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Adana Kebab

Adana Kebab

Lamb shoulder and lamb tail fat (or extra fatty trim) chop fine with a heavy knife or zırh (curved blade), proper Adana is hand-cut, never minced through a grinder. The texture has visible pieces of meat and fat the size of small peas. Knead with salt, ground sumac, hot red Aleppo / Maraş chilli flakes (acı biber) and crushed garlic for 6-8 minutes until tacky and clinging to the bowl. Chill for 2 hours. Press a fistful onto a wide flat skewer, working from the centre outward, shaping a 25 cm × 3 cm flat sausage with finger-tip dimples down the length. Grill over hot charcoal 5-6 minutes per side. Slide off skewer onto warm lavash. Rest for 2 minutes; serve.

Turkish 2 hours 42 minutes Serves4
Chapli Kebab

Chapli Kebab

Chapli kebabs are the spiced beef patties sizzling on a wide flat tawa at any roadside grill from Peshawar to Kabul, big enough to wrap a hand around and seasoned with the unusual punch of dried pomegranate seeds and coriander. The mince mixes with grated onion, chopped fresh tomato, ginger, garlic, beaten egg and a little gram flour to bind, plus the signature Afghan spice blend (coriander seed, pomegranate seeds, chilli flakes, cumin and garam masala). A thirty-minute rest lets the gram flour absorb the moisture and the spices marry. Pat thin and wide (the word chapli means "flat" or "slipper-shaped"), then fry hard in oil three or four minutes a side until darkly crusted. Eat hot from the pan, wrapped in fresh naan with sliced raw onion and a green chutney.

Afghanistan 1 hour 10 minutes Serves4
Greek Lamb Burger

Greek Lamb Burger

This burger borrows from the souvlaki and bifteki tradition of mainland Greece, where minced lamb or a lamb-beef mix is seasoned with dried oregano, garlic and a slug of red wine vinegar, then grilled over charcoal until the outside is dark and the inside still blushes pink. Crumbling feta directly into the mince is a home-cook trick: as the cheese melts it leaves salty, creamy seams through the patty rather than sitting flat on top. The result is much more interesting than a beef burger dressed up with Mediterranean toppings. The supporting cast is straightforward and traditional: a quick tzatziki of strained yoghurt, cucumber, garlic and dill; a sharp tomato and cucumber relish loosened with olive oil; and either toasted pita or a soft brioche bun, depending on whether you want this to lean Greek street food or backyard barbecue. Lamb is forgiving on the grill because its fat is so flavourful, but it can taste muttony if overcooked, so aim for an internal temperature around 60 to 63 degrees. Difficulty is low. The only thing to watch is keeping the mince loose: if you pack the patty tightly it goes dense and rubbery, so handle it just enough to hold together. Serve with a glass of something cold and resinous.

Greek 37 minutes Serves4
Kofta Burger

Kofta Burger

Lebanese kofta, sometimes spelled kafta, is minced lamb (often with a little beef) seasoned with grated onion, parsley and the warm spice blend known variously as baharat, sabaa baharat or seven-spice: allspice, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cumin and coriander. Traditionally it is moulded around flat metal skewers and grilled over charcoal at a mangal, where it sears fast and stays juicy. Shaping the same mince into a patty for a flatbread sandwich is a natural extension and one you will find in Beirut bakeries and Levantine takeaways from Sydney to Detroit. What makes this burger taste authentic and not just a "Middle-Eastern-spiced lamb burger" is the grated onion: pulled across a box grater so it dissolves into the mince and seasons every gram from the inside, releasing moisture as it cooks. Squeezing out the excess liquid first keeps the patty from falling apart. The sauce is a loosened tahini-yoghurt, tart with lemon and garlic, and the contrast comes from sumac-dusted onions whose sharp, almost berry-like sourness cuts through the lamb's richness. Wrap it in toasted khobz or a soft brioche, depending on the occasion. Difficulty is low. The only skill is restraint with the mince: knead just enough to bind, no more.

Lebanese 35 minutes Serves4
Lyulya-Kebab

Lyulya-Kebab

The Azeri grill at its purest, and one of the most technically demanding kebabs in the Caucasus: a minced lamb sausage moulded onto a flat skewer and grilled over charcoal until the outside is charred and the inside still juicy. You mince fatty lamb shoulder twice or pulse it smooth in a processor, and grate a large onion fine with the juice squeezed out (excess water makes the meat slip off the skewer). Then you knead the onion and lamb together with salt, pepper and ground sumac for a full five minutes until the mixture goes from loose to tacky. This is the equivalent of bread's windowpane stage for meat, and it's the trick to skewer adhesion. The mix chills for two hours, then pats onto flat skewers in fifteen-centimetre sausages, grills over charcoal five or six minutes per side, rests two minutes, comes to the table on the skewer with lavash, grilled tomatoes and onions, and a wedge of lemon.

Azerbaijan 2 hours 42 minutes Serves4
Uyghur Kebab Burger

Uyghur Kebab Burger

A burger that tastes like a Kashgar street kebab rather than a Western quarter-pounder. Cumin is the dominant note (Uyghur cooking uses it the way the rest of China uses Sichuan pepper); behind it sits sweet chilli powder for warmth without burn, and the lamb fat that catches a deep gold sear on the outside. The patty stays loose and juicy because the mix is bound with a single egg and a spoon of flour rather than pressed dense like a beef burger. Smell-wise: charred fat, cumin, and the sweet onion folded into the meat. Easy enough that you can do it on a weeknight as long as the mix has had its 3-hour rest in the fridge; the resting time is what makes the difference between a flat-tasting patty and one that eats like the real tonur version. The dish is a clear modern adaptation of the classic Uyghur cumin lamb kebab, scaled down for households without access to a clay tandoor, and increasingly common in cafés across Xinjiang and the Uyghur diaspora.

Uyghur 8 hours 40 minutes Serves4