Kafta
Grilled minced meat skewers
كفتة مشوية (kafta mashwiyeh): minced lamb and beef with onion, parsley and seven spice, grilled on skewers
Kafta is the everyday grilled mince of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine: a Sunday barbecue staple in the Lebanese mountains and a quick dinner in city flats, cooked on skewers, shaped into fingers for the pan, or baked in a tray with potatoes and tomato. Lamb and beef are mixed with plenty of onion and parsley and warmed with baharat (seven spice). Wrap them in bread with tomato, onion and a smear of hummus or tahini sauce. Chef's tip: grate the onion and squeeze it hard in a clean cloth; dry onion keeps the kafta firm on the skewer and stops it steaming.
- Total time
- 27 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the kafta
- 14 oz lamb mince
- 10 ½ oz beef mince
- 1 oniongrated and squeezed dry
- 1 oz flat-leaf parsleyvery finely chopped
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp chilli flakes (optional)
To serve
- 2 tomatoessliced
- 1 red onionsliced
- 1 tsp sumac
- 4 tbsp tahini sauce or hummus (optional)
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Fresh ingredients (6)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Put 14 oz lamb mince, 10 ½ oz beef mince, 1 onion, 1 oz flat-leaf parsley, 2 tsp Lebanese seven spice (baharat), 1 ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp chilli flakes in a bowl. Knead with your hands for 3 minutes until well mixed and slightly sticky. Wash your hands and the bowl's edges afterwards.
3 minStep 2: Divide into 8 portions. With wet hands, mould each around a flat metal skewer into a sausage about 15 cm long, or shape into fingers to cook without skewers. Chill for 10 minutes if they feel soft. A common mistake is skipping the squeezed onion step: watery mince splits and drops through the grill.
10 minStep 3: Heat a barbecue, griddle pan or oven grill until very hot. Cook the kafta for 8–10 minutes, turning every 2–3 minutes, until browned all over and the centre reaches 160°F, with no pink inside.
10 minStep 4: Toss 1 red onion with 1 tsp sumac. Rest the kafta for 2 minutes, then serve with 2 tomatoes, the sumac onion and 4 tbsp tahini sauce or hummus.
2 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 390 kcal
- Protein
- 36 g
- Carbs
- 6 g
- Fat
- 25 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does kafta take?
- About 27 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 12 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of flat-leaf parsley?
- Curly parsley or coriander, same amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Pork souvlaki
This is a pork recipe. Walk through any Greek town after dark, from Athens to Thessaloniki, and the smell of souvlaki stands drifts down the street; cubes of pork shoulder grilled on thin skewers are the country's favourite cheap supper, eaten standing up or at a plastic-table taverna. At home you marinate the meat in lemon, olive oil, garlic and dried oregano, grill it hard and fast, and pile it on warm pitta with tzatziki, tomato and red onion. Chef's tip: cut the pork into even 2.5 cm cubes and leave a little fat on; lean loin dries out, shoulder stays juicy over high heat.
Greek
Pfälzer SaumagenStuffed pig's stomach
Saumagen is the pride of the Palatinate, served at wine-village festivals and family dinners from the Haardt hills to Ludwigshafen. A cleaned pig's stomach is stuffed with diced pork shoulder, pork sausage meat, potato and carrot seasoned with marjoram and nutmeg, poached slowly, then sliced thick and fried until crusty. The stomach works only as a casing and is ordered from a butcher; if you can't get one, bake the same filling in a covered terrine in a water bath. Serve with sauerkraut and mashed potato. Chef's tip: fill the stomach only three-quarters full, or it bursts as the potatoes swell.
German
Chha goshtLamb in buttermilk gravy
Up in the hill villages of Himachal Pradesh, where flocks are walked to summer pastures, lamb is often cooked in chhaachh, the thin buttermilk left after churning butter. Thickened with a spoonful of gram flour, it makes a pale, gently sour gravy that is milder and lighter than the red curries of the plains, and it is a favourite at dhams, the festive meals of the Kangra and Chamba valleys. Serve it with steamed rice or makki ki roti. Chef's tip: whisk the gram flour into the buttermilk until there are no lumps before it goes near the pot; once it hits the heat, any lumps stay lumps.
Indian