National Dishes of the World

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Chelow kabab
Photo: Taylor and Kevin, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

main dish

Chelow kabab

چلوکباب (chelow kabab)

Grilled kebabs of minced lamb with onion, served on a mound of saffron rice with charred tomatoes and butter.

Eaten in: Iran traditional

Prep
30 min
Cooking
50 min
Resting
1 h
Total
2 h 20 min
Servings
4

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About the dish

Chelow kabab – kebab served with chelow rice – is often called Iran's national dish. The most popular kebab, koobideh, is made from minced lamb or beef mixed with grated onion, moulded onto wide flat skewers and grilled briefly over charcoal. It is served on fluffy steamed basmati rice with saffron, with a pat of butter, sumac to sprinkle on and grilled tomatoes. The table also holds a plate of fresh herbs, raw onion and doogh, a yoghurt drink. It is eaten in kebab houses all over the country, both as a weekday lunch and at weekend family meals.

Main ingredients

  • minced lamb or beef
  • onion
  • basmati rice
  • saffron
  • butter
  • tomatoes
  • sumac

Iran: The usual orders are koobideh (minced meat), barg (thin strips of tenderloin) or a plate with both.

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More: Wikipedia (en)

Recipe

Chelow kabab

https://foodmap.ominuvo.com/dish/chelow-kabab

Ingredients

4 servings

4 servings

Allergens in the ingredients: milk. Based on the ingredients of this recipe – no substitute for checking labels.

Method

  1. Rinse the rice several times and soak it for an hour in salted water. Grind the saffron with a pinch of sugar and steep it in 3 tbsp hot water.

  2. Grate the onions and squeeze out the juice firmly. Mix the pulp with the meat, salt, pepper and turmeric and knead for 5 minutes until sticky. Chill.

  3. Drain the rice, drop it into plenty of boiling water and cook for 6–7 minutes, until soft outside but still firm in the centre. Drain.

  4. Melt 2 tbsp butter in a pot, pile in the rice in a mound, poke a few holes in it with a spoon handle, cover with a lid wrapped in a tea towel and steam over very low heat for 40 minutes.

  5. With wet hands mould the meat into long flat kebabs on wide skewers, pressing ridges into them with your fingers.

  6. Grill over hot coals or under the oven grill for 3–4 minutes on each side, along with the tomatoes.

  7. Mix some of the rice with the saffron and spoon it on top. Serve the rice with the kebabs, tomatoes, butter and sumac.

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