In a large mixing bowl and using a box grater, grate your onion. It’s important to pay attention to what you’re doing because we want grated onion and not your grated knuckles. All in all we’re looking for a little over a cup of freshly grated onion. Squeeze out the excess juice from the grated onion. I press the onion up against the side of the bowl, using my hand, while tilting it to one side. The end-game is to keep the meat mixture “dry” and also to collect the onion juice for basting. Reserve the onion juice. Add the ground beef and lamb. Crumble loosely along with the onion to “get it started”. Next, add the seasonings and spices and start mixing with your hands meatloaf style.

Pro Tip/Food Nerd Alert: The idea with these kabobs is to work and mix the meat as if it were bread dough. The more animal proteins are “worked” the more myofibrillar proteins in the meat become sticky. We want the minced meat to be sticky in order to stay on the kabob skewers. Speaking of “sticky”, stick to an 80/20 meat-to-fat ratio when it comes to your ground meat. Not only will this give juiciness and more “grill flavor” but the ratio also helps the minced meat to stay on the skewers as opposed to a dryer (less fat ratio) meat.)

Hand mix the meat until it is almost dough-like and really sticking to your hands. Cover the bowl in cling film and refrigerate overnight. On wide flat metal kabob skewers* begin adding portions of the mixture. Evenly and as securely as you can squeeze the Koobideh mixture onto the skewer while simultaneously flatting. We are looking for seven to eight inches in length of Koobideh meat on the skewer. Using your fingers, “scissor style” crimp and flatten the meat onto the skewers. Place the kabobs over hot white coals (no grill grate), turning at times to insure even cooking all around. Because these are on metal skewers they cook from the inside out. Baste the kabobs with the reserved onion juice for added flavor. Remove the skewers and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before sliding them off onto a platter. Sprinkle the tops with additional ground sumac. Serve with Persian rice and char blistered tomatoes for a complete dish called Chelo Kabob.

* Note: If wide metal skewers are hard to find or you do not want to invest in them for your kitchen, it is okay to hand form the Koobideh mixture into manageable, shorter, skewer-free forms. Place these directly onto a hot grill as if you were grilling burgers.