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Iraqi lamb kofta kebabs with Halal lamb

Riyadh Khalaf's Iraqi kofta kebabs: Halal lamb mince blitzed with garlic, ginger, shallots, herbs, cumin, coriander and cinnamon, grilled on skewers and served over roast aubergines with harissa butter.

Iraqi · Main · Easy · 6 portions · 85 min

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

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Why Halal checks matter here

The kofta are made from 500 g of lamb mince, which is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal.

Halal-critical ingredients

• Lamb mince: Lamb is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, and mince without a Halal mark doesn't say how the animal was slaughtered. Buy the mince from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Lamb.

Ingredients

Aubergines

• 6 baby aubergines
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 75 g butter
• 2 tbsp harissa

Kofta

• 3 garlic cloves, crushed or grated
• thumb-sized piece ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 2 shallots, roughly chopped
• small handful parsley, roughly chopped
• 2 mint sprigs, leaves picked and chopped
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 500 g Halal lamb mince
• 1 tbsp chopped coriander
• 2 tbsp pomegranate seeds
• optional hummus, fattoush, flatbreads and tzatziki, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Roast the aubergines. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, gas 4). Halve the aubergines lengthways and score the flesh crosswise without cutting through. Mix the oil and cumin with some seasoning, brush it over and roast for 45 minutes, until soft. Move to a platter.
2. Make the harissa butter. Melt the butter in a small pan, fry the harissa with a pinch of salt for a few minutes and drizzle over the aubergines.
3. Make the kofta mix. Meanwhile, blitz the garlic, ginger, shallots, parsley, half the mint, the cumin, coriander, cinnamon, tomato purée and 1 tsp each of salt and black pepper in a food processor for about 30 seconds, until finely chopped. Stir it through the lamb in a large bowl until well combined. If using bamboo skewers, soak them for 15 minutes.
4. Shape on skewers. Form rough handfuls of the lamb into balls, thread them onto the skewers and roll each in your hands into an egg shape.
5. Grill and serve. Heat the grill to high and cook the kofta for about 6 minutes, then turn and cook for 6 minutes more, until cooked through. Lay them on the aubergines and scatter over the rest of the mint, the coriander and the pomegranate seeds. Serve with hummus, fattoush, flatbreads and tzatziki, if you like.

Allergens

milk (butter)

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Iraqi lamb kofta kebabs' by Riyadh Khalaf (serves 6: 6 baby aubergines halved lengthways and scored, brushed with 4 tbsp olive oil mixed with 2 tsp ground cumin and seasoning, roasted 45 minutes at 180°C (160°C fan, gas 4); 2 tbsp harissa fried a few minutes in 75 g melted butter with a pinch of salt and drizzled over; 3 crushed garlic cloves, a thumb of grated ginger, 2 roughly chopped shallots, a small handful of parsley, half the leaves of 2 mint sprigs, 2 tsp each ground cumin and coriander, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tbsp tomato purée and 1 tsp each salt and black pepper blitzed about 30 seconds; mixed into 500 g lamb mince; bamboo skewers soaked 15 minutes if used; handfuls of the mix threaded on and shaped into eggs; grilled on high about 6 minutes a side; served on the aubergines with the rest of the mint, 1 tbsp chopped coriander and 2 tbsp pomegranate seeds, with optional hummus, fattoush, flatbreads and tzatziki). We specified Halal lamb mince; nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph of seekh kebabs from Wikimedia Commons, not the finished dish from this recipe.