Egyptian Kofta with Crispy Chile Topping

About This Recipe

Kofta is a staple of Egyptian grilling, ground meat — typically a mix of beef and lamb — worked with grated onion, parsley and warm spices like allspice and cinnamon, then shaped onto skewers and grilled over charcoal until charred outside and juicy within. It's a fixture at Egyptian family barbecues and appears on nearly every grill restaurant's menu alongside kebab. A crispy fried chile topping isn't classic to traditional Egyptian kofta, which tends toward warm spice rather than sharp heat, but it's a popular modern addition at some Cairo grill spots looking to give the dish a spicier edge. The chiles are sliced thin and fried briefly in hot oil until blistered, then scattered over the finished kofta right before serving so they stay crisp against the juicy meat. The technique that matters most for the kofta itself is squeezing excess moisture from the grated onion before mixing it in — wet onion is the single biggest reason kofta falls apart on the grill — and chilling the shaped meat before cooking so it holds its form over open flame.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 300 gground beef
• 300 gground lamb
• 1onion(grated and squeezed dry)
• 0.5 cupparsley(finely chopped)
• 1 tspground allspice
• 0.5 tspground cinnamon
• 0.5 tspground cumin
• 1.5 tspsalt
• 0.5 tspblack pepper
• 3 tbspvegetable oil(divided)
• 4red chiles(thinly sliced)
• 1lemon(cut into wedges)

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix the kofta

   Combine ground beef, ground lamb, squeezed onion, parsley, allspice, cinnamon, cumin, salt and pepper. Knead well for 2 minutes.

2. 2

   Chill the mixture

   Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes to firm up.

3. 3

   Shape onto skewers

   With wet hands, mold the meat around flat metal skewers into even sausage shapes.

4. 4

   Grill

   Grill over medium-high charcoal or a grill pan, turning every 2 to 3 minutes, for 10 to 12 minutes total until charred outside and cooked through.

5. 5

   Fry the chile topping

   Heat remaining oil in a small pan until shimmering. Fry sliced chiles 1 to 2 minutes until blistered and crisp.

6. 6

   Serve

   Slide the kofta off the skewers, scatter the crispy chile on top, and serve with lemon wedges and flatbread.

Variations

• •

  Use all beef or all lamb if you prefer a single-meat kofta rather than the traditional mix.

• •

  Skip the fried chile topping for the more classic, milder Egyptian version.

• •

  Serve over rice with a side of tahini sauce instead of in flatbread.

Storage

Refrigerate cooked kofta up to 3 days; reheat in a hot skillet to re-crisp the exterior rather than the microwave, which makes it rubbery.

Frequently Asked Questions