While I’m not in Greece during the summer, I’m still connected and wired to the homeland via internet, Skype, telephone and satellite radio and television. Few television shows can resist including a cooking segment.
I recently caught Greek cookbook author and TV personality, Maria Loi on a weekend show where she prepared a dish called Simit Kebab. On the surface, the name of this dish doesn’t sound Greek at all but there are some Greek origins worth mentioning.
According to my friend Maria (another Maria) of History of Greek Cooking, “the Greek word σιμίτι (simiti) derives from turkish simit which comes from the arabic semiz, a loan from the greek word σεμίδαλις semidalis = semolina, hard/durum wheat.” The Greeks of Asia Minor brought to Greece their rich legacy of cookery that surely included wonderful dishes like Semit Kebab.
One of the main ingredients in the kebab is bulgur, known as “pligouri” (πλιγοÏÏι) in Greek. Bulgur is a quick-cooking form of whole wheat that has been cleaned, parboiled, dried and then ground into particiles and sifted into distinct sizes.
Bulgur has a wonderful nutty taste to it and it also allows for some additional flavours to be added to it. Bulgur cooks much like cousocus in that you add an equal amount of hot water to the amount of couscous (or in this case, bulgur) being called for in a recipe. Bulgur’s most popular use is in a Tabbouleh salad but you’ll seek out Bulgur just to make Semit Kababs!
Bulgur’s pairing with ground lamb here makes this kebab a wonderful offering to your guests at the grilled meal. I’ve used my basic recipe for keftedes as a base recipe for the ground lamb mixture, with cumin part of the wonderful spice mix. Instead of the usual soaked bread acting as a binder – bulgur does the job here. I do however still add one egg into the mix.
This dish is served on a warm or grilled pita bread which gets a a good smear of strained Greek yogurt and then finally topped with the Semit kebab. A side of roasted hot or sweet banana peppers are added, a couple of tomato halves and a mound of onion and parsley salad in the middle.
The final garnish is a light sprinkle of Sumac over the entire dish- offering some colour and a little bit of tang (which Sumac) has.
Here in Toronto, both Greek House and Kostas Meat Market sell Bulgur but ask them for Pligouri!
Simit Kebab (σημίτ κεμπάπ)
(serves 4)
1 lb. of ground lamb
1 large onion, passed through the large holes of y0ur box grater
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 egg
1 Tbsp. dried Greek oregano
1/2 cup of chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp. of ground cumin
2/3 cup of small bulgur wheat
2/3 cup hot water
2 tsp sea salt and ground black pepper to taste
long metal skewers
OR wooden skewers soaked in water overnight
Garnish/accompaniments
4 pita breads
roasted banana peppers
ripe tomatoes
Onion and Parsley Salad
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 cup of chopped fresh parsley
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
- Mix all of your ingredients for the Onion and Parsley salad in a bowl and after adjusting seasoning to your tastes, cover and reserve.
- Add 2/3 cup of boiling water into a bowl that contains your bulgur wheat. Cover with plastic wrap and wait a few minutes or until all the water is absorbed by the bulgur. Place the bulgur in a strainer and rinse under cold water. Squeeze any excess water out of the bulgur.
- In another large bowl, add the ingredients for your Semit Kebab: the ground lamb, grated onion, garlic, egg, oregano, cumin, bulgur and finally seasoned with salt and pepper. Mix with your hands until amalgamated and fry-off a small meatball to taste-test and adjust seasoning according to your tastes.
- Using your hands, form long sausages around the metal skewers and press the ground lamb mixture around the skewers to adhere. Place on a platte, cover and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours before grilling.
- When you’re ready to grill your Simit Kebabs, take them out of the fridge to return to room temperature and preheat your gas grill. You may at this time char-grill your peppers. When blackened all around, remove from the grill and place in a paper bag or a bowl covered with plastic wrap so that they may sweat. When the peppers are cool enough to handle, remove the charred peels and place the peppers on a plate. Season with sea salt and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil. Reserve.
- Brush your grill surface to remove any residue left on the grill. We’re looking for a medium-high heat and just before grilling, wipe the surface with a towel soaked in vegetable oil. This will lubricate your grilling surface and prevent sticking.
- Place your Simit Kebabs on the grill and rotate the kebabs every 2-3 minutes so that all 4 sides of the meat get grilled. Just before your kebabs are done, you may also place your pita bread on the grill to just warm through.
- For each serving, place a warm pita on the plate, smear some strained Greek yogurt on an then place a kebab (or two) on each plate. Place a roasted banana pepper and a halved tomato on each side and a good mound of Onion and Parsley Salad on the kebabs (middle).
- Sprinkle some Sumac over the entire dish and serve.
If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at https://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.
© 2007-2009 Peter Minakis
53 Responses
Interesting use of the pilgouri in this recipe. Quite fibrous and healthy too. love the banana chili side!
Simit Kebabi is a wonderful kebab recipe. If you like pine nuts, add some to the mixture(1 tbs per 100 gr of ground lamb). They give an interesting texture and buttery flavor to dish.
Mariana.
I have neve rmade anything using bulgar.
Kebabs looks delcious. Enjoy the time inGreece.
Peter, thanks for sharing as I have a ton of bulgar sitting around the house. It’s great to stay connected with Greek friends but, over the summer I hate to hear about all the fun they’re having while I am stuck in the office.
Peter,
Very similar to kofta, I’ll have to try your recipe.
Ok, I totally know hat I’m doing with the 1/2 lb or ground lamb I just put in the freezer!
Hahaha the post reminded me a lot of the dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, where he traces the origins of words to Greek! It’s true though, everything has Greek roots. These kebabs looks great, very reminiscent of Lebanese kibbe kebabs, but with Greek flavourings. Lovely!
Lamb is my favorite meat, and I love lamb kebab so much, but never really made it with ground lamb. I should try it one day. It’s sounds superb for summer.
This sounds sooo good! I love Bulgar, have made Tabbouleh in the past and love it! Bulgar sounds like a great addition to the ground lamb
ΛαχταÏιστό το κεμπάπ και θαÏμα οι φωτό σου…
Oh Peter, those look so good! I am convinced that Greek is the ultimate grilling cuisine.
It’s not fair! Why do I read this blog when I have NONE of the ingredients in the house? I WANT KEBABS.
Thanks for the history lesson of this delicious looking dish. It is very intriguing and something that I’d love to try sometime.
OMG, that look so scrumptious! I love that kind of tasty and summery dish!
Cheers,
Rosa
Mmmmm Kefta is one of my favorites…and this looks equally yummy!
hooray for meat on a stick, even if it has to be lamb. i should really give the baby sheep a fair chance, shouldn’t i… :) looks great, pete. (can i call ya pete?)
I am pretty positive that I would LOVE this dish!!!!
Bulgur in kebobs is really interesting. I love bulgur.
This looks like perfect summer food, Peter.
I think I’ve had something similar and I loved it. I’ll have to try this version, especially as we have a great local supplier of lamb and D adores lamb in any way, shape or form.
They look delicious and although lamb is not my first choice of meat, I think I could make the sacrifice and eat a few of these :)
Another beautiful recipe, Peter. Anything topped with that onion and parsley salad and mixed with the spice blend from keftedes would be great.
Using bulgur in kebab is new to me. That is an extremely tempting platter.. with the pita bread & yogurt & peppers.
Take out the bulgar and add cilantro and you have Moroccan Kefta:)
I am not the biggest fan of lamb but I think I could easily get past that with this recipe. It just looks absolutely delicious so I can just imagine being served this.
hmmm.. i’m liking this. i’m imagining the flavor and possible texture the bulgur brings this dish. very nice.
What a great looking grilled skewer of lamb and bulgur – but what is sumac and where does one buy it? Is it related to the poison sumac plant?
Love the whole package! Such an interesting combination of ingredients/garnishes. Thanks for the inspiration to go back to cook with bulgur…
LL
Ι really hate Maria Loi, but these kebabs looks yummy!
We’ve only recently started seeing bulgur in the stores here as untill about a year ago you couldn’t really find it easily. But now even regular supermarkets have it. I haven’t tried it out but this sounds like a great recipe to try it!
bravo peter!!!!!!!!!!!
have a nice weekend
I have bought those metal skewers but not used them yet. I would love to try to make your kebabs ; ), looks really good. One question, what if I cannot find the bulgar wheat, is there sth else I can use? Would sth that helps binding be OK (e.g. breadcrumbs kind of thing)?
Janet, I’m sure you’ll find bulgur…remember it’s also used to make Tabbouleh…a very popular salad. I hope you try this dish out…you’ll be very pleased.
Peter – this sounds like a perfect way to use up some ground lamb that I have in the freezer. Also – I’ve looked for your email address on this page, but I can’t find it. I have a bunch of lamb parts that I have no idea what to do with and I wanted to ask you some questions.
They really look delicious! Very interesting recipe with lamb!
Better go get more propane so I can cook this up this weekend Peter. Kids are coming over to hook up the new sound system:D
Fantastic photos and food like always!
These look like the perfect thing for a barbecue lunch. Your apple salad is beautiful and I’m sure it tastes as good as it looks.
Yum – very similar to the Lebanese/Middle Eastern kibbeh but the oregano would normally be swapped out for mint (or more parsley) and we add a touch of cinnamon to bring that next flavor layer in. The Greek version looks great, though!
Kudos on the sumac use – we’ll make an Arab out of you soon!
Oh man, I sure could use a midnight snack right now… I blame you, Peter! Arrgh!
This looks like a fun and delicious dish to offer at a grilling party. I don’t even eat red meat, but this is making me hungry!
I was just thinking what Tina was thinking… this reminds me of kibbeh — one of my favorites.
I can see oregano being great in here, though. And that sumac… always a welcome addition. Soon, you’ll be keeping it on the table as a condiment, Peter!
What a great way to use bulgur. This meal would be a winner in my house.
Oooh yummy yum yum! LOVE kebabs and you’ve done a great job there (as you always do)
Great pictures too!
these photos look as though you are here in greece cooking up a storm – great stuff
Simple, flavourful and beautifully presented.
Woo Hoo now that I have a grill I can make this. Rindy of Kitchen Klique made your pastitsio again and loved it all over again-says its her favorite!
Ha! I Just found pita bread here – first time! The grill’s out, mon mari is out… looks like a perfect dinner this weekend.
Lamb kabobs are my fave type of kabobs, and these days I have been putting bulgur in uuuuh EVERYTHING, so this recipe sounds PERFECT for me!!
Peter! This looks SO good! While I’m sad to leave my vacation behind, I’m happy to see some great recipes here for my summer ahead!
Whenever I see kabobs like this at the local Greek church fair, I want to make them at home, but never have. Now, with the recipe and inspiration from these beautiful photos, I just might get around to it.
Those kebabs look great! I like the sound of adding the bulgur to kebabs. Why have I never thought of roasting banana peppers?
Have never heard of this food in Greece, its obviously a Turkish food.
Ah, here you are again Greg. Simit Kebab is a dish that comes from Constantinople and it’s one of the many dishes brought back with the Greeks from Asia Minor. It’s origins may be Turkish but it’s a dish enjoyed by many Greeks.
Just because you haven’t heard of it does not make it “Turkish” by default. Did you know the word “keftedes” comes from the Turkish word, “kofte”? Does that mean you’ve been enjoying Turkish food all this time?