İskender Kebab (Home Version)
اسکندر کباب (گھریلو انداز)
İskender kebab was created in the city of Bursa in the 1860s by a cook named İskender Efendi, and it's still one of Turkey's most loved dishes. Thin slices of döner meat are piled on cubes of pide bread, covered with a buttery tomato sauce, and finished at the table with sizzling butter poured over the top, with cool yogurt alongside. Restaurants slice the meat from a vertical spit; at home, thinly sliced marinated beef seared on a very hot gets remarkably close.
- ⏱ Total: 55 min
- Prep: 30 min
- Cook: 25 min
- Medium
- Serves 4
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
Mix the onion juice, 3 tablespoons yogurt, olive oil, cumin, black pepper and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Add the sliced meat, mix well and marinate for at least 1 hour.
For the sauce, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a , add the tomato paste and fry for 1 minute, then add the grated tomatoes, hot water and remaining salt. Simmer for 10 minutes until slightly thickened.
Heat a or heavy pan until smoking hot. Sear the meat in small batches for 1–2 minutes, spreading it thin, until browned at the edges. Don't crowd the pan or the meat will stew.
Arrange the toasted bread on warm plates and pour over a few spoonfuls of the tomato sauce. Pile the meat on top and spoon over more sauce.
Heat the remaining butter until it foams and turns golden, then pour it, sizzling, over each plate. Serve at once with thick yogurt and grilled peppers.
Kitchen notes
Slicing is everything. Freeze the meat for 1–2 hours until firm, then slice as thinly as you can with a sharp knife.
Pour the butter at the table if you can. The sizzle is part of the dish.
Ask the butcher for undercut (pasanda cut) or topside for tender slices.
Bursa’s famous plate
İskender Efendi is said to have been the first to roast döner on a vertical spit in Bursa, in north-west Turkey, and his family’s restaurant still serves the dish today. The name “İskender kebab” is now a registered trademark there, so you’ll see versions called “Bursa kebab” elsewhere in Turkey.
Four layers
- Bread. Cubes of pide, toasted, soak up the juices.
- Meat. Thin slices of seasoned meat, crisp at the edges.
- Tomato sauce. A simple sauce of tomato paste, grated tomatoes and butter.
- Butter. Hot, golden butter poured over at the table, the moment that makes the dish.
Cool, thick yogurt and grilled green peppers go alongside.
The home method
Without a döner spit, the trick is to slice the meat paper-thin and sear it in a smoking-hot pan in small batches, so it browns quickly instead of stewing. Partly freezing the meat makes thin slicing easy, and a marinade of onion juice, yogurt and cumin keeps it tender.
Serving
Serve straight away on warm plates, with yogurt, grilled peppers and a glass of ayran. It’s rich, so a simple çoban salatası is all you need on the side.
Questions people ask
Can I use chicken?
Yes. Thinly sliced chicken thigh, marinated the same way and seared for 3–4 minutes, makes a good chicken İskender.
What bread should I use?
Turkish pide is traditional. In Pakistan, cubes of naan or thick bread slices toasted in a pan work well.
Is it the same as döner?
It uses döner meat, but döner is usually served in bread as a wrap. İskender is a plated dish with tomato sauce, butter and yogurt.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 560
- Protein
- 36 g
- Fat
- 32 g
- Carbs
- 30 g
