Armen Martirosyan is co-owner, along with his parents, Ovakim and Alvard, of Mini Kabob, which has been serving grilled beef and chicken skewers for more than 30 years from its tiny storefront in Glendale. Martirosyan makes these juicy chicken cutlets, or lula kebab, for his father with minced chicken and lamb or pork fat. The key to making the mixture for the cutlet is to “knead it a lot, until it becomes nice and bound together,” Martirosyan says. And when cooking, don’t use excessive heat; the cutlets should be golden-brown but not overcooked. “You don’t want it to golden-brown too much.” Serve it with basmati rice, onions mixed with sumac and parsley, roasted tomato and jalapeño, and hummus.
For the chicken cutlets, use lamb fat, pork fat or pork belly. Pork fat is available at some butchers and meat sections of grocery stores. You can grind the chicken thighs and fat (or pork belly) with a meat grinder. Make sure all equipment and meat are chilled; place the chicken, fat and garlic on the top tray of the grinder and grind. Or ask your butcher to grind for you. (Ground chicken thigh is available at some 99 Ranch, Super King, Nijiya and other select markets.)
One tip Martirosyan has for forming the cutlets: Think of the cartoon “Hey Arnold” and shape the meat into oblongs like Arnold’s head.
One other finishing touch we observed that Martirosyan was reluctant to divulge: A squirt of melted ghee on top of the seared cutlet adds an extra bit of lusciousness.
