Lamb Koftas with Pistachios
Delicious middle-eastern style meatballs, richly spiced and full of flavour. Can be served in flatbread, with salad, on a bed of rice, or as part of a mezze platter.
Prep Time30 minutes mins
Cook Time15 minutes mins
Course: Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine: Middle-Eastern
Keyword: BBQ, easy, flexible, mezze, weeknight dinner
Servings: 4 people as a main
- 500 g minced lamb
- 1 small onion very finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 30 g raw, unsalted pistachios roughly chopped
- 1 handful fresh coriander/cilantro finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp cooking/Kosher salt
- ¾ tsp ground black pepper
- ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp ground allspice
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper to taste
- ¼ tsp grated nutmeg
- Sunflower or canola oil for cooking
To serve
- Extra pistachios, chopped parsley or coriander, and sumac or paprika.
- Tahini-yoghurt sauce
preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan-forced
In a large bowl, mix together all the kofta ingredients with your hands. Take care not to overwork the mixture or it will become tough.
Shape mixture into balls or torpedo shapes, pressing firmly to hold the mixture together. Place the koftas on a plate or baking-paper lined tray, cover and refrigerate until you are ready to cook them. they will keep for 24 hours in the fridge.
Heat oil in a large frying pan and brown kofta in batches. Sear each kofta in hot oil, turning regularly until the outside is nicely browned – about 5 minutes per batch.
Place kofta on an oven tray and cook in the preheated oven – 2 minutes for medium, 4 minutes for well done.
Serve with tahini-yoghurt sauce scattered with extra pistachios, parsley or coriander leaves, and sprinkled with sumac or paprika.