Please check out the ingredients for our upcoming event Kofte Night with Nouritza Matossian.

Here is a shopping list from Nouritza. Make sure you do step 1 (prepare the filling) ahead of time:

Also ahead of time, please prepare the lamb for the outer shell as described in step 2.

Ingredients

Inner filling:

1 lb minced lamb or beef

8 oz of chopped onion

3 oz butter or margarine

½ tsp each of cinnamon, cloves, ground black and red pepper, sweet paprika

1 oz walnuts and/or pine nuts

Outer shell:

2 lb lean lamb (from the leg) or lean beef

1 lb bulghur

1 small onion

salt and pepper

Picture from The Armenian Table by Victoria Jenanyan Wise.

Directions

Step 1 : The filling

Cook the filling, frying the meat and onion in the fat. Add the spices and fry another minute. Add the nuts, turn into a bowl and chill.

Step 2 : Outer shell

Sprinkle bulghur with enough cold water to moisten. Cut the meat into cubes, removing all fat, and reduce to a pink and fluffy puree in a food processor.

In a large bowl, thoroughly combine the meat, bulghur, salt and pepper. With a bowl of water beside you, knead the mixture for about 5 minutes, dipping your hands into the water as you work so that the mixture doesn’t stick. Keep sprinkling water over to lighten and moisten.

Take a walnut-sized piece of the mixture and, wetting your hands, squeeze, transferring from palm to palm. Hold the meat in one palm and gently make a hollow. Flatten the side to make a little cup. Put in a tablespoon of cold filling, then close gently by patting with the other hand, dipping your hands in cold water. The bottom of each ball should be flat the top rounded.

Use up all the mixture, laying each ball on a flat dish. Bring at least 4 pints of salted water to the boil and drop in the meatballs. Allow them to boil for 2 minutes. When they rise to the surface, they are cooked. Serve the kofte hot with a slice of lemon, which should be squeezed on the filling.

Nouritza adds:

“If you get your lamb from the butcher, you could ask to mince the lean beef meat twice."

For salads to accompany to make while waiting for the koftes to cook or with extra pair of hands;

1. Romaine lettuce, tahini, lemon, garlic, dried mint.

2. Jajik: cucumber, yoghourt, garlic, mint.