Koftet Rozz

The rice is crushed into granules rather than ground to powder, which is what holds the meatballs together.

Beef. Not vegetarian — contains beef.

Ingredients

the kofta

• 200 g short-grain rice, soaked 1 hour
• 600 g minced beef
• 1 onion, grated and squeezed dry
• a large bunch of parsley, finely chopped
• a handful of dill, chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

the sauce

• 3 tablespoons tomato purée
• 400 g chopped tomatoes
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 tablespoons ghee
• 900 ml hot stock
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• salt and black pepper

Method

1. THE RICE IS CRUSHED INTO GRANULES RATHER THAN GROUND TO POWDER, which is what holds the meatballs together. Soaked rice is pounded in a mortar or pulsed two or three times until each grain has broken into three or four pieces -- gritty, like coarse semolina, with the pieces still visible. Those granules swell in the sauce and lock into the mince, which is what stops the kofta falling apart in forty minutes of simmering. Ground to flour the rice makes a paste that binds too tightly and the kofta are dense and gluey; left whole the grains swell unevenly and push the meatballs apart from inside.
2. THE RICE GOES IN RAW AND SOAKED, NEVER COOKED. An hour in cold water, drained, then crushed. It cooks in the sauce over forty minutes, taking up the tomato as it goes, which is where the kofta get their flavour. Pre-cooked rice turns to paste.
3. THE ONION IS GRATED AND SQUEEZED DRY. Any water in the mixture loosens it and the kofta slump when they are shaped. Wrung out in the hands until nothing more comes.
4. THE MIXTURE IS WORKED HARD AND THEN CHILLED. Kneaded for five minutes until it is sticky and homogeneous, then half an hour in the fridge. Both steps are about keeping the kofta whole: working develops the protein that binds, chilling firms the fat so they can be rolled.
5. THEY ARE POACHED IN THE SAUCE AND NOT FRIED FIRST. Lowered raw into the simmering tomato. Browning them first seals the surface and the rice inside then cannot take up the sauce -- the whole point of the dish is rice that has swollen in tomato.
6. THEY ARE NOT STIRRED FOR THE FIRST TEN MINUTES. Lowered in, left alone until the outsides have set, and only then the pan shaken gently. Stirred early they break up and the sauce becomes a mince ragù with rice in it.
7. The rice soaked 1 HOUR in cold water, then drained and CRUSHED to GRANULES -- gritty, pieces still visible. Not powder.
8. The crushed rice, mince, SQUEEZED grated onion, parsley, dill, allspice, cinnamon and seasoning KNEADED HARD 5 MINUTES until sticky.
9. Covered and CHILLED 30 MINUTES.
10. THE SAUCE: the ghee heated, the onion softened 8 MINUTES, the garlic in for 1 MINUTE, the purée fried 2 MINUTES.
11. The chopped tomatoes, coriander and stock added and brought to a simmer. Seasoned.
12. The mixture rolled into balls the size of a small egg.
13. Lowered RAW into the simmering sauce.
14. LEFT UNSTIRRED 10 MINUTES, then the pan shaken gently.
15. Simmered, lid on, 40 MINUTES in total.
16. TESTED: a kofta cut open should show swollen rice throughout and hold its shape. Broken-up kofta mean it was stirred early or the rice was whole.
17. Served with bread or more rice.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Egypt · All recipes