isithalal.food · Recipes

Moroccan kofte with spicy tomato sauce

Mary Cadogan's Moroccan kofte: Halal minced lamb with red onion, coriander and mint shaped onto skewers, grilled and served on a harissa tomato sauce with Greek yogurt and toasted pine nuts.

Moroccan · Main · Easy · 8 kofte · 45 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 kofte are a 500 g pack of minced lamb, which is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, and the Greek yogurt drizzled over needs a gelatin check.

Halal-critical ingredients

• Minced lamb: 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.
• Greek yogurt: Plain yogurt is milk fermented with cultures, but gelatin turns up in set, low-fat and dessert yogurts. Choose a yogurt with no gelatin on the label. See Yogurt.

Ingredients

Kofte

• 500 g pack Halal minced lamb
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp chopped mint
• 8 wooden skewers

Sauce and to serve

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 2 × 400 g cans chopped tomatoes
• 1–2 tsp harissa
• 1 tsp sugar
• 200 g tub Greek yogurt (no gelatine)
• 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
• to serve pittas or couscous

Method

1. Soak the skewers. Soak 8 wooden skewers in water for 20 minutes so they don't burn.
2. Shape the kofte. Mix the lamb with the onion, coriander, mint and plenty of seasoning using your hands. Shape into 8 sausages about 10 cm long and thread a skewer through the centre of each.
3. Make the sauce. Heat the oil in a pan and briefly fry the garlic. Add the tomatoes, harissa, sugar and seasoning and simmer uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes until thickened.
4. Grill and serve. Grill the kofte for 6 to 8 minutes, turning, until nicely browned, taking care not to burn the skewers. Spoon the sauce over a warm platter, drizzle over the yogurt, lay the kofte on top and scatter with pine nuts. Serve with pittas or couscous.

Allergens

milk (yogurt), pine nuts

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Moroccan kofte with spicy tomato sauce' by Mary Cadogan (serves 4: 8 wooden skewers soaked 20 minutes; a 500 g pack of minced lamb mixed by hand with a small finely chopped red onion, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tbsp chopped mint and plenty of seasoning, shaped into 8 sausages about 10 cm long and threaded onto the skewers; sauce of a finely chopped garlic clove briefly fried in 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 × 400 g cans chopped tomatoes, 1 to 2 tsp harissa, 1 tsp sugar and seasoning simmered uncovered 15 to 20 minutes until thick; the kofte grilled 6 to 8 minutes, turning, until browned; the sauce spooned onto a warm platter, a 200 g tub of Greek yogurt drizzled over, the kofte on top and 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts scattered; served with pittas or couscous). We specified Halal minced lamb and flagged the yogurt's label; 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.