If you ask me to define Armenia, then Armenian BBQ, also called Armenian Khorovats, will be in my description list.
Armenian BBQ (Khorovats) is the king of every gathering in Armenia, especially during picnics. We Armenians love to make fire and make khorovats, and every Armenian will say that his khorovats is the best or that his father makes the best Armenian BBQ.
In this guide, I will talk about Armenian BBQ (Khorovats) racipe and how to make a traditional Armenian BBQ. I will show how my father makes khrorvats and what you need for that.
Introduction to Armenian BBQ (Khorovats)
As I mentioned, traditional khorovats is a big part of Armenian food culture and one of the most popular Armenian dishes alongside tolma, khashlama, and ghapama (Armenian stuffed pumpkin).
Armenian Khorovats (Խորոված) means grilled meat on fire and is also known as “Shashlik” in Slavic countries. In Western Armenian cuisine, it is also known as Armenian shish kebab.
Armenian BBQ is usually beef, post, lab, or sometimes chicken meats cut into small pieces and skewered on a metal stick (shampur). Then the meat is cooked on fire on mangal or in tonir.
As part of the Armenian BBQ recipe, meat marinating is very important to cook khotovats. It’s important to correctly cut the meat, add spices, and marinate for a night.
Ingredients for Armenian BBQ (Khorovats) Recipe
- Meat: pork, lamb, beef, or chicken
- Salt: sea salt or regular salt
- Black pepper: Or red paper or both
- Onion: Copped in big pieces
- Parsley: Dry
- Coriander: Dry
- Dry basil: Dry
- Red wine, lemon juice, or vodka: Optional
- Wood: dry grape vines or other woods and charcoal
- Lavash Flatbread: Lavash or other type of flatbread
How to Make Armenian BBQ (Khorovats) Step By Step
Step 1
What Type of Meat to Choose
First of all, you need to choose the right meat. It’s important to know what part of the beef, lamb, or pork you want to use for BBQ because not every part of these animals is a good fit for Armenian BBQ.
Pro Tip: For correctly skewering the meat with the metal stick, you need to pick thick sticks if your meat cuts are cut big, but for smaller cuts, for example, for lamb or chicken meat, use thinner metal sticks.
Try aiming for the center of the meat when you are starting to poke the meat from the bottom, just like in the photo. If your Armenian-style BBQ (khorovats) is not tasty, then the main reason is not the wrong marination or lack of spices but the wrong choice of meat.
Meat Types for Armenian BBQ Recipe:
- Beef: Chuck, Neck
- Lamb: Shoulder, ribs
- Female Pork: Neck end, spare ribs
- Chicken: All
Important to Know Before Buying Meat to Grill Armenian BBQ:
- Pick young animal meat (it’s more fresh and tender).
- Don’t buy too much red-colored meat, but buy meat that has less redness (it can be old or was recently butchered).
- Poke the meat with your finger (if the poked area becomes flat again quickly, then the meat is fresh).
- Make sure to cut the meat correctly to be good to put on shampurs (metal sticks).
- Have a bit of fat on each piece (because the fat moisturizes the meat and doesn’t let it dry out).
Step 2
Marinating the Meat
Another very important aspect of delicious Armenian BBQ is how you marinate the meat. My father has his own style of marination, but the general marination is the same, although sometimes you can use other ingredients.
Note: Marinating the meat one day earlier or at least 6 hours before cooking is important.
First, lay the meat on the clean table. Then mix 1 tablespoon of salt, red pepper, and dry parsley, coriander, and basil in a bowl and start to individually add the mixture to the meat. If you have a large amount of meat, then use 2 or 3 tablespoons.
Then, put all the meat in a large pot, take 2 big chopped onions in your hand, squeeze the juice on top of the meat, and drop the onions in the pot.
Then, using your hand, start to mix for 3 minutes. For better marination and tenderness, my father adds vodka, lemon juice, red wine, or beer (100 milliliters).
After adding any of them, start again mixing with your hands for 5 minutes.
Use a food wrap to cover the pot and put the marinated meat in the fridge overnight or for 6 hours before cooking.
Step 3
Make the Fire
In Armenia, the best wood for khorovats fire is dry grape vines. Why? Dry grape vines burn fast, and the heat is intense, but you don’t need that much heat. You need after-fire burnt remnants (coal) to cook the Armenian BBQ.
But of course, if you don’t have dry grape vines, you can use other types of wood, or charcoal will work as well.
After stacking the wood like a card house, start the fire and wait until we Armenians say the fire will “sit,” which means it will burn and only hot charcoal will be left.
Useful Tip: Armenians also love vegetarian BBQs, so before waiting for the fire to burn, we put directly on the fire vegetables to be cooked, like eggplant, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, and mushrooms. It’s a great complement to the meat.
Step 4
Start Cooking the Armenian BBQ
After your fire is done and only hot charcoal is left, place the meat on the fire, making sure that the meat is not too close to the fire. Keep it about 5 centimeters from the heat.
Good to know: Armenian BBQ is also made in traditional tonir, where lavash is baked. It’s hung inside the hole with heat and covered from the top.
After placing the meat on the fire, start to flip the meat every 3 minutes to not let it burn. You need to do that process until each side of the meat has a golden, crispy look.
The whole process will take approximately 40 minutes.
Step 4
Taking the Meat Off the Stick
Have a large pot next to you and cover the bottom of the pot with Armenian flatbread (lavash bread) or, if you don’t have any, use other flatbread like tortilla.
Put each BBQ stick in the pot vertically, and from the top, using other flatbreads in your hand, push the meat so it can fall off the stick.
Your BBQ is ready. I hope you have enjoyed this Armenian BBQ recipe. Anush!
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- How to Make Ghapama
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