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sliced Iraqi bastuma
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4.99 from 54 votes

Basturma Iraqi Sausage

Easy, authentic homemade Iraqi Basturma (breakfast sausage).
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Total Time10 days 15 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Assyrian, Middle Eastern
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 168kcal

Ingredients

  • lb ground lamb or ground beef
  • 5 cloves garlic (crushed)
  • teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon Middle Eastern 7 Spice
  • ½ teaspoon paprika powder
  • ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • teaspoon ground cloves

Optional Ingredients

  • sausage casings

Instructions

  • Place ground meat into a medium bowl. Add garlic puree and sprinkle with the seasoning. Use your hands to work the spices into the meat.
  • Fry a small portion of the meat and adjust the spices if necessary.

Stuff Casings

  • Use a sausage attachment on your KitchenAid mixer to feed the seasoned meat through the casings. I used hog casings but you can use sheep casings or collagen casings instead. At this point, you can freeze the sausage or air dry it, which is the more authentic way to make basturma.

Air Dry

  • Once the basturma sausage is stuffed in the casings, use a sterilized needle or a toothpick to poke holes all over the casing. This allows any trapped air to escape. Use a piece of butcher's twine, if necessary, to tie a knot at one end of the basturma to make it easier to hang. Hang in a cool place with good airflow until dried. This can take anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks.
  • Once the basturma is dry and not squishy when squeezed, it's ready! At this point, you can store it in the fridge or freeze it.

Quick Method

  • If you don't want to deal with stuffing the meat in casings, you don't have to! Just shape the seasoned ground meat into a log and wrap it in plastic wrap. 
  • Next, partially freeze the basturma before slicing it into patties. Place the patties on a tray and freeze them completely before storing them in a ziplock bag.

Serving Suggestions

  • The best way to enjoy Iraqi basturma is fried with eggs. Make sure to serve pita bread, lavash bread, or samoon to sop up the runny egg yolk!

Notes

  • After trying both methods, I think I prefer the easy way. It's quicker and safer (you don't have to worry about the basterma going bad). Also, it has a better texture. It's tender whereas the texture of dried basturma is firmer.
  • If you have a meat grinder, run the meat through the grinder to further infuse the spices and garlic into the meat. You can also use a small food processor.
  • If you're not sure how to stuff the sausage into the casings, here's a video on how to stuff sausage casings.
  • The warmer the environment, the less time it will take to dry.
  • Freezing the basturma partially makes it much easier to slice into patties.
  • Natural hot casings work great for making Iraqi sausage or any other sausage for that matter!
  • Keep the basturma frozen and defrost a few patties at a time to enjoy.
  • Frozen basturma will keep for up to 6 months in the freezer when packaged appropriately.
  • Serve basturma with fried eggs in a pita pocket sandwich, sooo good!

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 168kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 485mg | Fiber: 0g | Sugar: 0g