Iskender Kebab
(Iskender Kebap)
2 pieces of beef tenderloin, each 200 gr
200 gr regular ground beef
4 pieces of Asian Nan Pita bread or plain pita bread (pide)
Salt
Pepper
Garnish:
Yogurt
1 cup tomato paste, heated up with a few tbs of water
(or use canned crushed tomatoes)
2 tbsp butter
Add the salt and pepper to the ground beef. Knead and give it a round shape, then place in the middle of the two pieces of tenderloin.
Cover in plastic wrap and leave in the freezer overnight. The next day remove from the fridge 45 minutes before cutting. Use a knife, electric knife or meat cutter to shred it (picture). Then fry in a large pan (be careful not to over-fry).
Cut the pitas in bite size diagonal shapes and place on the plates (picture). Spread the beef over the pita bread pieces. Pour the tomato sauce on top and place a few spoons of yogurt on the side. Lastly, melt the butter in a small pan. When it starts bubbling, pour over the tomato sauce (picture).
Serve Iskender Kebab while still hot. This recipe makes 4 servings.
30 Comments:
Just returned from Istanbul and had this dish several times. Wonderful!
Cok guzel bir yemektir! This is one great recipe!
Would this possibly be like the Doener sandwiches that they have in Germany? I lived in Germany for 12 years and the one thing I miss the most is the Doeners (meat turning on a spit, served in a pita with tomato, a spicy red seasoning and a yogurt or cucumber sauce on top). At the time I was in Germany, I believe that the meat used was lamb but with the Mad Cow Desease scare, they have now started doing the Doener sandwiches using chicken. I would do anything to get a Doener sandwich like I had in Germany. Please Binnur, help me out!!
When I was in Ankara, Turkey they also topped this dish with melted butter. On the side were thinly shaved onions, lettuce, and radish. Totally incredible.
In response to Sabrina:
I was in Turkey last summer and had iskender several times while I was there. While in Van the locals recommended going to a small restaurant there and getting the chicken(tavuk) iskender. Everyone said it was the only place they knew that served it. But friends told me that chicken iskender is more common as you move further west and get into larger cities. So you're Doeners might have some basis in traditional Turkish food.
Hi Mike,
Traditionally Iskender is made of beef, not chicken. I never heard of
chicken Iskender before, I think it is new! Chicken Doner (not
Iskender)is more populer in Arab Countries. We may have chicken Doner but beef Doner is the most popular:)
(by the way, I had replied to sabrina by email as she wrote me after her post)
finally! somebody that has a recipe that actually looks and sounds like ( I have yet to find out if it tastes like) the iskender I had in turkey!
Hi Lee,
I cook Iskender almost every 10 days at home. This is the best
homemade Iskender, give it a try:)
Hi Binnur,
You have said to knead the beef and give it a round shape, how thick should you make it? The iskender i have eaten in Australia is quite thin (the meat. Also with the tenderloins is it best to buy thin pieces of tenderloin or can you flatten the tenderloin with a meat tenderiser (meat mallet)?
Also is this how they make the meat for iskender in resturants/cafes?
Jade
Hi Jade,
It is quite thick. You are not going to cook it thick like that.
Instead after it's frozen, you'll slice it in thin pieces :) Read over
the second paragraph.
Hi Binnur :
I`m Mona from Syria , I was ammaized by your site!!!
thanx alot for sharing your recipes , I would like to ask you : what do you mean by tenderloin ???
another question ,i know that you had to use tahini with the Yogurt in this recipe ! and please tell me more about tomato paste .
Hi Mona,
Thank you very much:) Tenderloin is the tender boneless portion cut
from the inside of the breast. Usually the most tender part:)
Various names for tenderloin steaks include:
* Filet Mignon
* Tournedos
* Filet Steak
* Châteaubriand
* Bifteck
Hi Mona,
Please don't put tahini in the yogurt sauce! We never ever use tahini
for Iskender kebap. I think this might be another version of Iskender Kebap but not in Turkey:) If you don't have tomato paste use crushed tomatoes in a can. Or grate a few tomatoes and add salt and pepper (a little bit), cook and make your own home made tomato sauce:)
Hi Binnur :
I will try it and tell you soon < thank you :):)
Hi Binnur,
I left you a message in another post asking about this kebab - please ignore that message.
Quick question for this kebab - is it possible to substitute beef for some other meat. Its not very easy to find tenderloin in India but lamb/mutton is easily available. Also, is there a special way the meat should be cut/prepared prior to working on it ?
Also - you are on my favorites list now. I love your website.
Thanks a ton
Hi Shantanu,
Thank you:) Sure you can substitute beef with lamb. But you know lamb has more fat, trim all the fat first. You may not even use ground beef part of the preparation. Freeze the trimmed lamb piece, approx. 500
gr. the rest is the same. Enjoy it:)
Thanks for such a great recipe. I'm going to try this soon, but just for some clarification, when you say "place in the middle of the two pieces of tenderloin", do you mean like, sandwich the ground beef in between the tenderloin? also would you be able to explain the importance of leaving the mixture frozen overnight? thankyou.
Hi Aeron,
Yes it is a sandwich like you said:) If you don't freeze it, it won't be one piece and also you will not be able to cut them nicely. There is ground beef in the middle.
Hi, when i was in Turkey, for one day i went to Soke, it was beautiful and i saw not one tourist!!! Everyone was Turkish! We found this small restaurant, unfortunately we had language communication problems so i just asked for anything!! And they gave us this kebab, it was amazing. But, is it just tomato sauce? or is there spices in it? I remember it was quite spiced.
Thanks
Harry
Hi Harry,
Traditional Iskender Kebap doesn't have any hot tomato sauce. If the tomato sauce was hot it should be the chef's special:) Or maybe the chef added some hot pepper into the melted butter!
my name is amanda and i am 19. my partner, cengiz, is turkish and loves his food! as i enjoy cooking, i like to try as many new recipes as possible. although i must admit, ive never tried anything turkish!
he loves iskander but doesnt have it very often. the only place near to where we live that serves it is a beautiful authentic restaurant but it is expensive to go out to dinner on a regular basis.
i have decided to try and cook him an original turkish meal and have found your website extremeely helpful! your website has been amazing and i now have lots of ideas. (has been bookmarked and will be re-visitng for more ideas!) you wouldnt believe how difficult it has been finding a recipe for iskander!
i hope all goes well... im sure it will! :)
Hi Amanda,
Turks love to have their traditional dishes, especially Kebabs:D Do not worry about the result. If you follow the recipe step by step, your partner will have a very tasty Iskender Kebab:) If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me, love to help:)
Sevgilerimle,
In Istanbul, 1973(!) I had a yogurtlu kebab. Never got over this fabulous dish, never found it again anywhere either. All those ingredients blended so perfectly. PLEASE is there a recipe for that -preferably for somebody who is still learning to cook :-)
In the mid 80's I was in the US Air Force stationed in Turkey. One of the highlights of my visit was when we went into Bursa to shop and eat. We had a little cafe that we always went to the served the best Iskender Kabob. I remember that they served it with small grilled pepper. It was always exciting to eat the peppers because you never knew when you were going to get heat and when you weren't. Are the peppers a part of the Iskender Kabob plate or do you think that was a little twist that cafe added? I believe that traditionally, Bursa was the birth place of the Iskender Kabob.
Hi Robbie,
Yes, Bursa is the birth place of Iskender kebab. And traditionally grilled sivri biber should be placed on top of the Iskender kebab:)
can you use mixture of Salca and tomato paste together , i remember when in Turkey I ate this and was wonderful but never knew nme until now .
Hi Rhonda,
Tomato Salca (Domates Salcasi) means tomato paste and Red Pepper Salca (Kirmizi Biber Salcasi) means red pepper paste in Turkish. We generally call tomato paste (domates salcasi) just 'salca' in Turkiye. Tomato Paste (salca) is already in the sauce:)
Take care,
Great recipe I am going to try it later this week - I just had a question if you didn't want to use the tenderloin (expensive cut of meat) is there any other meat you can substitue?? Or do you really have to use the tenderloin??
Cok tesekurlur
Hi Meagan,
You can use any kind of tick cut beef for this recipe. At the end, the taste will be the same with tomato sauce, yogurt and butter:)
Afiyet olsun!
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