“We used to have Passover Seder in a different place every year: at my paternal Yemeni grandparents, at our house, or at one of the uncles’ houses, but the lunch of the holiday itself was always-always eaten at the house of my maternal grandmother- Aliza Kostika-who would lay a full table of different dishes,” says Sigi Mantel, author of the cookbook “Blessed by Your Hands”, which brings the stories, memories and Syrian-Damascus recipes from her grandmother’s kitchen. “The dish I most looked forward to was the Passover kebab- a matzah and meat pie with a tahini, walnut sauce, in the original version, or chopped peanuts in my grandmother’s version (who always looked for cheaper raw products to save money), lots of garlic and lemon of course – there is no dish in our kitchen without lemon . By the way, no one knows exactly why they call it Kebab, but that’s the name.”
The sauce is poured on the pastry when it is hot and left for a few moments to soak in. Serve the kebab with pickled stuffed peppers, another seasonal and refreshing family dish reserved mainly for Passover.
Ingredients for Matzah Kebab
- 12 matzahs
- 4 cups water for soaking matzah
- 1 teaspoon Salt
For the filling:
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1.1 lbs (500 grams) ground beef
- ½ teaspoon Baharat
- Salt
- ground black pepper
For the batter:
- 4 eggs beaten
- ½ cup water
- Salt
- ground black pepper גרוס
For the sauce:
- 7 oz (200 grams) peanuts peeled, finely chopped
- 1 bunch celery stalks with leaves, finely chopped
- 1 lemon juiced
- ¼ cup water
- 3 garlic cloves crushed
- Salt
- ground black pepper
Instructions
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1. Fill a bowl or a wide pan large enough to fit a full matzah with water. Add a little salt and stir until it dissolves. Soak the matzah in water for a few seconds until it starts to soften, take out, transfer to a plate and cover with a damp towel. Repeat with all the matzah.
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2. Heat an oven to 355F (180C) degrees and grease a baking pan with a little oil (you can also grease, line with parchment paper and grease the paper).
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3. Beat eggs, water and salt in a wide bowl and dip half the amount of matzah in the batter and arrange at the bottom of the pan in as even a layer as possible.
Prepare the filling, assemble, and bake:
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4. Pour olive oil into a wide frying pan, add the ground beef and mix and separate with a fork over medium heat for 7-8 minutes or until the meat is browned. Season with salt, black pepper and baharat and remove from the heat.
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5. Drain out any excess liquid. Arrange the meat on top of the matzahs in an even layer.
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6. Dip the remaining half of the matzah in the egg batter and arrange on top of the meat.
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7. Pour half a cup of boiling water over the top layer of matzah, cover the pan with parchment paper and foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a minute or two to brown.
Prepare the sauce, pour over the kebab and serve:
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8. Mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and pour over the kebab as soon as it comes out of the oven. Allow the sauce to soak in for a few minutes and serve, preferably with Syrian pickled stuffed peppers or any other fresh pickled vegetable.
Matzah kebab from Sigi Mantel's Syrian-Damascus cuisine. Photography: Daniel Lailah