Lamb and Parsley Koftas
Koftas consist of balls of ground meat, well seasoned with plenty of spices; their variants are wide ranging and delicious. You’ll find kofta throughout Indian, Balkan, Central Asian, Middle Eastern, and Caucasian cuisine. They come in a variety of shapes, sometimes as meatballs and sometimes pressed onto skewers. For me they are a wonderful recipe in the Summer, especially if you are lucky enough to be eating with family and friends, or hosting a BBQ.
I am using lamb with the spices here and this is a flavour packed recipe, which I recommend for bigger kids. Making the koftas by hand means you can press them into a beautiful shapes, and if you have time you could press them onto kebab sticks (although I wouldn’t recommend for smaller children) and I have even pressed them onto sticks of rosemary, which looks and smells beautiful.
Serve the koftas need a cooling yoghurt dip; this could be a raita, or simply natural yogurt with a squeeze of lemon juice stirred through. Rice, warm flat breads, or pitta bread and a chopped salad of tomatoes and cucumber are all delicious.
Ingredients ~
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
500g organic lamb mince
spices: 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander , 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
15g fresh parsley, finely chopped
black pepper
prep ahead ~
In a frying pan add olive oil and the finely diced onion, saute very gently to soften for 5-10mins. Add the crushed garlic, combine and then remove from the heat to cool completely.
To make the Koftas ~
In a bowl add the lamb mince, cold onion/ garlic mix and then the ground spices and finely chopped parsley. Finally season with a little freshly ground black pepper. Combine with your hands until the mince has broken down and all the ingredients are completely mixed.
Wet your hand a little and shape the koftas into small golf balls. Press the kofta in your hand to form a torpedo shape, you want a round centre and two tipped ends. Repeat until all the koftas are formed. Cover and chill in the fridge to firm up for at least 30 minutes, to until you are ready to cook.
to cook the koftas ~
Preheat the oven to 180C fan oven. Take a large frying pan and cook the koftas in batches, without overcrowding the pan to brown a little on each side. They are delicate so turn slowly to prevent breaking their shapes. They need 1-2 minutes a side, remove to a lined baking sheet and place in the hot oven for 8-10 minutes until the koftas are cooked through. Drain on kitchen paper.
To serve the koftas ~
Serve the koftas warm, with a squeeze of fresh lemon, a yogurt dip/ or raita.
Warm pitta breads or flat breads are great with children as you can fill them and they are easy for kids to hold onto. For a more formal meal, cooked rice is lovely with the koftas.
I like a crunchy chopped salad of tomato and cucumber, dressed with olive oil. It acts a bit like a salsa and cuts through the richness of the red meat. Enjoy!