Video: Köfte (recipe and video)

Murat Genc grew up in Istanbul and came to Dunedin in 1989 to lecture at the University of Otago. He intended to stay only two years but he liked it so much he is still here, he says.

Köfte (meatballs or patties) were his favourite dish as a child and he used to hang around the kitchen when they were being made to get extra ones. Once he ate 26 when he was 12 years old!

Grilled köfte (izgara köfte )
Serves 4

500g medium-fat minced lamb, or 250g each lean minced beef and medium-fat minced lamb
1 small onion grated
1 clove garlic
1-2 tsp cumin
1-2 tsp chilli flakes depending on taste
handful fresh coriander leaves
handful parsley leaves
1 egg
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Mix the meat with the onion, garlic, cumin, chilli, herbs, salt and pepper and egg. Knead with your hands for 5 to 10 minutes, until the consistency of a paste. You can also do this in a food processor.
Wet your hands, then take walnut or golf-ball-sized pieces, shape into round balls and flatten them.
Preferably cook them on a barbecue over charcoal, but they can be cooked under an electric grill, baked in the oven, or pan-fried. Turn once or twice until browned and cooked through.

Serve immediately with flat bread such as pita or pide, thin slices of onion mixed with chopped parsley and sprinkled with salt and sumac.

To eat, wrap the köfte and a little onion in a piece of flat bread.

Tips

- A food processor will make short work of mixing the köfte.
- Some köfte recipes include breadcrumbs or burghul or bulgar (steamed, dried and cracked wheat, a specialty of the Middle East). These make the meat go further.
- Wetting your hands after shaping 3-4 köfte will prevent the paste sticking to your hands.
- The patties can be patted into small oval shapes for frying.
- Dr Genc recommends cooking köfte over charcoal, which gives a particularly good flavour that you don't get on a gas barbecue.
- Sumac is a Middle Eastern spice with a lemony flavour.

Thanks to Afife Harris and Leith Distributors.