkle of toasted walnuts.

Storage

Components store separately: lamb refrigerated 3 days, sauce 4 days, yogurt 5 days. Reheat lamb in a hot skillet, never the microwave. Assemble fresh; an İskender that has sat assembled is sad and soggy. Freeze cooked lamb up to 2 months.

Frequently Asked Questions