Chef Arthur Borleka of Joy in Mamilla is sharing his recipe for sinija kebab, an Algerian dish that combines juicy kebab, spicy mshweya salad and a golden baked dough cover. The restaurant has served the dish for years, and now home cooks can make it too.
The kebab uses 400 grams of ground beef mixed with chopped onion, a bunch of parsley, salt and pepper. The mixture is shaped into 5 to 6 medium patties and grilled on a hot grill for about five minutes per side, until browned outside and juicy inside.
The mshweya salad is made with an eggplant, three hot peppers, two tomatoes and two onions. The vegetables are charred, roughly chopped, mixed and seasoned with salt and pepper, with sweet or hot paprika added to taste.
For the dough, Borleka mixes half a kilo of flour with yeast, cold water, salt and a little oil, kneads it into a smooth soft dough, lets it rise for about an hour, then rolls it out thinly. The kebab and salad are arranged in a large pan, covered with the dough and baked in a preheated 250-degree oven for about 20 minutes, until golden. Before serving, tahini is drizzled on top and the dish is eaten hot. Joy in Mamilla is a meat restaurant in a preserved building on Jerusalem’s Mamilla Avenue, a short walk from the Old City walls, and it recently became strictly kosher under the Badatz of Rabbi Machpud.
