Donair Lahmacun is another JAHZKICTHEN Originating Dish. Flat Bread Schmeared with a puree of Donair Meat. Cooked Stovetop or in the Oven. Top it off with some Diced Tomatoes & Onions with Halifax Donair Sauce drizzled over top. Garnish with Fresh Parsley and Enjoy that Belly Smile!

What is Lahmacun

Lahmacun is sometimes referred to as Turkish Pizza or Armenian Pizza. It is an uncooked Flat Bread or Thin Dough with Raw Seasoned Meat & Vegetables spread thinly across the flat bread. The dough is then placed into a hot oven and cooked for a few minutes. It doesn’t take long at all. The spelling variation Lahmacun comes from Turkish origins and means meat with dough.

What is Donair Lahmacun

Donair Lahmacun is made the same way as the traditional Lahmacun. But uses Raw Donair meat as the spread. The Flatbread used in this recipe is uncooked Pita Dough. For a faster way to put this together, use store bought Pita Bread.

The meat spread is Raw Halifax Style Donair Meat that is spread unto the Dough and cooked before serving with Donair Sauce on the side or topped with Onions & Tomatoes and Donair Sauce drizzled over top.

With Donair Lahmacun you do get significant meat shrinkage because the paste is all meat. I don’t mind this at all and they are still just as good. However to minimize on shrinkage should you want to. Make them like the Traditional Lahmacun where vegetables are added. This prevents the meat from bonding to each other and shrinking when exposed to heat.

For this recipe where the meat is Donair, instead of topping the Lahmacun with Onions & Tomatoes. These can be chopped small and mixed with the meat or pureed with the meat.

LAHMACUN BREAD

Traditionally Lahmacun is made with unleavened bread. Although both unleavened & leavened breads are commonly used. The type of bread used here for Donair Lahmacun is homemade Pita bread.

Roll the Pita Bread out flat like a Tortilla. Use a pot lid about 6-7 inches to stamp out a circle. I find that a dough weight of 60 g is ideal for Homemade Lahmacun. Roll this out flat and Schmear that Donair Meat Paste on top.

From the below portions you should get 8 or more Flat breads at 60 g each.

• 2 C Flour – plus more to achieve a slightly tacky dough and rolling the pitas out.
• 1 C Warm Water
• 1 1/2 Tbl Sugar
• 1/2 Tbl Kosher Salt
• 1/2 Tbl Yeast
• 1/4 C JAH Poly Flour 

Donair Meat

I have my own Donair Spice for Donair meat but the standard Donair recipe listed below will work too. Especially where the texture of the donair meat isn’t a focus, not in the sense of a tight loaf. Instead we want a paste that can be easily spreadable.

The trick here is to add sufficient fat so that the meat becomes an easily spreadable paste.

Basic Donair Spice

The Standard Base Seasoning is 1 tsp per lb. of Ground Meat with the exception of Cayenne Pepper, which is 1/8 tsp and upwards. Some only use 1/2 tsp Garlic & Onion per 1 lb. of meat.

You can start with 1/2 tsp Black Pepper, Onion & Garlic, and 1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper and then up it based on your preference. Some use Italian Seasoning or Za’atar in place of Oregano. MSG is almost always added in restaurant versions.

• Salt
• Oregano
• Garlic
• Onion
• Paprika
• Black Pepper
• Cayenne Pepper

Donair Meat always has some kind of Binder in it. For Donair Lahmacun it isn’t really required. In fact additional Oil is added to assist in a easily spreadable paste.

Donair Sauce

None other than the Original Halifax Style Donair Sauce. Make this ahead of time because it needs to develop at least 1 hour in the fridge. I like to place this into a squeeze bottle to drizzle over the Lahmacun. But you can also just serve a small bowl of donair sauce on the side to dip into.

Toppings

Diced Onions & Tomatoes is used for the toppings. Dice both of these up, wash and strain to top the Donair Lahmacun.

These can also be chopped finely or processed with the donair meat. This has the advantage of minimizing meat shrinkage when they cook. Peppers can be added too.

HOW TO COOK LAHMACUN

There are two main ways to cook these, Stovetop or in the Oven. Depending on if you are using uncooked flat bread or precooked flat bread adjust the heat and/or cook time so that the bottoms do not burn. You’re looking for them to get crisp.

If you end up with leftover Meat or Bread, both of these can be frozen to use for next time.

STOVETOP LAHMACUN

Cooked one at a time for about 3 minutes over medium to medium low heat.

Heat a skillet with a lid on medium heat initially. Wait a few minutes for it to get hot. Then lay in your first Lahmacun and cook for 3 minutes covered. The more you do these, you will have to adjust the heat to medium low later. Just keep an eye on how the bottom cooks up and adjust the heat so that you always stay around the 3 minute mark to cook them through and not burn them.

OVEN LAHMACUN

This method allows you to cook up about 4 – 6 at a time or however many you can fit on 2 baking sheets to cook in the oven side by side. Which is great if you are making a bunch of these.

Place the Lahmacun on baking sheets and into a preheated oven the highest setting it will go for about 5 minutes on the middle rack position. Adjust the cook time depending on whether you are using uncooked flat bread or precooked flat bread and how done you like them.

Broiling

With raw meat it’s important that the meat be cooked through. If you find that you have cooked them but they still appear to be undercooked. Place them under the Broiler close to the heat source for a few seconds to ensure that the top is cooked.

SHORTCUT LAHMACUN

This shortcut allows you to have these done from start to finish very quickly and ready to eat.

The most lengthy process is making the bread and even longer when making leavened bread. To skip this all together use store bought Pitas. Pick up 2 or more packages.

These will be a bit larger than the homemade ones and will take up more of the Donair Spread. They will also cook up a bit dryer than fresh dough. But this can be limited by stacking and allowing them to steam. Unless of course you like them crispy. You save a lot of time and can throw these together to start cooking in a matter of 5 minutes.

With this type of Lahmacun, I prefer to wrap them in Tinfoil while hot so that they can steam a bit and soften.

CRISPY LAHMACUN

For Crisp Lahmacun and to limit the softening, don’t stack these on top of each other and serve as fresh as you can. If they will be rested before serving, then rest them on a rack so that there is air flow.

SOFTENED LAHMACUN

For Softened Lahmacun, Stack them on top of each other, placing the freshly cooked Lahmacun, one or two below the previously cooked Lahmacun so that it can steam the ones above it. If you tent or wrap them with Aluminum foil you can make these go completely soft.

FREEZING LAHMACUN

A bunch of these can be made up ahead of time. Then rolled and wrapped in Tin Foil in order to freeze them. Take them out the night before and place into the fridge for them to thaw and be reheated when ready to eat.

REHEATING LAHMACUN

Place a skillet on max heat for a minute then drop it down to medium. Place the Lahmacun in, cover and cook for a few minutes.

For a quick Heat & Eat, reheat them in the microwave. This method will produce a softer Lahmacun.

These can also go into the oven while still wrapped in tinfoil. Preheat the oven to 450 F and place all of the tin foil wrapped Lahmacun on a baking sheet. Cook for about 5 minutes and serve them up Hot & Ready.