Kuzu Külbastı Recipe
When I think of külbastı, the famous külbastı scene from Hababam Sınıfı (an old famous Turkish movie series) comes to my mind. It has such a special place in my mind that it has always remained in my mind as a part of a famous line rather than a meal. I think that's why I've never felt the urge to share a külbastı recipe until now. This is partly due to the fact that külbastı are not a common dish found in every kebab restaurants.
Külbastı is a grilled dish made from meat obtained by slicing the lamb leg after removing its bone. If you ask your butcher for these külbastı cutlets, they will prepare them for you. Another feature of külbastı cutlet is that it is marinated with thyme and smells like thyme. As I mentioned in the recipe, choosing fresh thyme or mountain thyme will ensure you get the best flavor.
In addition to thyme, I also added onion juice and olive oil to the marinade. It gave great results both in terms of softening the meat and taste. The fact that the lambs in Spain are sucklings under six months of age has a big impact on this. The meat, which was already tender, became soft with the effect of marination.
Although marinating helps soften the meat, it is not enough to prevent the meat from being hard. The cooking stage is also very important. You must preheat the pan very well. After placing the meat, you must wait for the meat to separate from the pan on its own before turning it upside down. If it is difficult to separate from the pan, it means it is not cooked enough. The pan should be heated very well, but not at too high a temperature. Medium-high heat would be ideal, but you may need to turn the heat on and off depending on how the meat reacts during cooking time.
If you are not confident about cooking meat in a pan or on the grill, you can take a look at the roast leg of lamb recipe that you can also make with lamb leg.
After cooking the külbastı, you should serve it immediately, without waiting.
Enjoy your meal...
Ingredients
- 1 kg of lamb leg cutlets,
- 1 onion,
- 5 tablespoons of olive oil,
- 1 teaspoon of mountain thyme or a few sprigs of fresh thyme,
- Salt to taste,
- Tomatoes, peppers and onions for roasting,
- Also 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil for cooking.
Preparation
- Place the lamb meat into a deep bowl,
- Grate the onion, take it in a strainer, strain and pour its juice over the meat,
- Add olive oil and thyme and mix,
- Cover the meat and place it in the refrigerator and let it rest for 1-2 hours,
- Take a large pan on the stove and heat it,
- Roast the sliced onions, peppers and tomatoes and set them aside,
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan,
- Arrange the meat in the pan and fry both sides,
- Serve hot immediately.
Enjoy your meal...