Kufta dish is traditional for Middle Eastern culinary. It is especially popular in Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia. But, since the recipe for these meat balls has spread around the world from South Asia to the Balkans, at present there are a lot of regional varieties of meatballs. Only in one Turkey recorded 291 ways of how to cook kyufta. And in Bengal, this dish is completely vegetarian. It is made from rice, vegetables and fruits. In this article we will give recipes for Azerbaijani, Armenian, Persian cutlets.
What is kufte?
This dish is first found in ancient cookbooks in Arabic. Now it’s hard to say where the Kufta recipe was born. According to etymology, it answers kūfta in Farsi - “grind”, “chop”. So the ancient recipe suggested doing with the meat of a young lamb. The dish was probably invented by the Seljuks, who conquered the Byzantine Empire. Ottoman Turks ennobled the recipe by adding spices to the meat and - the main highlight - saffron. The peoples of the countries won by the “Brilliant Porta” adopted the traditional recipe, adapting it to their tastes and ordinary products. So even Ukrainian pork sicheniki appeared. And in Russia, a similar dish is called meatballs. Kufta is also popular in Central Asia.
Kufthe Hulu
The phrase koofteh hulu literally translates to "peach meatballs." But with fruit, meat balls are only related in size. That is, each meatball should resemble a small peach in shape. But the sweetness in this dish is undoubtedly felt. It is given to meat with raisins and young carrots. It is believed that this particular Kufta recipe is the most authentic, giving rise to later variations. Chop the onion finely and spassage to a golden hue. Sodium 450 g carrots. Add half a glass of raisins to the onion, salt and fry for several minutes. Rub the second onion and knead it with an egg, a pinch of turmeric and a spoonful of chickpea flour. Add 450 g of finely chopped meat - beef or turkey. Beat the mass thoroughly. All components of the mixture should combine, and the meat should completely lose its veins. If the mass remains sticky - add more flour from Turkish peas. Take a handful of this stuffing. We blind the meatball. With a finger we will make a depression in the ball, where we put a spoon of the filling - onion with raisins. Seal the hole. So do with all the stuffing, laying the meatballs on baking paper. Dilute in a pan three glasses of water with 100 g of sugar and a large spoon of salt. In this solution, bring the carrots to a boil. In vegetable oil, fry the kuft to a brown crust. As soon as the water boils, fill it with meatballs.
Iranian Kufta: cooking nanaw dagh sauce
The secret of the dish is in its refreshing gravy. We put a spoonful of oil in the pan and the same amount of dried mint. It is necessary to let the dish soak in its smell. Now add the onion with raisins remaining from the stuffing of the kuft. Cover and simmer over low heat for half an hour. Then pour a third of a glass of lime or lemon juice into the pan and cook for another ten minutes. Further, the Kufta recipe in Iranian offers us to fish meatballs on a dish. If the sauce left in the pan is too thin, bring it to the desired density with the help of Turkish pea flour . Fill them with meatballs and serve.
Azerbaijan Kufta
We start preparing the dish ahead of time. Soak overnight one hundred grams of Turkish peas. Then we wash it, pour fresh water and set to boil. We cut the lamb (400 g) into small pieces. Lazy people can pass it through a meat grinder along with an onion. We wash half a glass of rice, add to the meat with a teaspoon of mint, a pinch of pepper and salt. From this stuffing we form meatballs the size of a tennis ball. As the filling, put the soaked dried apricots inside. When the chickpeas are completely cooked, add meatballs and two large chopped potatoes to the pan. There should be enough water so that the Azerbaijani kufta is cooked, not fried. Cook until soft potatoes. Meatballs should come up by this time. Pour a pinch of saffron with boiling water, let it brew. Add it to the broth. When serving, sprinkle the dish with cilantro.
Kufta Bozbash in Azerbaijani
This dish can be safely called "three in one": soup, meat and side dish. Soak chickpeas (200 g) overnight. Lamb brisket (about 200 g) and onion are poured with one and a half liters of water and put on a big fire. When it boils, remove the foam and put the Turkish peas. We continue to cook on low heat for about an hour. Salt the broth and filter. In parallel, a pinch of saffron is steamed. Soak two tablespoons of rice in cold water for an hour. Half a kilo of lamb and 130 g of chicken tail are passed through a meat grinder along with onions. Season the minced meat with salt and spices, add raw rice and a spoonful of turmeric. We take mass in hands and with effort we throw about a table-top. This procedure causes air bubbles to leave the meat. We put the mass in the refrigerator for an hour and a half. Four plums cut into small pieces. Using wet hands, we form a bozbash kufta, in Azerbaijan - “large meatballs”. We start them with a slice of plum. We put meatballs in the broth. Do not interfere with the first five minutes, but only move the pan. Cook for a quarter of an hour over low heat under a lid. Then we throw into the pan three chopped large potatoes. Add saffron to the broth. Pre marinate two Govsan bulbs (or shallots) in wine vinegar. Put the kufta, brisket, potatoes, chickpeas in a deep bowl. Pour strained broth. Sprinkle with dried mint and sumac. Separately, with the tortilla we serve pickled onions.
Kufta armenian
This is perhaps the most original meatball recipe. Indeed, the Armenian kyufta is prepared not from lamb, but from beef, and even better - from a kilogram of pulp of first-class veal. The tenderloin needs to be divided into layers and carefully beat off. The original recipe prescribes to do this on a stone table with a wooden hammer. The result should be a viscous stuffed mixture without streaks. Mix milk (three quarters of a glass) with two tablespoons of flour, one egg, a pinch of salt and spices and beat thoroughly. We carefully chop two onions. We introduce them into the minced meat, as well as the milkshake. For flavor, add another glass of Armenian cognac. Knead it all until smooth. We roll balls from this mass. Kufta is smaller than its “sisters” (Persian and Azerbaijani), the size of a ping-pong ball. We put a pot of water on the fire. Salt it. Dip meatballs in cold water. After boiling, cook for about half an hour. Catch with a slotted spoon, transfer to a dish, pour with melted butter, sprinkle with chopped herbs.
Turkish kyufta
Half a kilo of ground meat is kneaded with two grated potatoes, chopped onion and chopped herbs. We drive in an egg. Mix, salt and pepper. We form cutlets. Bread them in breadcrumbs and deep-fry until appetizing. This Turkish Kufta recipe spawned our Slavic patties.