Η συνταγή και στα ελληνικά στο τέλος της ανάρτησης!
As a child I had the blessing of growing in a family of two parents and a sibling. From very young an age, I showed a special inclination towards my dad and you will understand why.
Immediately, after World War II, Greece had another nightmare to face; a civil war. Greek Civil War started in 1946 and ended in 1949. It was between the Greek government backed by Great Britain and the US and the Democratic Army of Greece, a military branch of the Greek communist Party backed by Yugoslavia, Albania and Bulgaria. This war was a result of a highly polarized struggle between left and right parties of Greece for the control of the country after the end of World War II.
Eventually, and due to the fact that the left party failed to attract sufficient number of recruitments and also the fight and finally the split of Tito and Stalin they lost the war and the governmental right party prevailed. The dominance of right party, the membership of Greece in NATO alliance along with the help received by US, a country back then known for its anticommunist attitude, led this country to a severe anti-communist establishment which later led consequently to the establishment of military junta in 1967.
My father was born in 1936 in a mountainous village in central Greece. His family lost everything during war and they were poor as devils. When Civil War hit this country his father a left idealist, went to fight in the mountains. This left the family of a mother, two sisters and a grandmother in the hands of my father. They left the village and went to a city close to it and tried to survive. My grandmother baked cheese pies and my father took them and sell them in the train station. This happened when he was 13.
Since then, he has worked really hard, trying to survive and provide for his family. Eventually, and after hard working, he managed to succeed and create his own business providing for his family not only the necessary, but even more. He took no help from anybody and all his life, even though he endured many hardships, he managed to stay compassionate and giving. Now, he is 80 years old and he keeps coming every day to work and he is full time contributor. He is a person with great sense of humor, way ahead of his age and very smart. I admire him a great deal, because he is a real fighter.
Nevertheless, although he is a very innovative person in his professional life, he is quite conservative when it comes to food. He is not very fond of world’s kitchens and he prefers all time classic Greek food. We are living next door, so I made these kebabs because I knew he would like them and I invited him and my mom for lunch. Usually, he is very suspicious because I always present them with exotic or strange food-according to him-when they come to eat. My mom loves them, but my father is a bit hesitant. I think this time he really enjoyed it and I was very happy about it. These kebabs are perfect. Juicy, tender and super tasty thanks to all the spices I put in them. You can either buy the pitas as I did or you can make your own if you have the time. I accompanied them with yogurt with mint and red sauce. We couldn’t get enough!
- 250 gr. / 9 oz. ground meat from beef
- 250 gr. / 9 oz. ground meat from pork
- ⅓ cup bread crumbs
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 egg
- 1 onion, finelly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 small tomato, crushed
- A handful of parsley
- Salt and pepper
- 1 ½ tsp paprika
- 1 ½ tsp cumin
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp dried mint
- 10 skewers
- 10 pitas
- 200 gr. / 7 oz. Greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp dried mint
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- Salt, pepper
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp curry powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- In a bowl mix all the ingredients until they are all incorporated.
- Take a portion big as a lime and form a long log.
- Take a skewer and pierce the log lengthwise.
- Preheat broiler to highest.
- Place them in a pan and put them under the broiler leaving a distance of 15 cm / 6 in.
- Broil them for about 10 minutes from one side and 5 minutes from the other.
- Remove let them rest for five minutes and serve.
- Mix everything in a bowl until they are incorporated and place the bowl in the fridge until the time you serve it.
- In a small pot add all the ingredients and bring to boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Turn off heat and let the sauce rest.
- Serve the kebabs over pitas with the sauces on the side.
- 250 γρ. κιμά από βόειο κρέας
- 250 gr. κιμά από χοιρινό
- ⅓ φλ. τριμμένη ψίχα μπαγιάτικου ψωμιού
- ¼ φλ. ελαιόλαδο
- 1 αυγό
- 1 κρεμμύδι, ψιλοκομμένο
- 2 σκελίδες σκόρδο, λιωμένες
- 1 κ.σ. πελτέ ντομάτας
- 1 μικρή ντομάτα, λιωμένη
- Μια χούφτα μαϊντανό
- Αλάτι και πιπέρι
- 1 ½ κ.γ. πάπρικα
- 1 ½ κ.γ. κύμινο
- 1 κ.γ. ζάχαρη
- 1 κ.γ. αποξηραμένο δυόσμο
- 10 σουβλάκια
- 10 πίτες
- 200 γρ. γιαούρτι
- 1 κ.σ. αποξηραμένα μέντα
- Αλάτι και πιπέρι
- 2 κ.σ. ελαιόλαδο
- 1 φλ. σάλτσα ντομάτας
- 2 κ.σ. πελτέ ντομάτας
- Αλάτι, πιπέρι
- ½ κ.γ. κύμινο
- ½ κ.γ. ζάχαρη
- ¼ κ.γ. κάρι σκόνη
- ½ κ.γ. σκόνη σκόρδου
- ½ κ.γ. κρεμμύδι σε σκόνη
- Σε ένα μπολ ανακατέψτε όλα τα υλικά μέχρι να ενσωματωθούν.
- Πάρτε μια ποσότητα όσο ένα μικρό λεμόνι και πλάστε το σε μακρόστενο μπιφτέκι.
- Πάρτε ένα σουβλάκι και περάστε το κατά μήκος.
- Προθερμάνετε το γκριλ του φούρνου στην ψηλότερη θερμοκρασία.
- Βάλτε τα σε ένα ταψί και ψήστε τα στο γκριλ αφήνοντας απόσταση 15 εκατοστών από αυτό.
- Ψήστε τα για περίπου 10 λεπτά από τη μία πλευρά και 5 λεπτά από την άλλη.
- Βγάλτε τα αφήστε τα να ξεκουραστούν για πέντε λεπτά και σερβίρετε.
- Για τη Σάλτσα Γιαουρτιού / Μέντας
- Αναμείξτε τα πάντα σε ένα μπολ μέχρι να ενσωματωθούν και τοποθετήστε το μπολ στο ψυγείο μέχρι τη στιγμή που θα το σερβίρετε.
- Για τη Σάλτσα Ντομάτας.
- Σε μια μικρή κατσαρόλα προσθέστε όλα τα υλικά και βράστε.
- Μειώστε τη θερμοκρασία και σιγοβράστε για 15 λεπτά.
- Σβήστε τη φωτιά και αφήστε τη να ξεκουραστεί.
- Σερβίρετε τα κεμπάπ πάνω στις πίτες με τις σάλτσες στο πλάι!
