Stephen King of Uisge restaurant in Murthly brings a recipe for one of his favourite barbecue dishes.
After a couple of weeks of glorious weather that took its time to appear and the slight easing of restrictions for outside gatherings, it’s definitely time to get the barbecue out.
Everyone has their favourites for the barbecue, usually burgers, sausages and chicken, maybe a corn on the cob or grilled halloumi, but often lamb is forgotten about as a barbecue staple.
I highly recommend adding lamb to your barbecue repertoire, whether that is in the form of lamb cutlets, leg steak, burgers or koftas. While my favourite has to be a lamb cutlet, a good kofta is a close second. It’s something you can play about with and adjust the seasoning and spices until you find your favourite flavours.
Koftas are as easy as making your own burgers and served with a lightly toasted pitta bread and a nice Tzatziki will quickly become a favourite. Here is my take on lamb kofta but don’t be afraid to change up some of the spices to suit your pallet.
Lamb koftas
Serves 10 as a side or 6 as a main
Ingredients
- 1kg lamb mince (purchasing this from your butcher will mean it is leaner and fuller in flavour)
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 tbsp mint sauce
- 8-10 fresh mint leaves, finely shredded
- 2 scotch bonnets (optional but I love the added heat), finely diced
- Good pinch of salt and pepper
Method
- Simply add all ingredients into a large mixing bowl and give it a really good mix with your hands to ensure all the spices are well incorporated.
- If you are substituting coriander and cumin powder with seeds you will get a stronger flavour so toast them off in a dry pan then grind in a pestle and mortar before adding to the mix.
- Shape the kofta to whichever shape you like, whether it’s like a burger patty or on skewers. Personally I like to roll them tightly in cling film into cylindrical shape.
- Once you have shaped it put it in the fridge for an hour to help keep its shape while cooking, this can be done the day before.
- Lightly drizzle with oil before putting on the grill and allow a couple of minutes on each side to get a nice chargrill then turn regularly until fully cooked, slice and serve with pitta and tzatziki.
- A quick easy tzatziki takes minutes, simply half and deseed a cucumber and finely grate, squeeze as much liquid out as possible then add to some Greek yoghurt and some shredded mint.
