Smashed Beef Koftas with Yogurt Sauce
Recipe video above. This is the best new thing I've found to make with a packet of beef mince! It's a streamlined take on koftas where spiced ground beef is cooked in raggedy chunks rather than threading on skewers. Based on the wildly popular New York Times Cooking's Smashed Beef Kebab With Cucumber Yogurt By Zaynab Issa, it's impressively fast, incredibly delicious, and there's so many ways to serve it! The original recipe is spiced with just turmeric, I wanted more kofta spicing so I used the spice mix from my Lamb Koftas. The smell when it's cooking is amazing!
Servings: 4
Calories: 422cal
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Smashed Beef Kofta Mix:
- 500g / 1 lb beef mince (ground beef) (Note 1)
- 1 large onion , peeled, kept whole
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 2 tsp paprika , sweet/regular
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper , optional (for a bit spicy)
- 1 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, +50% for flakes)
For cooking:
- 1/4 cup walnuts , crumbled into large pieces with your hands - or chopped almonds or pecans
- 2 tbsp dried cranberries or raisins
Cucumber Yogurt Sauce:
- 1 large Lebanese cucumber (Persian cucumbers), about 25cm/10" long
- 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt , full-fat
- 3 tbsp finely sliced mint , plus extra for sprinkling (substitute coriander/cilantro, or 2 tsp dried mint in yogurt sauce)
- 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
For serving:
- 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses (balsamic glaze is an excellent substitute - Note 2)
- Pita bread , warmed
- Extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Cucumber Yogurt Sauce - Grate the cucumber into a bowl using a standard box grater. Add yogurt and mint, mix, then leave on the counter while you make the beef.
- Smashed beef kofta - Grate the onion into a bowl using the same box grater. Add all the remaining kofta ingredients and mix well using your hands.
- Raggedy lumps of meat - Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan over medium high heat. Use your hands to drop chunks of beef into the pan - about 2.5 cm/1" lumps (no need to be accurate), no rolling, just pinch off raggedy lumps. The pan will be full, it's ok, the meat shrinks.
- Brown first side 5 - 7 min - Leave undisturbed and cook for 5 to 7 minutes until the underside is dark golden (beef juices might come out because the pan is crowded but then it will evaporate), all the clumps of beef should be cooked through.
- Add walnuts and cranberries - Flip the beef as best you can (there's lots of pieces so hard to be accurate, it's fine, just do your best) and leave for 1 minute to get a bit of colour on that side. Add the walnuts and cranberries then gently stir for another 1 minute. Remove from the stove.
- Salt - Add the salt into the yogurt sauce and mix.
- Serve - Spread the yogurt sauce on a large plate, or in 4 individual bowls. Spoon the beef over, drizzle with pomegranate molasses, olive oil, scatter with mint and serve with warm pita bread on the side.
- How to eat - The idea here is to use the pita bread to scoop yogurt and beef straight off the plate, or you can stuff inside pita pockets! You could also make wraps and add tomato, shredded lettuce, and onion, or make rice bowls with basmati rice and chopped tomatoes on the side.
Notes
1. Meat - This is equally delicious with lamb. Chicken and turkey also work though the meat is not as juicy as they are leaner.
2. Pomegranate molasses is a thick, tangy syrup made from reduced pomegranate juice, with a lovely sweet-sour flavour. This really elevates this dish as a finishing touch so try not to skip it! Balsamic glaze is an excellent substitute.
Leftovers will keep for 3 days. If you can, keep the yogurt and beef separate. The beef can be frozen but I don't recommend it for the yogurt sauce.
Nutrition per serving, assuming 4 servings (beef and yogurt).
Nutrition
Calories: 422cal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 93mg | Sodium: 1003mg | Potassium: 789mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 731IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 179mg | Iron: 4mg