Lamb Koftas

We don’t heat a huge amount of red meat, but a few months back, my biggest boy was reading and the characters in the book described the Lamb Koftas they were eating.

Will had never heard of them before so he asked me about them and then asked me to make them.

They were very simple to make and a winner of a meal with 6 empty plates, so they have been added to the menu and we hope you like them as much as we do!

500g lamb mince
120g chick peas, drained and rinsed
1 small brown onion
2-3 clove cloves garlic
1 tsp tahini
1 tbsp hemp seeds
1 medium carrot
1 large handful spinach
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp dried paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2-1 tsp dried chilli flakes (depending on the amount of bite you like)
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
good pinch salt

Optional: Dressing of Minted yoghurt (see below the recipe) and crunch of toasted pine nuts or pumpkin seeds

Into your food processor/thermo cooker, place the onion, garlic, chick peas, lemon, seeds, tahini, carrot, spinach and all of the herbs and spices.

Process until they are finely chopped (Speed 4, 8 seconds, scrape down and repeat)

While the machine is still processing, add in the lamb in through the top opening and process until the mixture is very well combined and quite smooth.

Place the mixture into a bowl, cover and place in the fridge for at least an hour (over night is fine). This will help the mixture to hold together without egg as a binder.

Divide the mixture into 12 and form in to small fat sausage shapes.

Place on a lined baking tray, spray or brush with a little olive oil and bake at 180C for about 40 minutes, turning them over after 30 minutes.

We like to serve ours with ribbons of carrot and cucumber.

We also used minted yoghurt as a dressing (you can used which ever kind of unflavoured yoghurt fits your dietary needs). About 4 tbsp mixed with 2 tsp of finely torn fresh mint.

Top with toasted pine nuts (or pumpkin seeds).