Kebab, kabob, kofta – whatever you call this, it’s fragrant, it’s exotic, and it’s fantastic for midweek because it’s something different but so easy and fast to make. And perfect for summer grilling! These Lamb Kofta Kebabs are adapted from a recipe by Efendy, a popular Turkish restaurant in Balmain, Sydney.
Serve these with store bought or homemade Flatbreads and a side of Pilaf or a spiced Middle Eastern Lentil Rice would be wonderfully on theme!
Turkish Lamb Kofta Kebabs
I was watching the latest Food Safari series called Fire the other night which showcases food from around the world cooked over charcoals and in wood fired ovens. I have neither a charcoal grill nor a wood fired pizza oven, but when I saw these Turkish lamb kofta kebabs, I knew straight away that these would be still be fabulous made on the stove or on an ordinary gas BBQ.
I’m really fond of my Middle Eastern Kebabs, but they require more spices than these! So this easy recipe really appealed to me. They really did take 30 minutes to make, from start to finish.
A simple Turkish Spice Mix
The original lamb kofta kebab recipe is made using a combination of veal and lamb mince (ground meat) plus lamb fat. I don’t know about you, but I don’t even know where to get lamb fat here in Sydney!
So to make this midweek, I made a few alterations. I kept the spice mix the same – super simple, just pepper, cumin and red pepper flakes. But I added extra flavour by adding onion and garlic to compensate for the absence of lamb fat.
I know, I know, onion and garlic isn’t the same as lamb fat but they definitely do add extra flavour!!
The original lamb kofta kebab recipe calls for pistachio nuts too, which I included because I happened to have them in my pantry. Only because I visited a Middle Eastern grocery a few weeks before and got overly excited by how cheap the pistachios were!
They definitely add an extra layer of flavour and richness into the lamb kofta kebabs. But these are worth making even if you don’t have pistachios. Truly. – Nagi x
Serve this Lamb Kofta Kebab with…
Yogurt Sauce (recipe below)
Flatbreads (homemade or store bought), shredded lettuce, tomato and onion slices
And/or a pilaf – these will go very well with these Koftas:
Middle Eastern Lentil Rice Pilaf (Mejadra – one of my personal favourites!)
And another Turkish street food favourite – Gozleme!
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Turkish Lamb Kofta Kebabs
Ingredients
Kebabs
- 1 lb / 500g lamb mince (ground lamb) (or substitute with beef)
- 1 small onion , grated or minced using a food processor – about 1/4 cup (white, brown or yellow) (Note 1)
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1/4 cup pistachio nuts , ground (Optional. I use my food processor) (Note 2)
- 3/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, +50% for salt flakes)
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp cumin powder
- 1 tbsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Yoghurt Sauce
- 3/4 cup plain yoghurt (I use Greek)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 garlic clove , minced
- Salt and pepper
To Serve
- Pita bread or lebanese flat bread , warmed
- Lettuce leaves of choice
- Sliced tomato
- Sliced red onion
Instructions
- Mix together Yoghurt Sauce ingredients and place in the refrigerator to allow the flavours to develop.
- Place the Kebab ingredients except the oil in a bowl and use your hands to just combine (don’t over mix).
- Divide into 8 portions and mould onto skewers.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add skewers (I could fit all in, placing them in alternating directions) and cook for 8 minutes, turning to brown all sides.
- Meanwhile, slice tomatoes and red onion.
- Serve kebabs with pita bread, lettuce, tomatoes, red onion and yoghurt sauce on the side. Wedges of lemon are also a great accompaniment.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
When yogurt got flung on his nose…
Hi Nagi
We had these for dinner tonight. I had a tin of Pistachio Dukkah in the pantry so I threw that through the mixture too. Also made it with beef as that’s what I had in the fridge. They were absolutely delicious and very moist too. I served with thinly sliced red onion, coriander, our garden grown tomatoes, your yoghurt sauce AND your flatbread! Which we’ve made many times. The whole family loved it. Thanks for another winning recipe x
Oooh! You made this with my flatbread too??? I’m so glad you enjoyed this Vanessa! Dukkah is a fab addition 🙂 And I make this with beef too!!
Yes I sure did – it’s a fab recipe which I’ve shared with my work friends and they love it too-I always double the recipe as 8 is not enough!
Yummy! I love the addition of pistachio nuts in Kebabs. Looks so good with the yogurt sauce!
Thanks Holly! The pistachios definitely add that little extra something to this! <3
Wow, I need to seriously stop droooling over the pix to get to the recipe.. the kebab look so inviting from the screen that I am almost opening my mouth and reaching my hand out to the screen to pick one.. why hasnt technology advanced as much as yet.. duh!!1
Seriously Fareeha, I don’t know WHAT those tech boys are doing, how have they not solved virtual food yet so we can do that for each other??
Absolute winner. …so much nicer than any other recipes i have done. Family requesting it as a standard weekly.
Oh wow Lucilla, thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed this and you made it so QUICKLY after I published it! ? Thank you! Can’t tell you how happy it makes me! N x
You knew I’d have to stop by and comment, right?
Lovely, that first pic is HEAVEN on a stick! Glistening and drizzled on, it’s mouth watering.
LOVE Middle Eastern and you nailed it! 🙂
BA HA!!! I did think of you when I hit PUBLISH!! <3
Pistachios really add great taste! Love Kebabs in all forms. There are tons of Persian restaurants in ME groceries around me so would not think to make it myself but I should, your look amazing!
Thanks Evelyne! So jealous you have so many Persian restaurants around you?
These kebabs sounds awesome! Love the addition of the pistachios!
Thanks Sabrina!! N x
Hi Nagi, I receive your updates.
I am from Iran, and, of course we claim the Kabob as Persian.
Recently, my Lebanese friend prepared what his mom used to make for their family.
No pistachios. Instead, cilantro and curly parsley added to the mince. Super delicious.
BA HA HA! I love that! It’s like in Australia, we claim pavlova as ours but New Zealander’s are always trying to claim it as theirs! 🙂 Oooh, I’d love to get a good Persian Kebob recipe 🙂
Here is a very common Persian kabob recipe for about 10 kebobs.
The wide metal skewers and real charcoal make a good difference.
Enjoy,
Paul
Mix 1 lb ground beef 80% + 1 lb ground lamb.
Shred 2 medium onions and squeeze out most of the juice and discard. Keep
the onion pulp.
Add 3 minced garlic cloves + 1 tsp salt + 1 tsp sumac + 1 tsp black pepper
+ 1 tsp turmeric + 1 egg.
Mix with hand for a minute or two to mix well and does not fall apart.
Skewer to 1 inch wide metal skewers. If you do not have the skewers, make
it into 1″ x 10″ roll.
Once the meat is on the skewers, we use our index and middle fingers to
place ridges on the skewered meat. Wet your hand while you skewer the meat.
Grill and enjoy. Use ¼ cup melted butter, melted to brush over the kabobs
after grilling.
Ooooh, thank you Paul!! The sumac and turmeric is very specific to this recipe and would be very delicious! Mind if I share this on my blog some time down the track? All credit to YOU!! <3 PS Love the addition of melted butter too. And is it traditionally served with flatbreads, tomato, onion etc? What type of sauce do you typically use? I've excited to try this! N x
1. No need to credit me, thank you though. This is a very common recipe from my Uncle as well as my mom.
2. White rice or Dill rice goes very well.
3. Of course, some lavash to put the kabobs on while the meat rests. We all fought for the lavash with all the drippings on it.
Here are some side dishes that are generally served at the Iranian table (called a Sofreh)
4. Yogurt mixed with diced cucumber, salt/pepper and dry mint.
5. Usual greens on a platter — radishes (with the green leaves on), scallions, some cilantro and watercress.
6. Some people like to add a bit more sumac to their rice after they plate their rice and kabob.
7. A mixture known as Torshi — a combination of pickled garlic and eggplant and some other veg. — I am not sure what all goes in it.
Paul
I’ve filed this away to use soon! Thank you Paul!
Sounds like a perfect family weeknight dish! I have a few questions (thinking about how this could be further simplified for the lazy among us :-).
Why wouldn’t one use a food processor instead of a grater for the onions? With the grater, is there a trick to minimize tears? 🙂 Finally, could these be baked or broiled instead of fried?
Thank you so much! You’ve been my best friend in the kitchen for months now!
Great questions Julia! Food processor will work better and definitely avoid the tears! Plus the pistachios are ground in the food processor too. Duh – why didn’t I think of that? I’ll update the recipe, thank you!! As for avoiding tears….now the thing is, I wear contacts so I don’t get onion tears!!! And YES these can be broiled but you’ll need to use metal skewers or soak them in water for 30 minutes. OR just don’t use the skewers – the skewer is taken out to eat anyway!!!
This sounds YUMMY. LOVE kefta/kofta/kabobs/whatever you want to call it! So many wonderful flavors. Ground beef works well, too, if you can’t get lamb.
Why didn’t I put that tip in? THANKS BARB! Updating the recipe for that tip!
Nothing to say except YUMMO DIDDLY O. ; ))
BA HA HA!!! (I think I may have said that too when I munched these down???!!)
Hi Nagi! I am a big fan of lamb, but it is sometimes hard to find here. Next time I see it I’m definitely going to make these!! And Yes to the pistachios! I make a country pate and I always put them in it for added flavor and texture and of course I wrap it in bacon! I don’t follow a recipe, I just wing it with whatever I have on hand so it never comes out quite the same, but always the nuts and bacon. 🙂
OOOOH! I bet you make a mean pate! It’s been ages since I made pate, I have to make it again! You wrap the pate in bacon?? I’ve never tried that, my pate is always in pots!
Hi Nagi! I always pot my smooth pate, but with a coarse county pate I make it kind of like a meatloaf. I line the loaf pan with bacon overhanging and then I put the meat, veg and whatever else I have mixed together into the pan and wrap the overhanging bacon over the top. I usually bake it in a water bath at a low temp, let it cool and slice it to serve. It works for me! 🙂
Oooh……I think it would work for me too…..?
I must say pistachios sound like such a great addition to a kofta!
They really make a difference! 🙂 I think that’s the secret to this recipe even though it has so few spices compared to other Middle Eastern kaftan! 🙂