Lamb Kofta in a Tomato & Pomegranate sauce

Ingredients

500g lamb mince, 20% fat

½ large white onion

4-5 garlic cloves

Seasoning mix

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp whole black peppercorns

1 tsp sumac

1 tsp onion granules

Flaky sea salt & neutral oil

Tomato sauce

400g tomato passata (or blitzed can of tomatoes)

1 diced red onion

3 garlic cloves chopped

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp turmeric

½ tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp pomegranate molasses

Garnish (suggestion)

1/3 white onion, finely sliced

2 garlic cloves, finely diced

10g coriander leaf, chopped

10g fresh mint, chopped

Juice of 1 lime

A simple Kofta that’s gotten good reviews. I give a suggestion for a garnish to go with it – you could also use a chopped salad like a Shirazi (as in pic), or whatever fresh salad bits and herbs you have.

Serve with flatbreads/ wraps/ pitas and whatever condiments desired - I’d suggest a bit of Greek Yogurt and hot sauce.

I often make these with a tomato sauce, as here. You don’t have to do this, but it goes well with fresh naans – almost like a mid-east style meatball sub.

One thing I’ve learned is that for an Italian style meatball you can leave them in the sauce for a long time, for a mid-eastern one (the key difference being Italian style uses milk-soaked breadcrumbs, a kofta grated onion) you only want to leave it in a minute or two.

If you’re making the sauce, do this first. In a large saucepan fry off the onion until soft, then add tomato paste, turmeric, cinnamon, garlic and cook for another minute or two. Add the passata and molasses, 200ml of water, mix bring to boil and simmer for 40 mins to an hour uncovered while you do everything else. It should reduce by about 1/3rd.
For Koftas: Grate the onion, then do a running chop over it to remove any larger bits. Finley grate or chop the garlic.
Heat up the seeds and peppercorns for a minute or two in a dry pan, then grind in a pestle & mortar. Combine with sumac, onion granules, fresh onion, garlic and lamb with your hands until well mixed (do not add salt yet). Shape into 14-16 small ovals.
If using this garnish, just combine all the ingredients & a pinch salt.
Heat a large cast iron (or heavy non-stick frying pan) and add a good amount of neutral oil. Season the koftas with sea salt & add to the pan. Cook on one side, until they develop a nice browning, then flip and cook on the other. (You don’t need to brown every inch of them, a good sear on two sides is enough. This should take you to about a medium, which is fine given the fattiness of the meat).
Leave to rest (covered by tin foil to keep warm) for a minute or two, if serving plain. Or add to the sauce and serve immediately.