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Lamb kofta stew with Halal lamb

The Good Food team's Lebanese-style lamb kofta stew: Halal lamb and chickpea kofta balls simmered with cauliflower and chickpeas in a tomato sauce made with Halal lamb stock, finished with coriander.

Levantine · Main · Easy · 2 bowls · 75 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 250 g of lamb mince, which is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, and the sauce is made with 500 ml of lamb stock, which is a meat product.

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.
• Lamb stock: Bought lamb stock is a meat product, and the UK's mainstream stock cubes contain uncertified meat or fat. Use a Halal-certified lamb stock or a vegan vegetable stock. See Stock cubes.

Ingredients

Sauce

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 400 g can chopped tomatoes
• 2 tsp tomato purée
• 500 ml hot Halal-certified lamb stock, or vegetable stock
• ½ small cauliflower, in small florets
• ½ × 400 g can chickpeas (save the rest for the kofta)
• ½ bunch coriander leaves, to serve

Kofta

• 250 g Halal minced lamb
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• small pack coriander, finely chopped
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• ½ × 400 g chickpeas from the can above, drained and crushed

Method

1. Start the sauce. Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat and fry the onion for about 10 minutes, until it starts to soften and caramelise. Stir in the garlic for about a minute, then the tomatoes and tomato purée. Season well and pour in 400 ml of the stock. Cover, bring to the boil, then keep at a very low simmer while you make the kofta.
2. Make the kofta. Put all the kofta ingredients in a large bowl and mix with your hands until combined. Roll into golf-ball-sized balls.
3. Simmer. Stir the sauce, drop the kofta on top, then add the cauliflower and the rest of the chickpeas, pushing them just under the liquid. Simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, until the kofta are tender, adding the last 100 ml of stock if needed.
4. Serve. Scatter over the coriander leaves and serve.

Allergens

none

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Lamb kofta stew with cauliflower & chickpeas' by the Good Food team, which describes it as a Lebanese dish (serves 2: a small chopped onion fried about 10 minutes in 2 tsp olive oil until starting to caramelise, a chopped garlic clove 1 minute, a 400 g can of chopped tomatoes and 2 tsp tomato purée, seasoned, 400 ml of 500 ml hot lamb stock, covered and brought to the boil then kept at a very low simmer; kofta of 250 g minced lamb, a small finely chopped onion, a small pack of chopped coriander, ½ tsp each ground cumin and smoked paprika and half a 400 g can of chickpeas, drained and crushed, rolled into golf-ball sizes; the kofta dropped on the sauce with half a small cauliflower in florets and the other half can of chickpeas, simmered 25 to 30 minutes, with the last 100 ml stock if needed; half a bunch of coriander leaves to serve). We specified Halal lamb mince and a Halal-certified lamb stock or a vegetable stock; nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph from our ingredient library: a bowl of soup, not the finished dish from this recipe.