I first encountered kofta in Toronto, Ontario on July 30th 2003 during the "SARS stock" festival. My friends and I had driven up from New York, mainly to see Rush and the Rolling Stones. We had not eaten all day, on account of saving our places near the stage in a 450,000 person crowd and we were quite peckish whilst walking back to the car after the show was over. There were enterprising food vendors set up, and I ordered a "kebab," thinking that I was going to get meat and veggie chunks on a stick. When I was given a pita sandwich with kofta in it, my mind was blown. I had never eaten anything of that flavor before. I've been chasing that first kofta experience ever since. I've since had versions in Turkey, Egypt, Israel, UAE and India, not to mention numerous ethnic restaurants in other countries.
I will make no claim of this recipe's authenticity, however I have been to a number of countries which have their version of Kofta, so I'd like to think I have a decent handle on what a good one tastes like. This is a recipe I put together by combining ingredients and technique from some other recipes. I think it's quite good.
If there is a more appropriate category for this recipe, I would be happy to move it.
Prep time: 30 minutes (longer if you grind the meat yourself)
Cook time: 15 minutes
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
1lb ground lamb (80/20 preferred)
1lb ground beef (also 80/20 preferred)
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup walnuts
8 cloves garlic, peeled
1 medium yellow onion
1 bunch parsley, washed and de-stemmed
1 piece of bread (heel or bun is fine)
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp sumac
Step 1: finely chop the nuts in a food processor. You don't want a paste, but they will stick together in clumps from the natural fat. This is fine.
Step 2: lightly toast the nuts in a skillet, until lightly browned and fragrant. Set aside in a separate container.
Step 3: put the onion, parsley, and garlic in the food processor and finely mince.
Step 4: transfer the finely minced garlic, onion, and parsley into a fine mesh strainer over a bowl. press down to squeeze out as much liquid as you can from the mince.
Step 5: Toast the bread (optional) and soak the bread in the separated onion liquid.
Step 5: Mix together the parsley, garlic, onion and the nuts. Add all the spices. Squeeze out the liquid from the soaked bread as best you can and add to the mix.
Step 6: Mix in the ground beef and the ground lamb until everything is well incorporated. Divide into 8 equal portions and form into balls
Step 7: Thread the meat onto skewers as balls and then form them out into a cigar shape while on the skewers. Salt the formed skewers slightly.
Step 8: Grill over high heat until you have good color on the outside.
Serve with flatbread/pita, fresh veggies (cucumber, radish, lettuce), tahini/hummus/yogurt sauce
I will make no claim of this recipe's authenticity, however I have been to a number of countries which have their version of Kofta, so I'd like to think I have a decent handle on what a good one tastes like. This is a recipe I put together by combining ingredients and technique from some other recipes. I think it's quite good.
If there is a more appropriate category for this recipe, I would be happy to move it.
Prep time: 30 minutes (longer if you grind the meat yourself)
Cook time: 15 minutes
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
1lb ground lamb (80/20 preferred)
1lb ground beef (also 80/20 preferred)
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup walnuts
8 cloves garlic, peeled
1 medium yellow onion
1 bunch parsley, washed and de-stemmed
1 piece of bread (heel or bun is fine)
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp sumac
Step 1: finely chop the nuts in a food processor. You don't want a paste, but they will stick together in clumps from the natural fat. This is fine.
Step 2: lightly toast the nuts in a skillet, until lightly browned and fragrant. Set aside in a separate container.
Step 3: put the onion, parsley, and garlic in the food processor and finely mince.
Step 4: transfer the finely minced garlic, onion, and parsley into a fine mesh strainer over a bowl. press down to squeeze out as much liquid as you can from the mince.
Step 5: Toast the bread (optional) and soak the bread in the separated onion liquid.
Step 5: Mix together the parsley, garlic, onion and the nuts. Add all the spices. Squeeze out the liquid from the soaked bread as best you can and add to the mix.
Step 6: Mix in the ground beef and the ground lamb until everything is well incorporated. Divide into 8 equal portions and form into balls
Step 7: Thread the meat onto skewers as balls and then form them out into a cigar shape while on the skewers. Salt the formed skewers slightly.
Step 8: Grill over high heat until you have good color on the outside.
Serve with flatbread/pita, fresh veggies (cucumber, radish, lettuce), tahini/hummus/yogurt sauce
Comment