Aussie Doner Kebab

The recipe for the great Australian beef kebab is basically a closely guarded list of ingredients. There are a lot of recipes online that have tried to imitate them and I've made a few. None of them seem to come even close for my liking. So I've cobbled together my own. It's not perfect... but it sure is tasty.

This will make 4 small rolls or 4 larger ones--depending on the size of your flatbread.

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Ingredients

• Kebab Seasoning...
• 500g Minced Beef, lean
• 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
• 2 Tbsp Greek Yogurt (optional)
• 2 tsp Coriander, ground
• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds, ground
• 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
• 1 tsp Oregano, dried
• 1 tsp Garlic, granulated
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 1 tsp Chilli Flakes
• 1 tsp Cinnamon, ground
• 1/2 tsp MSG
• 1 tsp White Pepper
• 1 tsp Salt
• Now the Puree...
• 100g Bacon, streaky (fatty)
• 1 Onion, small, roughly chopped
• 2 Garlic Cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 Tbsp Tallow, melted (or neutral oil)
• To serve...
• Pita or Lebanese Bread
• Lettuce, shredded fine
• Onion, very thinly sliced
• Tomato, halved and very thinly sliced
• Cheddar, grated (optional)
• Tabbouleh, Hummus, Chilli Sauce, etc

Method

1. Using your hands, mix the meat with all the seasoning ingredients until you can see the meat form strings when you gently pull it apart.
2. Put the bacon, onion, garlic and oil (tallow) in a food processor and pulse until pureed. You may need to add a little water to get this to blend properly. If so, lightly strain any excess water using a cheese cloth or similar before you add it to the meat. Combine well using your hands to squeeze and mutilate the meat (it should now have a slightly gelatinous look and feel).
3. Let marinate in a mixing bowl for two hours in the fridge. Marinate overnight for best results.
4. Pre-heat oven to 200degC.
5. Seperate this meat mixture into 3 square-ish patties and place in the middle of a square piece of baking paper. Put another sheet of baking paper on top and, using a rolling pin, roll it out into a rectangle. Make it as even as possible. (see photo)
6. Peel off the baking paper on top. Now roll the meat and the parchment paper and form into cylinders (see photo). Transfer it to a baking tray. Repeat the same process for the remaining pieces.
7. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, checking it occasionally.
8. When cooked throughout, unroll the meat and tear it into large pieces and scatter over the baking tray.
9. Place the tray back in the oven, close to your top element to broil for a few minutes--just to give the beef some colour but don't let it crisp.
10. Moving fairly quickly, open up your pita breads and place the meat down one side. Add any other vegetable ingredients, cheese, sauces, etc. roll up and serve. Cut large ones in half for the kids.