Lula kebab is the simplest of the Caucasus kebabs and perhaps the hardest to perfect: just ground lamb, onion, salt and pepper, kneaded hard until the meat turns sticky enough to cling to a flat skewer, then grilled quickly over hot coals. There is no egg and no breadcrumb holding it together, only technique. In Azerbaijan it comes straight off the grill onto a sheet of lavash with raw onion tossed in sumac, fresh herbs and grilled tomatoes, and is eaten rolled up in the bread.

It is the smell of summer evenings in Baku, from family gardens to roadside grills, and the most natural thing to eat on a city race weekend. At home a grill pan or the oven broiler does a fine job, and nobody will check whether your skewers are regulation.

The kebabs

Ingredients

• 2 lb (900 g) ground lamb
• 1 large yellow onion
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Sumac onions and to serve

Ingredients

• 1 medium red onion
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sumac
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 large bunch mixed fresh herbs: cilantro, dill, parsley and basil
• 4 tomatoes, halved, and 4 long mild green peppers
• 4 sheets lavash
• 2 tablespoons narsharab

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