Kefta
Last Updated: 2021-04-28
4 SERVINGS EASY 275 CAL APPETIZER 30 MIN (18 MIN PREP + 12 MIN COOK TIME)
We live in a connected world where we continually “infect” each other culturally. But there was a time when it was not like that, and it continues to fascinate me that, despite this, different civilizations have developed very similar cultural manifestations.
Minced meat has been present in practically all the cuisines of the world since time immemorial, with slight local differences especially in the seasonings and the accompaniment, as if the most prestigious chefs in each country got together and agreed to make small changes to the recipe to avoid competition: the German hamburger, the Swedish meatball and meatloaf―which goes as far back as the ancient Romans―are all examples of this.
Of course, Morocco, as well as the rest of North Africa, have their own version, called kefta (also spelled kafta or kofta), which is today’s featured recipe. We will see how to present it in the most authentic Moroccan way.
Let’s get started!
Ingredients for kefta
25 ounces (750 g) of minced beef, lamb or a mixture of both (I usually use beef)
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of black pepper
1 teaspoon of sweet paprika
1 teaspoon of spicy paprika
1 teaspoon of cumin
salt to taste and olive oil (important to keep the meat juicy).
Note: this recipe is for from 4 to 8 people, depending on the presentation or if it is used as a main dish or a side dish.
Directions
1 Put the minced meat in a large bowl, kneading it little by little. Next, finely chop the onion and garlic and add to the bowl along with the spices, salt and olive oil.
2 Mix everything together, cover with plastic wrap and set aside 3 or 4 hours.
3 Continue mixing well until uniform and then our kefta is ready to use.
A word of advice: ideally let it rest overnight to ensure that all the flavors integrate better.
Once we have prepared the meat, Moroccan cuisine offers us numerous ways of using it, including kefta kebabs, which is, by far, the most common way. If you go to Morocco and see a steaming grill stand on the street, bet your dirhams that what is being prepared are kebabs.
We can make them in the following three simple steps.
Ingredients for Kefta Kebabs
25 ounces (750 g) of Kefta meat
Cumin
Salt and oil
Directions
Most of us do not have metal skewers at home, so I will also explain an alternative so you can present it well without having to increase your kitchen utensils.
1 Form the kefta into elongated shapes with your hands and put them onto skewers or, if we do not have any, we can just stretch them out a little. Put them in a pan over medium-high heat.
2 Turn them over, cover them, lower to medium heat and wait 3-4 minutes. Turn them over and cover them again and wait another 3-4 minutes.
3 Plate the dish, paired with small bowls of cumin, oil and salt, so that guests can season it to their liking, which is typical in Morocco, or add it directly to the skewers. Serve it in the local way, with a side of French fries, or in a more international and less fattening way with lamb’s lettuce and tomato slices.
And with this we finish today’s recipe, I hope you dare to make it at home soon. See you in the next article and much love to all!
If you want to learn more check out our page on Moroccan cuisine.
