Herb koftas with warm yoghurt sauce
Sabrina Ghayour’s herb-packed lamb koftas from Saturday Kitchen make a great addition to a Middle Eastern mezze spread. Serve them with spiced butternut and black rice salad and mama ghanoush dip.
Ingredients
- 500g/1lb 2oz lamb mince
- 6 spring onions, thinly sliced from root to tip
- 2 large garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 heaped tsp pul biber chilli flakes (Aleppo pepper)
- 1 heaped tsp paprika
- 1 heaped tsp dried mint
- 30g/1oz fresh flatleaf parsley, finely chopped
- 30g/1oz fresh dill, finely chopped
- ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- vegetable oil, for frying
- 250g/9oz Greek-style yoghurt
- sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
For the spiced mint butter
- 50g/1¾oz unsalted butter
- 1 tsp dried mint
- 1 tsp pul biber chilli flakes (Aleppo pepper)
Method
Put the lamb, two-thirds of the spring onions, garlic, spices, dried mint, fresh herbs (reserving some to garnish) and bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl and season very generously with salt and pepper. Use your hands to work the ingredients together really well until you have an evenly combined smooth paste, then roll the mixture into 35–40 balls.
Heat a drizzle of oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Line a plate with a double layer of kitchen paper. Once the pan is hot, add the meatballs and fry on one side for 3–4 minutes, then turn and fry on the other side for 3–4 minutes before shaking the pan to finish frying the other sides. You can cook them in batches to make this easier and avoid overcrowding the pan.
Meanwhile, put the yoghurt into a saucepan, season with salt and pepper and heat gently (to avoid curdling) until hot, then remove from the heat.
Melt the butter with the dried mint and pul biber chilli flakes in a separate small saucepan.
Once the meatballs are cooked, transfer to the paper-lined plate to drain, then place them on a platter, pour over the yoghurt and drizzle with the melted butter. Scatter with the reserved spring onions and chopped herbs to serve.
