Kufte Kebabs
Don’t judge a Kebab by its appearance
I hope these are close to what I’ve had at restaurants
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes (including Herbed Yogurt)
Difficulty: 1/5
Ingredient Availability: 3/5
I’m not sure if this recipe would be considered Mediterranean, but it does remind me of something I would find on the menu of a mediterranean or middle eastern restaurant. This recipe comes from Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat and includes a couple unique ingredients, which I’ll get to a little later. I also decided to pair this with the recipe for Herbed Yogurt in this book.
Key Ingredients and Omissions:
Herbed Yogurt Ingredients
I should have also used cilantro
Kufte Kebabs Ingredients
The garlic is not in the picture
I was able to find all the ingredients for this recipe, but some were easier to find than others. It’s not easy to find ground lamb in most grocery stores, so I bough some lamb shoulder and ground it myself. Saffron is also not super available in most stores, so I had to visit about 4 different ones before I was able to find some. One thing I forgot to get was cilantro. I mixed the ingredients for the yogurt and kebabs, thinking that cilantro was optional for both (it was supposed to be in the yogurt).
This is the Lamb I used
It was sold as Lamb Chops (shoulder)
Tools:
Grill or Cast iron pan
Cooking Review:
Herbed Yogurt: 14 minutes
Before I got started with the kebabs, I prepared the ingredients for the yogurt sauce and mixed them together. This was a very simple sauce.
Prep for kebabs: 16 minutes
The prep for the kebabs included chopping the cilantro and mint, grating the garlic, and shredding the onion.
Saffron Tea: 4 minutes
While I brought some water to a boil in a kettle, I mashed the saffron and salt in a small container using the back of a wooden spoon the break it up as much as possible since I don’t have a mortar and pestle. Once the water came to a boil, I added two tablespoons to the saffron and set it aside.
Draining Onion and mixing meat: 12 minutes
I put the shredded onion in a small mesh sieve and squeezed as much water out as possible. I added the onion, along with the saffron tea, turmeric, parsley, mint, and salt to the ground lamb and mixed it together until well combined. I know turmeric and saffron can be pretty strong, so I recommend using gloves when mixing them to prevent your hands from getting stained.
Forming kebabs and cooking: 20 minutes
After forming the kebabs, I added them to a hot cast iron with olive oil in two batches. I cooked each side of the kebabs for about two minutes for a total of about 6 minutes. I transferred the kebabs to a plate and prepared to serve them.
Analysis:
I can tell that the flavor of these is pretty good, but it just needs more salt. The recipe doesn’t give a specific amount of salt to add, so this is partially on me for not adding more and cooking a sample and tasting before cooking them all. The onion and herbs still come though, though. As far as the texture goes, they are very tender, but there is some aspect of it that’s dry. It’s not like blatantly dry, but it’s more of a dry after feeling if that makes sense. The sauce compliments the kebabs quite well, so if you do under salt them, the sauce will help. Overall, I’ll give this recipe a 7/10. I think that it probably should let you know how much salt to add since I don’t see many people cooking a little but to taste for seasoning before cooking the rest. There’s nothing all that special about them, but that’s not a bad thing.
