Turkish BBQ - Chicken Iskender

Plate of fresh Ishkender

Unfortunately the Turkish cuisine has not a very good and vast reputation where I come from. The most famous item from it is the "Doener Kebap" and that is not even Turkish dish (it was actually invented back in Germany). Many visitor to Turkey will therefore unsuccessfully look out for any Doener Kebap, instead of that they will find a refined kitchen that is full of flavors and spices, Typical for the Turkish meat specialties is the BBQ style with refined spices and marinades that soak into the meat and make the meat delicious, juicy and tender. And sometimes it just got to be right on that spot in order to still my cravings for a good BBQ chicken. So recently I had one of those cravings, so I was making myself busy to recreate the famous chicken Iskender (Iskender actually means Alexander), that I successfully completed, with a little twist of myself - the spinach yogurt. Enjoy reading and cooking this delicious dish.

Marinate

• 2 brown onions, coarsely grated
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) fresh lemon juice
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) olive oil
• 800 g lamb eye of loin, alternatively you can use chicken breast, cut the meat in 2 cm big cubes

Spinach yogurt

• Fresh spinach 500 g
• 260 g (1 cup) Greek-style natural yogurt
• 1 garlic clove (feel free to take more, I normally do :))
• 1 spoon of sesame seeds
• 1 pinch of salt

Spinach yogurt

Tomato sauce

• 1 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 chili
• 3 peeled tomatoes cut in cubes
• 1 little tin of tomato puree / paste = 2 Table spoon
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) water

Garnish

• Some loafs of Turkish bread
• 2 tomatoes, halved
• Shredded iceberg lettuce, to serve
• (if you have, 2 long fresh green chilies)

Mix the ingredients of the marinade in a big bowl, add the pieces of chicken / lamb to it and place it for at least 3 hours in the fridge.
Wash the spinach and steam it over boiling water for a minute, until start to soften. Take it off and put it in cold water. Now squeeze all the water out of the spinach and cut it on the board. Then combine it with the rest of the ingredients for the spinach yogurt and place everything in a kitchen machine and grind it until you got a smooth yogurt paste. Pour it in a bowl and place it in the fridge.
Now fry the garlic in some hot oil so the flavor of the garlic will be in the oil, then remove the garlic. Add sweet chili and fry till soft, then add the tomato mark and the chopped chili and fry everything for 1 - 2 minutes. Then add the peeled tomatoes and the water, season with the chili powder and let it simmer and thicken in on medium flame.
Now it's time to light up the BBQ grill. Get some nice hot glowing coals going and a good heat on your grill. Place the skewers on the grill and grill the chicken till brown on the outside, well done on the inside but still nice and chewy. Chicken does not take very long to be cooked, so keep them in sight. You can do the "poke" test. If you poke into the meat and it fells tense like the heel of your hand when you are making a fist, so firm on the outside and soft on the inside, then it's ready. Take them off. and put them aside on a plate, cover them well so they keep warm inside till the moment you serve them.
On the grill take some big chilies and some tomatoes cut in half and place them with the cut side upside down, first. Grill them till nicely grilled and the fragrant are released.

Plating up the chicken

Now it's time to plate the meal. Take the Turkish bread (eventually you grill them quickly before plating them), Cut it in pieces and put them on the plate. On top of this pour the thickened tomato sauce and put the cubes of chicken on it.Then on the side put the spinach yogurt, the salad and the grilled veggies and serve it up. Enjoy the delicious grilled Turkish delight.

Placing the garnish