Kufta dish recipe. Kufta is a favorite dish of Asian and Middle Eastern peoples. How to prepare kofta step by step

Caucasian kitchen(including Azerbaijani) is one of my favorites. As promised earlier, I am posting a recipe for a delicious dish. Azerbaijani cuisine– Kufta-bozbash (Turkic “kyufta” - meatball, or meatball, Azerbaijani bozba? - “gray head”). This dish is prepared and eaten not only in Azerbaijan - it is found in both Armenian and Georgian cuisine, and if you delve deeper, then, probably, among all the peoples inhabiting the Caucasus.

And there are many variations too. Various sources give figures from 200 to 290 types of kyufta. This soup replaces both the first and the second. In its homeland, it is also interesting to eat it - the broth is served first, and the rest (meatballs, peas, potatoes) is served separately.

This dish is served separately with pita bread, vegetables (tomatoes and cucumbers), onions and, if in season, a plate of fresh herbs (cilantro, purple basil). This dish even has seasonal variations - in the summer version they put fresh tomatoes and sprinkle with fresh cilantro, and in winter add tomato paste(as an option - without it at all), and instead of fresh cilantro - dried mint. And instead of fresh cherry plum, they take dried one.

The dish itself is a thick soup made from lamb bone broth, with meatballs(lamb, rice, onion, cherry plum), with chickpeas (also called “chickpeas”, “nokhut”) and potatoes. In Russia, lamb dishes are less popular than beef, pork and poultry because of the smell. Many people, having tried lamb once, then don’t eat it anymore. People are just unlucky. Lamb, in addition to being able to cook, you also need to eat it correctly!

It is always served hot and eaten immediately (unless, of course, it is cold meat or other cold snacks), but when it cools down, a not very pleasant smell and a white film of fat appear. Lamb is not prepared in reserve, like we have cabbage soup or borscht - it is prepared so that it can be eaten at once, fresh, just cooked. Some dishes - for example, piti (no less famous Azerbaijani soup, and it’s prepared almost the same way, only instead of kufta it contains pieces of meat) served in portions clay pots- “pitishns” in which it was prepared. My wife is from the Caucasus, and she ate lamb as a child, in the form of kebab. I remember a roadside cafe with barely warm, tough and unpleasant-smelling meat on a skewer. Then she insisted for a long time that she did not like this type of meat. And now she eats lamb with great pleasure – thanks to the “kyufta-bozbash” soup :)

I myself tried this soup in its homeland, Azerbaijan. In the city of Nakhichevan.

Here is my version of this dish:
Lamb (shoulder or hind leg) – 400 g,
Water - 2.5 - 3 l,
Fat tail fat - 2 tbsp.,
Rice - 2 tbsp.,
Cherry plum - if you take fresh, then at the rate of 1 piece per kufta ball,
if you take dried, then at the rate of 3 pieces per kufta ball,
Chickpeas - half a glass,
Potatoes - 6-7 pieces, at least size Walnut, maximum - s egg,
Onions - 2-3 large heads,
Imereti saffron - on the tip of a knife,
Tomatoes - 2-3 pcs.
Cilantro - a handful of chopped greens on each plate,
Salt - to taste
Ground black pepper - to taste.

This dish has several nuances: it is better to do some preparations in advance - cook the broth on lamb bones (in principle, it is not critical, you can do without it) and soak the chickpeas.

Chickpeas are very strong peas, and you won’t be able to cook them just like that, without first soaking them! It doesn't fall apart even when boiled. To soak this representative of the legume family, you need to pour the required amount of chickpeas in a suitable container with cold water in the evening and soak it for 8 to 14 hours. By the way, Azerbaijani cuisine has very tasty dish with boiled chickpeas - Toyuq kotleti ( chicken cutlets with chickpeas).

So! The lamb bone broth is pre-cooked and the chickpeas are soaked too.

Place a pan of lamb bone broth on the stove and add the soaked and swollen chickpeas into the pan.

As soon as it boils, turn the heat down, skim off the foam (there’s foam even from peas!) and put the chopped tomatoes into the pan (it’s a good idea to remove the skin from them, but I was too lazy). The tomatoes will boil to dust - they need flavor and color.

Azerbaijani kyufta

kyufta armenian recipe

While the chickpeas are cooking, we have time. For our kuftya, cook the rice in salted water until half cooked. We make a saffron dressing - pour a pinch of saffron with boiling water in a glass (if you bought it from traders at the market, do not believe that it is saffron. This is its cheaper replacement - Imeretian saffron (aka marigolds, Tagetes), less fragrant and aromatic. But we this option is suitable.) and cover with, say, a saucer so that the aroma does not evaporate.

how to cook kofta

kufta photo

Finely chop the onion (we will need it both in the minced meat and in the soup) and peel the potatoes. In the original, the potatoes should be small, 4-5 cm in diameter. Aesthetics!

kufta recipe with photo

Ishli kufta recipe

Let's make minced meat for the kofta. While we were busy peeling the vegetables, the rice was cooked. Drain, rinse and add it to the previously chopped lamb (in a blender or meat grinder). There - black ground pepper, salt and finely chopped onions.

how to cook kofta

kofta soup

kofta dish

kyufta Azerbaijani recipe

Stir the resulting mixture until smooth. And we make our kyuftas from it. They should be the size of a large chicken egg. Inside each meatball we put either one fresh (pitted) cherry plum (wild, sour ones are needed) or three dried ones. I made it with both fresh and dried, naturally fresh tastes better. Sourness is important.

Here is an option with dried cherry plum:

armenian cuisine kyufta

Armenian dish kufta

But with a fresh one:

Here are our kuftas:

While we were enthusiastically stuffing dried cherry plum into the minced meat, the chickpeas reached the “desired condition.” Cook the peas for an hour until they become soft. To do this, we deftly remove the pea from the pan with a spoon and try it - the finished chickpeas should have a slight crunch. Yeah! This means it’s time to put the potatoes and kufta in the pan.

Cook for another 10-15 minutes and add finely chopped onion, black pepper to the soup (actually, in the original, peppercorns, but I put coarsely ground ones - and it gives the taste, and there is no need to fish it out) and finely chopped fat tail. You can do it without it, but this is an option for those who don’t eat lamb and will cook from beef.

Taste for salt and add to taste. And the final touch - saffron dressing! Pour it into the soup, let it boil, turn off the heat and cover the saucepan with the soup! ALL!

NO! Not all! We're setting the table! The hostess takes out the plates, cuts the greens (the soup poured into the plate is sprinkled with fresh herbs - cilantro before serving), takes out from the refrigerator a steamed decanter of table wine No. 21. Put two or three kuftas, peas, a couple of potatoes into the plate, fill it with broth and sprinkle with cilantro . This soup is served with lavash (Bummer! I didn’t get any lavash on the way home from work! It’s a shame!) We pour ourselves 50 grams. from a steamed decanter - after all, it’s Friday evening!

Bon appetit! Health to you! Best regards, Sergey Zverev.

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Cooking instructions

2 hours Print

1. Pour one and a half liters of water over the brisket and onion and place on high heat. Skim off the foam, add the chickpeas (which should first be soaked overnight in unsalted water) and simmer covered over low heat for about an hour, skimming off the foam periodically. Finally add salt, remove the onion and strain through a sieve. While the broth is cooking, pour boiling water over the saffron, leaving it on a warm stove. Tool Pasta pan The main rule of a good pan for cooking pasta is that it should be large. To cook just half a kilo of spaghetti, you need at least five liters of water. Another problem is draining so much hot water. The problem can be solved by purchasing a pan with a special insert that can be removed along with the spaghetti, and all the water will remain in the pan.

2. Wash the lamb and fat tail, dry with a towel and pass through a meat grinder along with the onion. Season generously with salt and pepper, add washed and soaked rice for an hour, and a pinch of turmeric. Mix thoroughly, throwing the minced meat on the table so that all the air bubbles trapped in the mass come out, and put in the refrigerator for half an hour to an hour. Tool Mechanical meat grinder It is possible to make several kilograms of minced meat in a mechanical meat grinder, but, especially if you are not used to it, this can lead to a dislocated shoulder. However, if large-scale tasks are not required, it is not so bad - at least it takes up much less space than any electric one.
3. Wet your hands well with warm water and form balls from the cold minced meat, each one should weigh about 200 grams. Cut plum or cherry plum into small pieces. Make a depression in each meat ball with your finger and wall up a piece of plum in it.
4. Dissolve half a spoon of turmeric in the broth so that there are no lumps and pour into the pan. Next, put the meatballs into the broth - carefully so that they do not deform. For the first five minutes, do not stir with a spoon under any circumstances, but only move the pan back and forth. Collect the foam and cook for ten to fifteen minutes, covered, over low heat. Then throw the potatoes into the broth.
5. Pour a few tablespoons of brewed saffron into the broth, and place a few of its petals on the meatballs - just for beauty. You can pour saffron from a spoon over the kufta for a while so that it all acquires an even yellowish color. However, the broth should not be too white or too yellow. Remove the pan from the heat.
6. Marinate the onion in wine vinegar for ten minutes. Traditionally, seasonal Govsan onions are used for kyufta-bozbash. But shallots are also suitable. It is similar to it in its small size, elongated shape and bitterness. Bitter onions, cherry plums or plums inside the kofta neutralize the fat content of the dish both on a taste and a chemical level.

The earliest mentions of the kofta recipe were known from cookbooks in Arabic, dating back to the time of Ottoman rule from Turkish cuisine. The word "kyufta" comes from the Persian language. kūfta, or کوفتن, means "to grind", or " meat balls" The recipe has been borrowed by many national cuisines. In Ottoman books it was proposed to prepare kofta using lamb, coating the meat egg yolk with saffron. In Armenia, kofta is made from beef, served with butter and hot pepper tsitsak. IN this recipe we will talk about the Armenian kyufta:

Ingredients:

Beef 1 kg without fat and tendons
Onion 2 pcs
Egg 1 piece
Flour 2 tbsp. l. flour
Cognac 50 gr
Milk or water 3/4 cup (very cold)
Red and black pepper
Salt to taste
Ghee or butter (for drizzling)

How to cook

Originally, the meat needs to be beaten until a homogeneous mass of weak consistency is obtained, but for modern people, it is easier to pass the meat 5-6 times through a meat grinder or grind it in a processor (preferably the latter).
Grind the meat in a processor at the highest speed until a homogeneous, smooth mass, add more during grinding cold water(milk). Place the minced meat in a bowl, add cognac, egg, flour and chopped onion, season with salt and pepper, and knead for 20-25 minutes. You should get a doughy, viscous and slightly liquid light minced meat. (which didn’t seem to work out for me :))
Place a pot of water on the stove, add salt and bring to a boil.
Divide the minced meat into 4 parts, form each part with wet hands or using a ladle soaked in water into 4 balls and carefully place them in boiling water.
Cook for 25-30 minutes, remembering to remove the foam.
Serve the kofta hot, cut into slices, pour with melted butter.

Armenian kyufta (recipe starring beef (lamb) is described in our article) - a traditional dish asian cuisine. The delicacy is most popular in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey. Few people know that there are more than 290 types of Turkish kofta recipes!

There is an opinion that the Seljuks, the conquerors of the Byzantine Empire, were the first to prepare this meat delicacy. Even during the reign of the Ottomans, the Turks added spices to meat and its main highlight - saffron. Numerous countries that fell under the military pressure of the Sublime Porte adopted traditional recipe, adapting it to your taste preferences. This is how pork sicheniki appeared in Ukraine and Russian meatballs. Residents of Central Asia add local spices and soy sauce to kufte.

Despite the apparent complexity of the recipe, any housewife can handle the preparation of a meat dish. The main thing is to strictly follow the technology, and a delicious lunch is guaranteed!

Classic version

Armenian kyufta (its recipe is not complicated) is aromatic and incredibly tasty. 50% of success is fresh and properly selected meat. It is recommended to use young beef without blood. The animal must be slaughtered with a knife, without the use of electrical appliances.

Main ingredients:

Beef (hip) - 1 kilogram.
Onions - 2 pieces.
Chicken egg - 3 pieces.
Premium flour - 60 grams.
Cognac - 150 grams.

Strictly following the Armenian kofta recipe step by step will allow you to create a real culinary masterpiece. To begin with, the beef should be washed under running water and passed through a meat grinder along with the onion. To achieve a paste-like structure of the minced meat, additionally grind it with a blender.

The next step is to add alcoholic drink, flour, salt and spices. The greater the variety of seasonings, the deeper and richer the taste. The optimal combination of coriander, red and black peppers, marjoram, suneli hops, thyme, white mustard, dried parsley, garlic and basil. Mix the minced meat thoroughly.

Fill the pan with water, heat to a temperature of 40-45 degrees. You can easily determine the desired degree of heating without a thermometer; just dip your finger into it. The water should be hot, but not uncomfortable. Moisten a ladle with cold water and form the minced meat into a neat ball. The optimal diameter is 8-10 centimeters. Carefully place into the pan. Cook for 1 hour. A light, uniform shade of the balls inside and outside is an indicator of correct adherence to the cooking technology.

The last step of the kofta recipe is wallowing in melted butter.

The dish goes well with vegetable side dish, rice or couscous.

Kufta bozbash

A traditional dish of Azerbaijani cuisine, prepared in dozens of liters to feed yourself, feed a large family and treat friends. The soup with amazing taste is not oversaturated with vegetables; the taste of young lamb in a spicy combination with chickpeas is clearly felt in it.

The recipe for kofta bozbash involves the use of the following ingredients:

Lamb (flesh with a small layer of fat) - 700 grams.
Dry chickpeas - 170 grams.
Long grain rice - 50 grams.
Potatoes - 150 grams.
Red onion - 2 pieces.
Dried cherry plum - 100 grams.
Spices: ground cinnamon, saffron, dry mint, ground pepper.

How to cook kofta bozbash?

Rinse the chickpeas. Fill with water 3 fingers above the level of the beans. Leave for 12-14 hours (depending on the variety). Drain, rinse, add the same amount of water, cook until soft over medium heat for 2 hours. Rinse the rice, add water and leave for an hour. Then drain the water and squeeze a little.

Peel the onion and cut into large cubes. Grind the meat. Pass two ingredients through a fine meat grinder. Add rice, salt, add spices. Knead the minced meat for 5-7 minutes, periodically beating it on the work surface. Start making meat balls. In size they should resemble a woman's fist (the word "kyufta" translated from Armenian means fist).

Peel the potatoes, cut into 4 parts. Fill a large saucepan with water and boil. Season with salt and place each kofta using a slotted spoon. When the broth boils, remove the foam with a slotted spoon and add the potatoes. Cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes.

Pour 50 grams of boiling water over dry saffron and let it brew for 10 minutes. Pour cherry plum into the pan and boil for 3 minutes. Pour in the saffron, add the chickpeas, bring to a boil, remove from heat.

Place kufta, chickpeas and potatoes in a deep plate, pour in broth.

Kufta according to Turkish recipe

Turkish cuisine is varied and different rich taste and spicy aroma. Kufta is an everyday dish from minced meat. In each region of the country, the cooking technology has its own characteristics, for example, in the eastern part of Turkey it is created from minced chicken. Below is step by step recipe kyuftas.

Main ingredients:

Beef, ground into minced meat - 700 grams.
Onions - 2 pieces.
Rusks - 50 grams.
Ground paprika - 1 teaspoon.
Chicken egg - 2 pieces.
Tomato - 3 pieces.
Bell pepper- 4 pieces.
Potatoes - 800 grams.
Tomato paste - 70 grams.
Garlic - 3 pieces.
Parsley, cilantro, ground black pepper, salt, olive oil, hot peppers- taste.

How to prepare kofta step by step

Step 1. Remove the skins from the onion, chop finely, and fry until golden brown.

Step 2. In a large bowl, mix minced meat, onion, seasoned heat treatment, crackers, a raw egg and chopped greens. Salt and sprinkle with paprika. Stir until smooth. Form into balls.

Step 3. Pour olive oil into a frying pan and heat over high heat. Fry on each side for 2 minutes. A light brown crust should appear.

Step 4. Peel the potatoes and cut into quarters. Pour oil into a frying pan with a thick bottom, fry the potatoes, add tomato paste. Fry over high heat for 3-4 minutes.

Step 5. Boil water, pour over tomatoes, remove peels, cut into small cubes.

Step 6. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees. Simmer sweet peppers in a baking sleeve for 5 minutes. Remove the peel and cut into strips.

Step 7 Place meatballs, potatoes, peppers and tomatoes in a high-sided saucepan. Fill hot water, but not with boiling water, simmer until thick for about 45-50 minutes.

Step 8 30 minutes before the end of heat treatment, add chopped hot pepper (remove the grains first) and crushed garlic.

The recipe for Turkish kofta is relatively simple, but will pleasantly please with its rich spicy taste. Having tasted this dish once, every housewife will make it a frequent guest on the everyday and holiday table.

Azerbaijani version of kyufta

Preparing such a dish is a great opportunity to bring a piece of Azerbaijan to your home menu. The thick soup will appeal to adults and children, and its original taste will remain in the memory for a long time.

Ingredients:

Beef (fillet) - 500 grams.
Potatoes - 200 grams.
Rice - ½ faceted glass.
Chickpeas - 100 grams.
Dried cherry plum - 7 pieces.
Onions - 2 pieces.
Chopped cilantro - 1 tablespoon.
Chopped dill - 1 tablespoon.
Dried mint - 1 teaspoon.
Turmeric - ½ teaspoon.
A mixture of oriental spices - ½ teaspoon.
Lamb fat - 70 grams.

Recipe

Rinse the chickpeas under running water and soak for 6-8 hours. Remove the veins from the meat, cut into small pieces, and pass through a meat grinder. Wash the rice and boil until half cooked. Add spices and cereals to the minced meat.

Soak the peeled cherry plum. Make a solution - add 2 teaspoons of salt to cold water. Wet your hands in the liquid and form the shredded meat into large meatballs. Place one berry inside each of them.

Pour water into a deep saucepan and bring to a boil. Dip the beef pieces. Boil for 20-25 minutes. Take out each of them with a ladle. Place on a large platter.

Strain the remaining broth through a fine sieve. Put on fire, add chopped onion, chickpeas swollen in water and diced potatoes. Boil for 20-25 minutes, add meatballs, season with a mixture of spices.

The highlight of the Azerbaijani kufta recipe is the addition of fat tail fat, chopped into cubes. Ready dish Pour into deep plates, sprinkle generously with fresh chopped herbs.

Note to housewives

To prevent the koftas from sticking to each other, potato flour should be added to the minced meat.

Add juiciness to the meatballs by diluting ground beef pork in a 1:1 ratio.

The addition of swollen semolina to the kofta recipe will allow the meat balls to be held together more reliably. For 1 kilogram, 1 teaspoon of the ingredient is enough.

Egg whites whipped into foam will add fluffiness to the dish.

Do not overuse bread and crackers when preparing minced meat. The latter tend to absorb excess fat, which will negatively affect the taste of the finished dish.

Kufta is a colorful dish that will become an original and satisfying addition to the everyday table; it can be cooked in a cauldron over an open fire.

Armenian kufta is an excellent traditional meat dish. There are many recipes for kofta, I cook it according to my own recipe, which has already been tested many times. The most important thing is to cook the minced meat correctly, otherwise, without much effort you can prepare a very dietary meat dish, since Armenian kufta is boiled in water and not fried.

For this dish we will need the following products: beef, milk, salt, pepper, onion, egg, cognac, melted butter.

According to original recipe The beef should be cut into thin slices and then beaten for a long time with a kitchen hammer until it is almost minced. I pass the beef through a meat grinder several times to get a fairly fine minced meat.

Cut the onion into small cubes and add to the minced meat.

Beat in a chicken egg.

Pour in cognac, Armenian of course!

Add milk, you can add just water instead of milk, in the same amount.

Add salt, ground black pepper and flour.

Mix the minced meat well with all the ingredients in a blender. As a result, we get quite liquid minced meat that sticks to our hands.

Pour water into a wide-bottomed pan, add salt and let the water boil. As soon as the water boils, reduce the heat to low and only then put the kufta into the pan. Divide the resulting amount of minced meat into four to six parts and roll each part into a ball. Using a ladle, place the koftas one at a time into the water and cook for 20-25 minutes.