Lamb Kofta Kebabs

Ground lamb is mixed with lots of fresh herbs, aromatics, and spices and then grilled on skewers. I like to serve these with pita bread, hummus, tzatziki, harissa or chermoula, and a salad of romaine, cucumbers, and tomatoes with lemon dressing. Brown basmati rice is a great accompaniment as well.

Course Main Dish Recipes

Cuisine Middle Eastern

Keyword kebabs, lamb kebabs, lamb kefta, lamb kofta

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Total Time 30

Calories 505kcal

Author Robin Donovan

Ingredients

1 teaspoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 medium onion chopped
4 garlic cloves
1 cup cilantro
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1½ pounds ground lamb
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Toast the fennel and cumin seeds in a pan just
until starting to brown, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and immediately transfer the seeds to a spice grinder and grind the seeds to a fine powder.
Put the onion, garlic, cilantro, and mint in a food processor and process until very finely chopped.
In a bowl, combine the lamb with the ground fennel and cumin seeds, coriander, salt, pepper, and the finely chopped herb mixture. Stir to mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Wrap the lamb mixture around wooden skewers (about 10 skewers) and grill them, turning every few minutes to cook all sides, over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, until cooked through.

Notes

1. If you don’t have a spice grinder, you can use pre-ground
spices, just reduce the amount to ½ teaspoon of each ground cumin and ground fennel seed. Or you can grind the seeds by hand with a mortar and pestle.

2. You can cook these on an outdoor grill or on a grill pan on the stovetop.

Nutrition