Kabab Koobideh

Ingredients

• 1¾ lbground meatmix of beef and lamb, not too lean (about 80/20)
• 2onionfinely grated and squeezed well; reserve the juice
• 1½ tspsaltseason generously
• ½ tspblack pepperground
• ½ tspsaffronground, bloomed in a little water or on ice
• 4tomatogrilled on skewers as a side
• sumacfor seasoning the meat (optional)
• paprikafor seasoning the meat (optional)
• 1 ozbuttermelted, for brushing before serving (optional)
• 1 tbsplemon juicepartly in the meat, partly for basting (optional)
• 1 tbspoilpartly in the meat, partly for basting (optional)
• lavash breadfor sliding kebabs off the skewer and keeping them warm (optional)

Method

1. Dissolve the ground saffron in a very small amount of water or over a few ice cubes and set aside. Grate the onions very finely, squeeze the pulp firmly and keep the onion juice in a small bowl.
2. Put the minced meat into a bowl with the squeezed onion, salt, black pepper and the bloomed saffron. If you like, add a little sumac, paprika, lemon juice and oil.
3. Knead the mixture vigorously with your hands for 10 to 15 minutes, until it is sticky and almost paste-like and you can no longer make out individual strands of meat.
4. Cover the bowl and leave the meat to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, ideally 1 to 3 hours. Meanwhile, prepare the charcoal grill: the coals should be very hot and evenly spread. Thread the tomatoes onto their own skewers.
5. Wet your hands with onion juice or cold water. Press a fist-sized portion of meat around a wide, flat skewer and spread it evenly along its length. Press ridges into the meat with your fingers at short intervals and squeeze the ends firmly onto the skewer so the meat doesn't come loose on the grill.
6. Lay the skewers over the coals so the meat doesn't touch the grate, for instance resting them on the edges of the grill. Turn them often until the kababs are browned all over and cooked through. Grill the tomato skewers alongside until the skins split and the tomatoes are soft.
7. Shortly before the kababs are done, brush them with melted butter or with a mixture of oil and lemon juice.
8. Wrap a piece of lavash around the meat and use it to slide the kababs off the skewer. Keep them covered between sheets of lavash until all the skewers are done.
9. Serve the kababs with rice, the grilled tomatoes and fresh herbs.

Tips and variations

Instead of saffron, you can season the meat with sumac and paprika. If you have a meat grinder, pass the meat through it several times with the seasonings rather than only kneading by hand; this gives a particularly fine mixture that holds together well. In place of the beef and lamb mix, you can use just one or the other, as long as the meat isn't too lean. Besides butter, oil mixed with lemon and onion juice also works for basting.