This recipe for Kofta with tahini is long overdue. I have received many requests for it from my wonderful readers here and on facebook. What kept me from posting it earlier is that I usually make this kofta when I am tight on time. It is one of those recipes I make on autopilot. It is so quick and easy to make . The perfect recipe to make when you are tight on time or when you have guests coming over on short notice. I have made it so many times, took the pictures of the steps on various occasions (hence the variety of step by step pictures) but I never managed to take pictures of the finished product. When I finally managed to style and photograph it. I realized that I don’t have the amounts of the ingredients written down. That is what autopilot cooking does to you. Sorry Meriam and everyone else who requested this recipe for the delay. It was only because I wanted to give you a recipe that is tried, tested and true.

Kofta is ground meat, mixed with onion and fresh herbs like parsley, and seasoned delicately with a few spices. There are many versions of Kofta. This  one is a delicious way to use tahini. Tahini has a nutty and earthy flavour and the lemon juice cuts through that.

The key to a successful kofta is a good meat mix. Traditionally kofta is made with lamb meat, that makes for a moister and juicier kofta. My husband and kids find lamb too fatty and rich so I make my kofta with beef meat. To prevent my beef kofta from coming out too dry I add a tomato to the mix and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, the result is a moist juicy beef kofta that is just as good as its lamb counter part. You need your meat to be minced finely which requires running it with the onions and herbs twice through the meat grinder.You can buy the kofta mix premade in large supermarkets and at some butcher shops but I find that those mixes have too much fat added to them and an overload of spices.Add to that, I am always worried that they don’t wash the herbs well enough. What I do is take my own spices, herbs and onions to the butcher or supermarket and ask for the cut of meat that I want and the exact amount of herbs and spices that I like.

The meat can be topped with sliced potatoes, sliced tomatoes or a combination of both. I like mine plain or with some potatoes but the choice is really yours.

You can serve this kofta bi tahini with some rice, you can stuff it into a sandwich and drizzle it with more tahini sauce or you can serve it with pita bread and enjoy dipping the bread into the tahini sauce.

Tahini Kofta

For the kofta

500 g beef

1 onion chopped

1 cup chopped parsley

1 tomato chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon all spice

pinch of cardamom

For the topping

Potatoes sliced into thin rounds and fried or boiled until they are cooked half way

For the tahini sauce

1 cup tahini sauce

juice of two lemons

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cups recently boiled water (you can replace 1 cup of the water with yogurt or orange juice )

Dried mint (optional)

Grind meat, parsley and onions in the meat grinder using the finest disk.Run them twice

Alternatively very finely dice parsley and onion and add them to the minced meat if you bought your meat pre-minced

Add  the tomato, olive oil,salt and spices and knead them into the meat mix

You can either spread the mix into a large pan (or large skillet) to cover the entire base or you can form the mix into football shaped ovals.If you go with the flat version, make indentations in the meat with your fingertips, this will help the meat take up the flavors of the sauce

Bake the kofta in the oven for 20 minutes

Fry the sliced potatoes, boil or bake them until they are cooked half way.

Arrange the potatoes on top of the kofta or in between the kofta footballs

Mix tahina and lemon juice together, the tahini will become lighter in consistency at first but it will thicken as you keep on mixing and become lighter in color

Slowly add the water while stirring to keep the mixture smooth.

One of the tricks I learned from my mum is to place the tahini in a pot and bring it to a boil before pouring it over the kofta, this gives you a smoother tahini sauce without any lumbs
Pour sauce over kofta until you cover the kofta and topping

Cover the pan with foil, poke a few holes in the foil to allow steam to escape

Bake in the oven on the lowest rack at 220 C FOR 20 minutes then remove the foil and cook until the sauce thickens (this requires an additional 15- 20 minutes)

Brown under grill for 1-2 minutes

كفته بالطحينه

نصف كيلو لحمه

بصله

 (كوب بقدونس مفروم (ضمه بقدونس 

حبه بندوره

ملعقتين زيت زيتون

نصف ملعقه صغيره ملح

ملعقه صغيره بهار حلو

رشه هيل

كوب طحينه

عصير ليمونتين

نصف ملعقه صغيره ملح

اربع اكواب ماء

اخلطي اللحمه و البقدونس و البصل و افرميها على الفرامه مرتين لتحصلي على خليط ناعم

.اضيفي البندوره و الزيت و البهارات و اعجنيها مع اللحمه.. البندوره و الزيت سيمنع اللحمه من الجفاف و يعطيها طعم و قوام الذ

 افردي الخليط في صينيه او شكليه على شكل كرات

ضعيه في الفرن مده 20 دقيقه لتستوي اللحمه و ينشف ماؤها

اقلي البطاطا او اسلقها او اشويها

وزعيها على وجه الصينيه او بين كرات الكفته

اضيفي عصير الليمون للطحينه و حركي حتى تثقل الطحينه

اضيفي الماء و اغلى المزيج مده 5 دقائق ..هذا سيساعد ان تذوب الطحينه و يكون لديكي صلصه ناعمه القوام

صبي الطحينه على وجه الكفته و غطيها بورق قصدير و اعيديها للفرن 20 دقيقه او حتى تثقل الصلصه و تتكثف

قدميها مع الرز او مع الخبز العربي و السلطه

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