Iraqi Kebab (Kebab Muluki)

September 13, 2013  •  Category:

I’d vote this as my favorite Iraqi kebab version; learned about it in Nawal Nasrallah’s outstanding Delights from the Garden of Eden. Made it once in Beirut, using a shortcut, of course (placed an order from the neighborhood kebab house); it is called muluki, which is the word for king in Arabic. It kind of reminds me of a lasagne, Middle Eastern-style; the pan is greased, then lined with really good flatbread (if you can get a hold of fresh tannur or markouk or even a large pita, what a treat~). Then, you assemble it with sliced onions and peppers (fried or fresh), place the kebabs on top, more bread on the kebabs, puncture the bread, a few ladles of homemade tomato sauce.

The casserole can be baked for 20 minutes right at dinner time;   piping hot from the oven, the bread all soaked up in sauce; the kebabs moist, slightly crunchy from the raw veggies, this is a highly satisfying meal indeed. 
In addition, it is open to creative interpretation; it can be prepared in advance and in stages; with the sauce and kebabs, assembly of this dish should not take more than 30 minutes.

 


INGREDIENTS: 4 to 6 servings

  • 1 LB. KEBABS OR MORE (ACCORDING TO YOUR NEEDS)
  • 2 OE MORE CUPS OF TOMATO-BASED SAUCE
  • 1/4 TBSP OIL TO GREASE PAN
  • 3 FLATBREADS OR LARGE PITA OR SMALL PITAS TO LINE PAN AND OVER KEBABS WITH 
  • 3 OR 4 CUPS OF SLICED VEGGIES (ONIONS, PEPPERS, ETC)
  • 1/ CUP CHOPPED PARSLEY OR HERBS
  • SEASONING TO TASTE 

1. GREASE THE PAN; LINE IT WITH BREAD; PLACE THE KEBABS ON TOP OF THE BREADS. SPRINKLE SLICED VEGGIES ON THE KEBABS; COVER WITH MORE BREAD; PUNCTURE THE BREAD; PREHEAT THE OVEN TO MEDIUM AND INSERT THE PAN ABOUT 15 MINUTES PRIOR TO SERVING TIME; LADLE 3 CUPS OF SAUCE ON THE ENTIRE PAN. SERVE. 

NOTE:

One idea is to serve this with a bowl of raw veggies similar to a Mexican salsa, with lots of sliced bell peppers, onions, herbs, tomatoes, etc.

 

Comments

18 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Rosa says:

    Mouthwatering! This dish looks really tasty.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  2. Rhéa says:

    Yum to say the least.

  3. Alicia (foodycat) says:

    This sounds so good! What kind of kebabs do you use? Minced meat or cubed meat style?

    • Joumana says:

      @alicia: I used minced meat, because I prefer the texture! 🙂

      @Tall: A kebab would be open-ended; you can use whatever type of meat or spices you like; say ground beef, or lamb or a combo; in Lebanon, the most common type of kebab would be kafta, which is ground meat (usually beef), mixed with a small chopped onions, a handful of chopped parsley, salt, black pepper, to taste, a dash of allpice, cinnamon and maybe a touch of red chili pepper if you like. There are no set rules; I personally like to add a bit of red pepper paste in my kebabs or roast a couple of red bell peppers, seed them and mash them an add them to the kebab meats while puréeing them in the food processor; let your taste be your guide and experiment with different cuisines; all the cuisines of the regions from Turkey, to the entire Middle-East all the way to Iran cook kebabs with different spices; in Iran, they use a lot of saffron and marinate the meat in lime and yogurt.

  4. Tali says:

    Can you elaborate on the kebab meat? I have minced meat and also other meats but when you say ‘kebab’ how do you cook it? what spices do you use?

  5. Ozlems Turkish Table says:

    So very inviting Joumana:) reminds me a little bit of our Iskender kebab, where sliced kebab is served over flat bread topped with tomato sauce and melted butter – would love some now : ) ! Ozlem

  6. Belinda @zomppa says:

    I’m sold – 30 minutes for a dish that looks like it took hours?

  7. Benedetta says:

    Wow it sounds great, I do a similar dish using “pane carasau” a very thin bread from Sardinia. I would like to know if the meat must be cooked before with the spices, thanks

  8. Mark Wisecarver says:

    Yum! When I make this the Iranian way it’s the way I was shown long ago but I use ground Turkey and add a blend of Iranian style Advieh, which is simply delicious.
    btw, make my own advieh with Rose, Cardamon, Cinnamon and Cumin.

  9. Asiya @ Chocolate an says:

    This sounds delicious! Looking forward to trying it out soon!

  10. Oui, Chef says:

    WOW….I am in love…what a great sounding recipe.

  11. mariam says:

    looks and sounds so delicious..are the kebabs place in the pan precooked or raw?

  12. Coco in the Kitchen says:

    This is fit for a king!
    Sounds similar to the Persian tass kabob which has a lot more veggies, but none of the bread, which is a genius idea.

  13. Nuts about food says:

    My mouth is watering just reading this!

  14. weavethousandflavors says:

    Hi Joumana,

    What a GORGEOUS way to serve up kababs. I can take simple kababs and turn them into a complete meal! A true life saver for a weeknight meal and fun for when company is over too!

    chow! Devaki @ weavethousandflavors

  15. Alicia (foodycat) says:

    I like the minced meat kebabs too. I will try this!

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