İskender is not one recipe but five separate preparations meeting on a plate. Since you cannot turn a döner at home, the meat is sliced thin and seared in a pan; done properly the gap almost closes. The order matters: bread underneath, meat on top, sauce over that, yoghurt at the side, butter last and sizzling.
Ingredients
For the meat
For the tomato sauce
For the base and the top
Method
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Marinate the meat
Rub the sliced beef with the grated onion juice, olive oil and spices and chill for 1 hour.
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Crisp the bread
Dry the cubed flatbread in a dry pan or in the oven for 8 minutes, until the edges crisp.
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Make the sauce
Fry the tomato paste in butter for 1 minute, add the grated tomato and the water and cook for 15 minutes until thickened. Add the salt.
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Sear the meat
Get the pan properly hot and turn the meat over a high heat for 2 minutes, in batches, without crowding it. It should brown, not release liquid.
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Build the plate
Spread the crisped bread on the plate, drizzle over half the hot tomato sauce, lay the meat on and pour over the rest.
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Add the yoghurt
Put the strained yoghurt at the side of the plate, not on top of the meat.
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Sizzle the butter
Heat the butter until it foams and colours slightly, and pour it over the plate as you serve. You should hear it hiss.
Tips
- Sear the meat in batches. In a crowded pan the meat releases liquid and poaches, and no döner flavour develops at all.
- The yoghurt must be strained and must stay cold; runny yoghurt pools at the bottom of the plate.
- Do not pour the butter in advance. That sound and smell of İskender comes from pouring it at the table.
- Do not dry the bread too far; it should be porous enough to soak up the sauce but solid enough not to collapse.
Nutrition
Values are per serving and approximate.