“Eid Mubarak!” Sura announced as she got home, kicking off her shoes and bringing a plastic bag heavy with lamb into the kitchen before starting to unpin her hijab. 

Dani, already in the kitchen, responded, “Eid Mubarak! What do you have here?”

“It’s lamb! From Eid!” said Sura, freeing her head from her veil, which had gotten distinctly damp from sweat in the hot afternoon. “Some of the bigger families at my mosque always give a small gift from their sacrifice to singles who can’t take some from their family. I mentioned that I live with you three now, and they gave us a little extra so we can all share!”

Dani peered into the bag. There were two packages wrapped neatly in brown paper and labeled in marker. “Stew meat and ground lamb? Wow! This looks like four or five pounds!”

“Yeah, it’s about five pounds,” Sura said. “I thought we could make kebabs with it. I know it’s only been a few days and we’re still unpacking, but do you think you could fire up the grill? You can make kebabs in the oven, but they’re better grilled over charcoal.”

“Oh, twist my arm!” Dani laughed. “I hardly need an excuse to do some grilling. And for kebabs? Absolutely.”

“Oh, good!” said Sura, clapping her hands in happiness. “I have a recipe for kebab koobideh I wanted to try and make Bethany-friendly. It has a lot of grated onion in it, but I think if I caramelize the onion then it might be a little easier on her stomach.”

“It certainly will!” came Bethany’s somewhat distant voice from elsewhere in the house. “And she will help you do it if it means she can have lamb kebabs again!”

Kebab koobideh

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds ground lamb 
• 1 ½ medium yellow onions, quartered
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced (use roasted or black garlic for IBS-friendly version)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sumac
• ⅓ c tarragon
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• ¼ cup clarified butter or ghee 

Instructions:

1. Grate the onion or process with a food processor until finely shredded. Strain the grated onion through a cheesecloth or sieve, pressing and squeezing out as much juice as possible.
   • For IBS-friendly version: Instead of grating and straining, caramelize in goat’s butter ghee.
2. Combine all of the ingredients except for the ghee in a large bowl and knead together well, until the mixture is sticky and holds together in a pasty consistency
3. Divide the meat into 10 equal balls, wetting hands with water in between each ball. A bowl of water is useful for this.
4. Take each ball of kebab mixture and wrap around a metal skewer, spreading it out into a cylinder about 1” in diameter. After forming the kebabs, rest them by the skewer on a high-sided pan, so the kebabs don’t get crushed.
5. Grill kebabs in the same way, resting them on the grill by the skewer so the meat doesn’t touch the grill itself. If this isn’t possible, lay down a piece of aluminum foil and lay the kebabs on the foil. Turn frequently until the entire kebab is well cooked but still juicy. 
6. Brush the kebabs with the ghee and serve with flatbread and fresh veggies, such as cucumbers, lettuce, and tomatoes.