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.
Servings: 4 people as a main
Equipment
- Food processor optional; allows you to chop onion superfine
Ingredients
- 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
Instructions
- 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.