Adana Kebab

Adana or Kıyma kebabı is a long, hand-made meat kebab, wrapped around an iron skewer and grilled on an open mangal/ BBQ. The dish is named after Adana, the fifth largest city of Turkey.

The Kebabs are usually made out of ground lamb meat and tail fat, though there are some regional variations, and is traditionally served on a plate, as a “Porsiyon”, or wrapped in flatbread, as a “Dürüm”.

Porsiyon is served over the flatbread and accompanied by grilled tomatoes, green or red peppers and julienned onions with parsley and sumac. Other mezes generally served with this style of kebab include red pepper ezme with pomegranate molasses, pickled small green chili peppers and hot hummus with butter topped with pastırma on the side.

The way to eat “Porsiyon” is to skin and crush the charred tomatoes and peppers into a paste, put them in a piece of flatbread with part of the kebab and top with a generous pinch of the onion-sumac-parsley mixture. Then wrap the whole thing up and enjoy!

Dürüm is served as a long roll. The grilled kebab is removed from the skewer and wrapped in a large flatbread with julienned onions, small diced tomatoes, some parsley, then sprinkled with a little salt, cumin and sumac.

Adana kebab, has been celebrated as nationwide popular street festival in Adana since 2010.  Street musicians play their drums and zurna, entertaining visitors all night long. The festival takes place on the second Saturday night of every December.

Here is a recipe I found online with the telegraph.co.uk:

Ingredients

• 300g/10 ½ oz minced beef
• 300g/10 ½ oz minced veal
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and very finely chopped
• A handful of parsley leaves, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tsp sumac
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 heaped tsp Turkish chilli flakes
• ½ tbsp ground cumin
• ½ tbsp ground coriander
• 4 metal skewers
• Lemon wedges, to serve

Instructions

• Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and season generously with salt and pepper.
• Divide into four portions and shape around long, flat metal skewers
• Heat a griddle or BBQ and grill the kebabs until browned and slightly charred.
• Remove from the skewers and serve over a flatbread with onions, tomatoes and parsley squeezing lemon juice over the kebabs to taste. Bulgar rice and meze can also be served on the side.

Afiyet Olsun!