Halal-conscious recipe
Koftet roz with Halal beef
Soha Darwish's koftet roz: Halal beef mince and ground rice blended with onion, garlic, parsley, coriander, dill and baharat, deep-fried, then simmered in tomato sauce and served with rice.
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.
Photo: Kim Scarborough · CC BY-SA 2.5
Why Halal checks matter here
The kofta are made from 500 g of beef mince, which is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal.
Koftet roz are kofta of beef mince bound with ground rice and a blended paste of onion, garlic, parsley, coriander, dill and baharat. They are deep-fried until golden, then simmered in a thin tomato sauce that thickens as they cook through. The source calls it a popular Egyptian dish and an epitome of Egyptian comfort food. The beef is the only thing to check: it needs to come from a Halal butcher or a certified pack.
It follows Soha Darwish's koftet roz for BBC Good Food, which serves four. Shape the kofta with oiled hands, at about 50 g each.
Serve hot with white rice and the rest of the dill on top. Cooled leftovers freeze for up to two months.
Halal-critical ingredients
- Beef mince Beef 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 Beef.
Safe substitutes
- Beef mince of unknown slaughter → Halal beef mince
Allergens
none
Ingredients
Kofta
- 1 large onion, grated
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 50 g parsley, finely chopped
- 50 g coriander, finely chopped
- 40 g dill, finely chopped (keep a little to serve)
- ½ tsp chilli powder (optional)
- 1 tsp Arabic mixed spice, such as baharat
- 500 g Halal beef mince
- 100 g ground rice
- about 500 ml sunflower oil, for deep-frying, plus extra for shaping
Tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 large garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 500 ml tomato passata
- 500 ml water
- to serve cooked white rice
Method
- Make the kofta mix. Blend the onion, garlic, parsley, coriander, most of the dill and the spices in a food processor until smooth. Tip into a bowl, add the beef and ground rice, and mix with your hands until well combined.
- Shape. Oil your hands and shape the mixture into small meatballs or medium logs of about 50 g each.
- Deep-fry. Heat about 500 ml sunflower oil in a large, deep frying pan until a cube of bread browns in 30 seconds. Deep-fry the kofta for a few minutes until crisp and golden, in batches and always covered by the oil; they finish cooking in the sauce. Drain on kitchen paper and leave to cool.
- Make the sauce. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the garlic. Stir in the tomato purée for a couple of minutes, then pour in the passata and 500 ml water. It will look thin but thickens with the kofta. Season and bring to the boil.
- Simmer and serve. Add the kofta, turn down to a simmer and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, turning them halfway, until cooked through and the sauce has thickened slightly. Check the seasoning, scatter over the rest of the dill and serve hot with rice. Cooled leftovers freeze for two months; defrost fully and reheat until piping hot.
How this recipe was researched
Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Soha's koftet roz (Egyptian rice meatballs)' by Soha Darwish, which calls it a popular Egyptian dish and an epitome of Egyptian comfort food (serves 4: a large grated onion, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 50 g each finely chopped parsley and coriander, most of 40 g chopped dill, ½ tsp chilli powder (optional) and 1 tsp Arabic mixed spice such as baharat blended smooth, then mixed by hand with 500 g beef mince and 100 g ground rice; shaped with oiled hands into meatballs or logs of about 50 g; deep-fried a few minutes in about 500 ml sunflower oil hot enough to brown a bread cube in 30 seconds, in batches, kept covered by the oil, drained and cooled; sauce of a crushed large garlic clove in 2 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp tomato purée stirred a couple of minutes, 500 ml passata and 500 ml water, seasoned and boiled; the kofta simmered in it 15 to 20 minutes, turned halfway, until cooked through and the sauce slightly thickened; finished with the rest of the dill and served with white rice; freezes for two months). We specified Halal beef mince; nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.
Technique and ingredient sources
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Soha's koftet roz (Egyptian rice meatballs) — BBC Good Food
Retrieved:
By Soha Darwish, described as a popular Egyptian dish. Serves 4, prep 30 minutes, cook 25 minutes: beef and ground rice kofta with blended onion, garlic, herbs and baharat, deep-fried until golden, then simmered 15 to 20 minutes in a tomato sauce. We specified Halal beef.
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Beef analysis — isithalal.food
Retrieved:
What makes beef Halal: the slaughter.