Kufta - 5 recipes for Armenian, Azerbaijani, Turkish kufta

Kufta is an oriental meat dish. It turns out to be very tender and tasty. We offer you options for preparing this dish in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey. And also a recipe using beef and chicken.

Armenian kufta - a classic recipe

For cooking, you need beef without fat and tendons. It is passed through a meat grinder several times. Onion, milk and cognac are added to the minced meat. Then balls are molded and boiled. The result is a very delicate dish served with ghee.

Cooking time: 30 min.

Cooking time: 30 min.

Servings - 16.

• 
  Beef must be very finely chopped to a state of gruel. Previously, this was done with stones, but now we use a meat grinder or a combine. We pass the meat through a meat grinder about 5-6 times. While chopping the meat, add the milk. As soon as the minced meat has become homogeneous, add onion, egg, brandy, pepper and salt to it.
• 
  Next, mix everything thoroughly for 20 minutes. You should get a homogeneous thick mass.
• 
  We take a saucepan in which we will cook the kyufta and pour water into it. We put on fire and add salt. Divide the finished minced meat into 4 parts, then divide each part by the same amount, and sculpt balls from it. Now we put them in boiling water.
• 
  We cook the kyufta for about 30 minutes, periodically removing the foam.
• 
  When the dish is ready, remove the balls from the water and cut into slices.
• 
  It is better to serve kyufta immediately with ghee.

Bon Appetit!

How to cook delicious Azerbaijani kufta bozbash?

This dish is a soup based on lamb meatballs with a slice of plum inside. It also includes potatoes, chickpeas and spices such as saffron, turmeric, mint and sumac.

Cooking time: 40 min.

Cooking time: 2 hours.

Servings - 10.

Ingredients:

• Lamb - 500 gr.
• Lamb loin - 200 gr.
• Fat tail fat - 130 gr.
• Bulb onions - 180 gr.
• Potatoes - 3 pcs.
• Chickpeas - 200 gr.
• Rice - 30 gr.
• Plum - 4 pcs.
• Shallots - 4 pcs.
• Saffron - 1 pinch
• Wine vinegar - 50 ml.
• Turmeric - 1 tablespoon
• Water - 1.5 l.
• Ground black pepper - to taste.
• Salt to taste.
• Dried mint - to taste.
• Sumac seasoning - to taste.

Cooking process:

1. Before cooking, soak the chickpeas in water overnight. Take a deep saucepan and put some of the lamb, chickpeas and onion in it. Pour water and put on a high fire. We remove the foam that appears. When the broth boils, reduce the heat to low and cover the pan with a lid. We continue to cook for an hour. Remove the foam from time to time. While the broth is cooking, put a bowl near the stove, in which we soak the saffron. Strain the finished broth through cheesecloth or a sieve.
2. We wash the rest of the mutton and fat tail fat under water. Peel the onion and cut into large pieces. We pass meat, fat and onions through a meat grinder. We also soak the rice in advance. We drain the water from it and send it to the minced meat. Add salt and pepper. Mix everything thoroughly and put in the refrigerator for 30-50 minutes.
3. After the required time, we take the minced meat out of the refrigerator and divide it into equal parts. We sculpt big balls. It should be about the size of your palm.Press them a little against the table and make a hole in the center with your finger. We put a piece of plum there.
4. We close the hole for the plum and roll it in our hands so that we get balls again.
5. Take one ladle of broth from the pan and pour it into a separate container. Add turmeric there and mix everything thoroughly. We send the contents of the container to the pan. Now we put one meatballs there. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove the resulting foam, cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. We peel the potatoes and, without cutting, put them in a saucepan. We filter the resulting saffron water and add to the broth. We continue to cook for a few more minutes and remove from heat.
6. We clean the shallots and cut into 2 parts. Marinate it in wine vinegar for 10 minutes.
7. Strain the broth again before serving. Put one ready-made minced meat ball, potatoes and some chickpeas in each plate. Fill everything with broth and sprinkle with dried mint or any other herbs. Bon Appetit!

Step-by-step recipe for Turkish minced beef kufta

This cooking option is most reminiscent of cutlets. The main difference is the mineral water in which paprika, pepper, oregano, cumin and salt are mixed. The kufta is fried in a grill pan without oil.

Cooking time: 30 min.

Cooking time: 20 min.

Servings - 10.

Ingredients:

• Minced beef - 900 gr.
• Beef fat - 300 gr.
• Crushed white crackers - 100 gr.
• Eggs - 1 pc.
• Bulb onions - 2 pcs.
• Hot pepper - 1 pc.
• Garlic - 5 cloves.
• Ground red paprika - ½ tbsp.
• Ground black pepper - ½ tbsp.
• Oregano - 1 tsp
• Cumin 1 tsp
• Salt - ½ tablespoon
• Fresh parsley - 50 gr.
• Fresh mint - 30 gr.
• Highly carbonated mineral water - 100 ml.

Cooking process:

1. Peel the onion and rub it on a coarse grater. Squeeze through cheesecloth or a sieve to remove the juice.
2. Pour the mineral water into a suitable container and add salt, oregano, cumin, ground red paprika and black pepper to it. We mix everything.
3. Hot peppers, garlic, fresh parsley and mint are washed under water and chopped.
4. We move the ground beef into a separate container, add the beef fat to it and mix them well with each other. Next, add the onion, crackers and one egg. Knead the minced meat like dough. After about 3 minutes, gradually pour in the mineral water with spices. Then add finely chopped hot peppers, garlic, mint and parsley.
5. Now we begin to sculpt blanks similar to cutlets from minced meat. To do this, wet your hands in cold water. They should be flat and about three times smaller than regular cutlets.
6. Preheat the grill pan without using oil. If there is none, then we use the usual one. We spread the minced meat blanks on it and fry on each side for 3 minutes. They should turn out to be rosy.
7. This dish goes well with vegetables. Therefore, if you wish, you can fry any vegetables in the refrigerator in the same pan.
8. The dish is ready to serve. Bon Appetit!

Real homemade beef kyufta

This dish is prepared using beef, onions, eggs, flour, black pepper, salt and butter. The balls are very juicy and satisfying. The main thing is to choose fresh beef, and then this dish will definitely surprise you.  

Cooking time: 30 min.

Cooking time: 30 min.

Servings - 2.

Ingredients:

• Beef - 1 kg.
• Bulb onions - 1 pc.
• Eggs - 2 pcs.
• Flour - 50 gr.
• Salt to taste.
• Black peppercorns - to taste.
• Milk - 200 ml.
• Butter - 80 gr.

Cooking process:

1. We pass fresh beef several times through a meat grinder or grind it with a food processor.
2. Grind black peppercorns in a mortar.
3. Break eggs into the minced meat, pour in milk, add flour and salt with chopped black pepper to taste. Mix everything well.
4. Wash onions, peel and chop with a knife.
5. Add it to the minced meat and mix thoroughly for several minutes like a dough.
6. We divide the dough into equal parts and sculpt large balls, having previously moistened our hands in water. Boil water on the stove and dip the minced meat balls into it.Cook for half an hour over medium heat.
7. We take the finished kyufta out of the water, cut it into slices and serve it to the table while still hot. Pour melted butter on top. Bon Appetit!

A simple and delicious chicken breast kufta recipe

This recipe uses chicken breast. Vodka and cornstarch are also added to the minced meat. It is proposed to cook pilaf from achar for a side dish, but it can be replaced with any other dish.

Cooking time: 20 min.

Cooking time: 30 min.

Servings - 4.

Ingredients:

• Chicken breast - 700 gr.
• Eggs - 1 pc.
• Water - 550 ml.
• Vodka - 30 ml.
• Corn starch - 5 gr.
• Bulb onions - 3 pcs.
• Achar groats - 100 gr.
• Vegetable oil - 50 ml.
• Champignons - 70 gr.
• Cilantro to taste.
• Chili pepper - 1 pc.
• Lavash - 1 pack.
• Salt to taste.
• Mix of 5 peppers to taste.

Cooking process:

1. Cut the chicken breast into small pieces and grind in a mixer. Pour some water into a separate container and salt to taste. Pour this over the chicken breast and add the egg, vodka and a teaspoon of starch. Beat everything until smooth.
2. Transfer the resulting mass to a suitable container. Wash onions, peel and chop. We send it to the minced meat. Add some black pepper. Moisten the hand in cool water and mix the minced meat with the palm of your hand. You should get a very delicate mass. We put it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
3. Pour the achar into a saucepan and fill it with water so that it completely covers the cereal. Cook over low heat until the water has completely evaporated.
4. Heat some vegetable oil in a frying pan. Peel the onion, chop and send it to the pan. Fry until golden brown. Cut the champignons into slices and send them to the onions. Fry until golden brown. Then add salt, pepper and pepper mixture. Put the cooked achar from the stewpan into the pan. Add some more vegetable oil. We continue to cook over low heat, covered for about 15 minutes.
5. We put a pot of water on the fire. When it boils, add salt. We begin to form balls of minced meat, having dipped our hands in cold water before that. Gently dip the balls into a saucepan and cook for 15 minutes.
6. Put the achar with onions and mushrooms on a flat plate. We take the kufta out of the water, cut into slices and put on top of the garnish. For decoration, put hot pepper and a couple of cilantro twigs next to it. Serve the dish with lavash. Bon Appetit!