Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 2: Preparing the skewers
• Part 2 of 2: Grilling
• Tips
• Warnings
• What do you need

Nothing sounds more summer-like than delicious fried kebabs. The indescribable aroma of fresh ingredients cracking on a hot grate cannot be confused with anything. Regardless of whether you choose a piece of meat from chicken, pork, lamb, or even cook a dish entirely without meat, kebabs will become a cinch to prepare and fry them. See Step 1 below to get started with this simple and delicious art!

Steps

Part 1 of 2: Preparing the skewers

1. 1 Choose a kebab recipe or pick your own ingredients. Typically, kebabs are made with meat and / or vegetables, although seafood, fruits, and other ingredients are sometimes used. Choose the ingredients that are right for you - there are no “wrong” decisions in your choice. Popular choices for barbecue are chicken, pork steak, sausage, lamb, shrimp and fish. For vegetables: onions, mushrooms, green or red peppers, zucchini and tomatoes. For fruits: pineapples, peaches, or apples.
   • While any combination of the above ingredients will work, you can use a specific kebab recipe. Many traditional recipes use lamb as the main meat. Listed below are just some of the traditional recipes and their main ingredients:
     • Kofta kebabs - pieces of lamb, seasoned with spices
     • Chelow kebabs - lamb fillet served with rice and saffron
     • Shikha kebabs - minced lamb, seasoned with cilantro and mint, cooked in a tandoor (traditional Indian oven)
2. 2 If you follow a recipe that uses meat, marinate it first. If you are planning on grilling meat, you might want to prepare the marinade, although this is of course not necessary. Soaking meat in a marinade prior to cooking can give it the flavor of the marinade ingredients, creating new flavors not found in meat without the marinade. As a rule, for marinating, meat is placed in an airtight package (like a ziplock bag) with the addition of at least oil and acid (for example, vegetable oil and lemon juice). Usually, additional seasonings and herbs are added to the main liquid to create more complex aromas.
   • For example, here are the ingredients for a versatile teriyaki marinade that works with beef, chicken, and other ingredients:
     • Vegetable oil
     • Soy sauce
     • Lemon juice
     • Garlic
     • Pepper
     • Worcester sauce
3. 3 Soak wooden kebab skewers in a bowl of water. When it comes to cooking kebabs, you usually have two options for choosing skewers - metal or wood or bamboo. The first option is stronger and more durable, but more expensive, while the second option is cheaper and more convenient.If you choose to use wood or bamboo skewers, soak them in water for at least 30 minutes before cooking. This will help keep them moist during cooking and prevent them from scorching or burning out completely.
4. 4 Cut your ingredients into small pieces. Place the ingredients on a cutting board and use a sharp kitchen knife to cut into cubes approximately 2.5 cm thick. Obviously, this size will not work for some types of food. For example, bell peppers will have to be cut into small squares, not cubes. The most important thing to remember is to cut your ingredients into small pieces that are similar in size so that they roast about the same.
   • If you choose to cook with non-marinated meat, you should consider using dry grating - a combination of dry spices and seasonings that give the meat a flavorful outer layer. For dry grating, simply mix the seasonings and brush the mixture generously over the meat. Here's an example of ingredients for a versatile meat mix:
     • Pepper
     • Salt
     • Onion Powder
     • Garlic Powder
     • Black pepper
     • Thyme
     • Oregano
5. 5 Place the components on the skewer tightly to each other. Once your ingredients are positioned the way you would like it to be, it's time to barbecue! Pierce each piece of meat or vegetables and slide them all the way to create a "row" of strung ingredients. Typically, an alternative to meat kebabs can be pieces of fruit or vegetables, which add more contrast to the flavor. Obviously, you won't have any problem preparing your vegetable kebab. When you put all the ingredients on the skewer, the kebab is ready to cook!
   • Leave a small gap between the pieces to allow the kebab to brown on all sides.

Part 2 of 2: Grilling

1. 1 Preheat your grill to medium heat. It is important to prepare a good hot grill before starting to cook for the appetizing outer "crust" to appear on the kebab. For gas grills, this is easy - just set the burner temperature to medium, close to the grill, and let it heat up. For a charcoal grill, this is a little more difficult - you have to light the coal and let it burn itself out until the flame goes out and the coal begins to give off an orange glow and ash. This can take 30 minutes or more.
   • Typically, you will need about 30 charcoal briquettes to roast 450 g of meat.
2. 2 Place the kebabs on the grill. If your grill is hot enough, you should immediately hear a hissing sound. Once you place the kebabs on the grill, leave gaps between them for even cooking.
   • To prevent your kebabs from sticking to the grill, it is a good idea to coat the surface of the grill with vegetable or olive oil just before you start laying out the skewers. For safety, use a grill brush - do not try to grease a hot grill with a paper towel or similar.
3. 3 Rotate the kebabs as you cook to allow all sides to cook evenly. All sides of each kebab should be on the wire rack - this not only ensures that it is completely cooked, but also gives the meat (if you are using it) a crispier crust. Typically, most kebabs take about 10-15 minutes to cook, 2.5-3.75 minutes on each of the 4 sides.
   • When cooking vegetarian kebabs, you don't have to worry as much as when you cook meat. Instead, fry fruits and vegetables until your desired eye-pleasing brown or black crust to soften the shell and texture.
4. 4 Check the readiness of any meat. Remove one of the kebabs from the grill. If you are using meat for kebabs, cut a piece to check that it is cooked. Take a closer look at the characteristic signs of readiness - light juices, the absence of a pink color on the inside of the meat, easy cutting.If the meat is too pink on the inside, gives off reddish juices, or something interferes with easily cutting a piece, you need to continue cooking it further.
   • For more information on how to determine the doneness of a piece of meat, see:
     • How to check steak doneness with finger dough
     • How to check if chicken is cooked
     • How to know if food is burnt
5. 5 Remove the kebabs from the grill when done. When your ingredients are ready, remove the kebabs from the grill and place them on a clean plate or platter. Avoid using plates that contain kebabs, especially if you used raw meat - bacteria from raw meat can infect cooked food, leading to serious illness.
6. 6 Serve as a side dish or with a suitable side dish. Congratulations! Your kebabs can be eaten both on skewers and without them. Most kebabs are delicious on their own, but for a full meal, complement them with a side dish that goes well with the ingredients of the kebab.
   • For traditional kebabs, a piece of flatbread or rice is often served as a side dish. However, the side dishes have hundreds of regional variations. For example, chelow kebabs are traditionally served with rice mixed with raw egg yolk.
   • Fried kebab ingredients can also be used in other dishes. For example, Turkish Doner kebabs are often served in pita bread with salad as a sandwich.

Tips

• If you are using wooden skewers, especially those with a rounded shape, try using 2 sticks for each serving of kebab. This will secure the kebabs, which may be heavy, and make it easier to turn over on the grill while cooking.
• For extra flavor, try marinating the ingredients in the sauce for about 30 minutes before starting to cook. Popular marinades for this are teriyaki, sweet and sour sauce, honey mustard sauce, or lemon-garlic sauce. You can buy ready-made marinades at your local grocery store, or make your own sauce by searching for recipes online or in cookbooks. You can sprinkle the remaining sauce over the skewer for an even richer flavor.
• If you are preparing a dish with different foods that take different times to cook properly, try chopping all the protein ingredients on one skewer and the vegetables on the other. For example, if you are cooking meats that need to cook for 10 minutes and tomatoes that need only 2 or 3 minutes, add different skewers to the food. This way, you can cook each set of ingredients correctly without overcooking the tomatoes or undercooking the meat.

Warnings

• Throw away any leftover marinade that was used to soak the ingredients. If you want to serve a cooked meal with a serving of marinade on a plate, use a marinade from a bag that has not come into contact with raw meat. This can prevent infection.

What do you need

• Protein product or meat
• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Water source
• Cutting board
• Kitchen knife
• Skewer
• Grill
• Marinade (optional)