Minced lamb and grated onion pressed by hand onto wide, flat skewers and grilled over coals — served on saffron rice with butter and sumac.
What makes it kabab koobideh
Fatty minced lamb, or lamb and beef, kneaded with grated onion.
Flat, wide skewers, the meat pressed on with the fingers.
Rice, butter, sumac and grilled tomato alongside.
Where it comes from
Koobideh comes from the word for pounded: the meat was once beaten fine by hand. Pressed onto broad, flat skewers, it takes practice to keep it from sliding into the fire.
On a plate of rice with grilled tomato, a pat of butter and sumac, it becomes chelow kabab, long the lunch of Tehran's bazaar and something close to a national dish.