Kofta

I love grilling and BBQ.  Never been a huge kebob griller but when I started reading about Kofta I thought I would give in a try.   I picked up some skewers, basically  mini-swords.  Now I am down the Kofta rabbit hole hoping to learn more.   The skewers in the picture fit across a medium size Green Egg.

Kofta is basically a ground meat kebob.  Many cultures in the South Asia to North Africa prepare it.  Commonly made from ground lamb, beef or a mix with a variety of spices.  The meat mixture is formed on the skewers.   Skewers are cooked over open coals and basted as they cook.  

There are many recipes on the web.  The key to Kofta is to create a binding ground meat mixture so that it will form to the skewers and not fall off when cooking.  Lamb or beef with lamb works well without adding breading or eggs, key is to have the meat cold when forming on the skewers then keep the prepped skewers cold until ready to cook.   Chicken, pork or turkey will require some binding mixture of bread with egg since the ground tends to be quite wet.

Kofta skewers come in a variety of sizes from bamboo stick to wider stainless steel, like the photo.  Those are about 1″ wide.

Forming the Kofta on a wide skewer takes a bit of practice.   I followed a video for Iraqi Kofta which walks you through  the whole recipe, how to form the Kofta and grilling.  When mixing the meat mixture it is important to mix the meat to create a stickiness, similar when making sausage.  The more you mix or knead the meat the more stickiness, sorta like building up the gluten when making bread.  

Kofta is commonly served with rice and roasted tomatoes.  I like making a Tzatziki and/or Hummus to serve along with rice or in pita / Lebanese flat bread.   Another option is a Tahini Dressing.

Following is a recipe based on one I found on Food Network.

Meat Mixture

• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus a pinch
• 1 pound ground beef chuck or lamb, or mixture
• 3 tablespoons grated onion
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Medium size whole tomatoes
• Medium size sweet onions cut into halves or quarters.

Olive oil, for brushing the skewers as they cook.

Place all ingredients in a bowl with the meat, not including the whole tomatoes and onions.  Mix well with hands so mixture is sticky. Place mixture in refrigerator for a few hours to get cold.   When cold, form on skewers. Return prepped skewers back to refrigerator to get cold so 30 mins or more.

Put the whole tomatoes and onions on a skewer. These can go on the grill before the meat since will take some time to cook and blacken a bit.

Prepare your grill. You will want a hot grill something like you would use to sear a steak. Alternatively, these could be cooked under the broiler but make sure your skewers are only metal or bamboo – something that won’t mind broiler eat.   Would not want to use the skewers shown in the above picture under a broiler. 

When grill is ready, place skewers above the grill. I usually do not use any grates. You will be rotating the skewers every minute. Brush the skewers with olive oil. Cook til both sides are nicely brown.

To serve, cut meat from the skewer, add some roasted tomatoes and onions.

Tzatziki Sauce

This is a basic Tzatziki sauce.   Here is a good one, I like.  

I like Tzatziki with lots of garlic.  It is best made a day ahead so the flavors can blend and garlic mellows a bit.  

• 2 cups plain whole milk yogurt or 1 cup Middle Eastern-style plain yogurt.  Get good high protein yogurt, thicker the better
• 1 medium cucumber halved, and seeded (if needed) and grated.  I prefer English cucumber
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, too taste
• 1 to how every many you like garlic cloves – pressed.  
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice1/2 teaspoon dried mint, crumbled
• dash or 1/2 of ground red chile (optional)  Could add some ground tried chipotle to add some smoke. 

Grate the cucumber using a box grater or other one you usually use for cheese.   Can use the smaller grating size you might use for parmesan or large one that you might use for cheddar.    Toss everything in a bowl and mix well.