Vegetarian Kofta

Ingredients:

1/2 Yellow Onion – Halved

2 Garlic Cloves

1/2 Bunch Parsley/ 1 Cup of chopped parsley

1 lb Beyond Ground Beef

1 Slice of toasted bread soaked in water

1/4 tsp Cardamom

1 tsp All Spice

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1/4 tsp Paprika

1/4 tsp Salt

What You’ll Need:

Wooden Skewers – soaked in water for an hour (not necessary)

a Grill or Grill pan

Food processor

Directions:

Add Onion and Garlic in the food processor and pulse till roughly chopped. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix on low until incorporated. I like larger chunks of onion and parsley, if that’s not your thing than chop some more. It’s really up to you.

Scoop out and mold by hand onto your skewers. Or omit the skewers and mold into flatten fist sized pieces (see picture for reference).

Refrigerate for an hour.

Lightly oil a medium high grill pan or heated grill. Place the kofta in the pan. Because it’s not meat it doesn’t need to cook for a long period of time. I’d say about 2-3 minutes each side, or until the grill lines are nice and dark.

Serve on pita bread with red onion, cucumbers. Feel free to add a sauce of any type, taste it first and see what you think would taste good. I’ve mixed yogurt, garlic, hummus and lemon juice together to make a sauce that would freshen it up.

Notes:

This is by no means a tradition recipe, I’m sure it is very unconventional, please Persian community don’t hate me.

I made this during quarantine when we didn’t have any parsley and added dandelion greens for some added green and it was definitely missing that freshness parsley gives it.

Vegetarian Kofta is BY FAR one of my favorite meals. For someone not used to middle eastern food the sweetness of the spices with the hint of heat from the pepper, the toasty flavor from the bread and the bite of the fresh herbs is just amazing. When I made it last we served it with a salad but it is bomb in a pita, or on naan.