Chicken Iskender Kebab is my favourite dish in one of Aberdeen’s best restaurants- Nargile. It is a layered, kebab-style dish consisting of a rich and garlicky halep tomato sauce, toasted pitta bread, garlic yoghurt, grilled marinated chicken and topped with chilli and garlic butter. Yes, that much garlic. I am a huge garlic lover and if you are, you will love this Chicken Iskender.
Chicken Iskender in Aberdeen
Nargile have two restaurants in Aberdeen: Nargile in Skene Street and Rendezvous by Nargile on Forest Avenue. Both menus are very similar, focusing on contemporary Middle-Eastern Turkish food. I love a restaurant that inspires me with their interesting flavours to try out their dishes at home- and they have done just that! At the restaurant expect staples such as Hummus, Lamb Kofte Kebab, delicious seafood dishes and a great vegetarian selection too. One of the highlights is the Meze, served tapas style with an array of never-ending dishes brought to your table as they are ready- my favourite has to be the aubergine dish. If you haven’t been to Nargile, I highly recommend it!
A Turkish Speciality
Iskender Kebab is one of the most famous dishes to come out of Turkey and is named after its creator, Iskender Efendi. Although I’ve made a Chicken Iskender, it is also widely made with lamb. I enjoyed this dish so much that I am going to try it with lamb but also a vegetarian version with halloumi and aubergine too. This recipe is fairly easy, the most important thing to do is to taste as you go along to season everything properly, as there are not a huge amount of ingredients. I have used a lot of oil and butter and this gives the delicious richness to the dish, but if you’d prefer to lower the calories just reduce the amount of oil and don’t pour over the hot butter- it will turn it into a pretty healthy dish! Let me know if you give this recipe a go, share your photos with me on Instagram!
Make it Veggie
I made a veggie version with aubergine. I did the exact same method, other than using aubergine instead of chicken. It turned out great! You could also add halloumi too.
RECIPE SERVES 1 (Simply double, triple or quadruple the ingredients for more portions!)
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Home Cook
Serves 1 (easily doubled)
Ingredients:
- 1 chicken breast
- 250g thick, strained yoghurt (try and get Turkish, but a good quality Greek yoghurt would work well too- just make sure it’s strained so it’s thick and not watery- full fat versions are best)
- 5 garlic cloves
- Chilli flakes
- 5 tomatoes
- 4 tablespoons tomato purée
- Dried oregano
- Olive oil
- 1 large pitta bread
- Salt and pepper
METHOD
- Wrap your chicken breast in cling film and bash with a rolling pin until pretty thin- aim for around a 1.5 inch even thickness over the whole breast.
2. Place the chicken in a dish and crush over one garlic clove, add a tablespoon of dried oregano, a good grind of salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Mix into the chicken and then add a couple tablespoons of the yoghurt. Leave to marinate for as long as you can. Around 4 hours is best.
3. When the chicken has marinated for as long as you can leave it, start to make the tomato sauce. Cut a cross in the top of each tomato. Place the cut tomatoes in a bowl and pour over freshly boiled water to cover. Leave the tomatoes in the boiling water for 2 minutes and then drain. When cool enough to handle, peel away the skins and discard. Cut the tomatoes in quarters and scoop out the seeds and discard them too. Chop the flesh into small dice and leave to one side.
4. Heat around 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. When hot, add 2 crushed garlic cloves, a pinch (or more if you want it spicier) of chilli flakes and stir fry for around a minute. Be careful not to burn the garlic or it will give you a bitter sauce. Add the tomatoes and the tomato purée. Add 200ml of water and simmer the sauce for around 20-30 minutes on a low heat until the tomatoes have broken down. If it gets dry, add a little more water and olive oil. Finish with another tablespoon of olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.
5. Whilst the sauce is simmering, heat the grill to high. Try and get the chicken as close to the grill as possible, and cook for around 5 minutes on each side depending on the size of your chicken breast.
6. Mix the remaining yoghurt with half a clove of crushed garlic and a little salt.
7. Toast the pitta bread and then slice into thin strips
8. Remove the chicken and cut into thin strips.
9. Now act quickly- On your plate, place a layer of sauce, then the pitta, then dot around some yoghurt. Top with the chicken, the rest of the sauce and the rest of the yoghurt. Either place under the grill again for a couple of minutes or use a blow torch to caramelise the top. Melt a heaped tablespoon of butter until bubbling and foaming, add half a clove of crushed garlic and a pinch of chilli flakes. Pour over the dish and serve the Chicken Iskender immediately!
Tips
- If you don’t like the idea of the crispy pitta going soft, serve it on the side for dipping
- Add red peppers into the sauce for something extra
- Use halloumi and/or aubergine instead of chicken for a veggie version
