Gather your mise en place; get together all of the equipment needed for the recipe and gather your ingredients.

For the saffron tea, grind 1 teaspoon of saffron in a mortar or a small bowl. Add 3 – 4 tablespoons of hot water and set aside until it turns a dark orange.

Peel the skin from the onion. Grate it with the large side of a grater, then squeeze out roughly ⅔ of the liquid and put into a bowl.

Add the beef, lamb, saffron tea, salt, pepper and sumac and combine by hand, mixing well for 5 to 7 minutes until it is soft. Continue mixing the meat until it begins to leave a film of fat on the side of the bowl. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before cooking.

Take a small piece of the meat and fry up in a frying pan to check the seasoning. Add more salt, pepper or sumac as needed.

In a small bowl combine melted butter, lemon juice and saffron tea. This will be for brushing the kebabs.

Divide meat into 100 gram balls and shape each ball around a skewer. Grill on charcoal, turning them very frequently. If you don’t have a charcoal BBQ set up, you can use a large frying pan over high heat.

Once the kebabs are fully cooked, brush generously with the melted butter mixture and top with more sumac. Serve with saffron basmati rice and grilled tomatoes.