Chevabchichi (Čevabčiči)
Ingredients: 0.5 lb ground beef, 1 clove garlic, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1tsp paprika, salt, bread crumbs, side (onion, mustard, potatoes, butter)
Prep time: 30 minutes
Here is a recipe for a simple meet dish. It’s called čevabčiči, word which doesn’t mean anything at all in Slovak. This dish surely came to Slovakia from overseas, probably somewhere near the Balkans. The day after I made it I went with a friend for lunch to an Iranian kabob restaurant Moby Dick’s, where I ordered “kabob-e-kubideh”. Although it came with rice, these two meals shared much in common! So I asked the owner if he knew anything about the origin of word “chevabchichi”, but he didn’t: it did not sound Iranian. Hence I next got on Google, and it appears that this dish originated in the former Yugoslavia. Here is a link to a short article about it on Chicago’s SunTimes.
There are several variations of this food dish, with some including grated onion in the mix. I did not use that, but I did use garlic. Use a tiny handful of breadcrumbs to stiffen the meat mixture.
Mix all the ingredients together and form about a handful first into a ball, and then into a sausage link an inch in diameter. Grill these on all sides in a hot frying pan. They should be dark and crunchy on the outside.
Serve with boiled potatoes, mustard and few slices of raw onion. Enjoy!
Try it a bit differently, the taste is much better. Instead just graund beef use equal portion of ground beef, pork, and lamb meat.
The rest is the same. I do it that way (folloving my slovak cookbook)
Chevapchichi has it’s origin in Slavic countries down south, Old Yougoslavia, Bulgaria, even Romania, though Romania is not really Slavic country.
Anyway, been to old Yugoslavia countries many times. they serve is with potatoes but may times with rice (that’s how they served it in Bulgaria, rice, baklazan, and peppers).
They fry it but many times barbeque it. Be careful when you fry Chevapchichi, it should be crispy outside but it takes a split second to turn it into over burned piece of burger (as that what it is) because is just a thin role of meat ( less than a burger) and it tends to burn faster. But it is a delicious when done right!
Here is a recipe from Poland cuisine, yep we do it in “Slavic land”
http://www.knorr.pl/przepisy-kulinarne/przepisy/Chevapchichi-z-ajvarem
Thanks Miro!
Lubos, you make me hungry. You are doing great job! KEEP IT UP!
This is the recipe I was waiting for long time ago! Thank you very much. I ate “cevabcicy” in Slovakia in the border with Poland, and I loved them!