What is a chicken beyti kebab?

It's a Turkish dish consisting of ground chicken grilled on a skewer and wrapped in flatbread or, in this case, pastry.

How do you store chicken beyti leftovers?

Store leftovers in an airtight container and keep in the fridge. They will stay fresh for about three days.

It's easy to see why this Chicken Beyti kebab is one of Turkey's most popular dishes. Why not be a little healthier and make it yourself?

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For the Tomato Sauce: Place all the ingredients in a saucepan over a medium heat. Once the butter has melted, stir well until everything is well incorporated, then let it slowly simmer and bubble away for 10 minutes or until thickened. Set aside.
For the Herby Sauce: Place everything in a saucepan. Let everything simmer for 2 minutes, give it a stir and set aside to cool down.
For the Chicken Kofta: Preheat the oven to 180°C / fan 160°F / 350°F / gas mark 4.
Mix all the ingredients for the Chicken Kofte in a bowl and knead for 2 minutes.
Heat a bit of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Stir fry the chicken mince for 5 minutes or until almost cooked.
Remove from the heat and let the meat cool down enough to handle.
Sprinkle a clean surface with flour and place two filo pastry sheets flat on top of each other.
While the meat is cooling down, brush the filo pastry with the Herby Sauce.
Place a third of the chicken in the center of the bread in a straight column. Roll it, so that it resembles a sausage roll. Transfer it to a large baking tin. Repeat the process to create two more rolls.
Brush the filo pastry with the Herby Sauce on the outside, then bake for 25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and crispy.
Cut it into bite-sized pieces. Arrange the pieces on a plate in a circle on a large serving platter.
Fill the center with yogurt and drop dollops of tomato sauce on the outside of the meat circle. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Traditionally, kofta is meant to be cooked on the barbecue. Our chicken mince was quite wet, which made it super hard to load onto skewers, so we couldn’t follow this method. Cooking it on a hob works too but we resorted to frying the meat in a pan, which also worked. That said, if you’re having better luck with your chicken mince, follow the next instructions for a more traditional approach to the recipe. Divide the raw Chicken Kofta mixture between 8 equal portions. Prepare the barbecue. Alternatively, heat a cast iron griddle pan on high heat. Place a portion of the mixture onto a skewer, slowly pushing and squeezing from the top to the bottom, until an even sausage is formed on the skewer. Repeat the process for the remaining meat and skewers.Cook the skewers for 8 minutes, flipping frequently. Follow the rest of the recipe instructions after the chicken is cooked.
Unless you make your own, lavash bread isn’t readily available in the UK. Preferably, 2 large lavash breads are needed but 4 tortilla wraps will do. You won’t need to cook the beyti in the oven then and can serve it immediately with the sauces. Check out my Lamb Beyti recipe to see step-by-step instructions.