More than ever, people enjoy trying international dishes and experimenting with new flavours at home. However, they still like to keep things simple when making midweek family meals. There are dishes from all over the world that you can try, and one of our favourites at The Fruity Tart is our lamb koftas with chilli sauce, flatbreads, and salad.
Not only is it delicious, but it is also easy to make. It is something that you can sit down and eat with a knife and fork, or you can pick them up in your hand. As kids love finger foods, it is a fantastic way to get your children to eat a varied diet, as the recipe includes protein, carbohydrates, and plenty of vegetables.
We have used traditional kofta spices in the recipe, and they are spices we love. However, there are many variations of kofta recipes from different countries. Each uses different spice blends, and some may suit your tastebuds better than others. The good news is that you can use this recipe as a basis for making koftas and then experiment with different spices and heat levels to suit your tastes. For example, our recipe does not include cinnamon, a spice some recipes suggest.
Similarly, you can also adapt the accompaniments you serve with the koftas. We eat ours with flatbreads, salad and chilli sauce. However, you can switch the chilli sauce for creamy raita or garlic aioli, and swap the salad for some spiced, fried, or oven-roasted vegetables if you prefer. The choice is entirely yours!
Here is our recipe for lamb koftas with chilli sauce, flatbreads, and salad.
Lamb Koftas with Chilli Sauce: Easy Recipe
Course: International Recipes, Recipes, Recipes with MeatCuisine: Middle EasternDifficulty: Medium6
servings20
minutes30
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Ingredients for Lamb Koftas with Chilli Sauce, Flatbreads, and Salad
- Ingredients for the Lamb Koftas
1 kg lamb mince
1 small onion, finely diced
2 chillies
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. each of ground cumin, ground coriander, paprika, chilli powder
Salt and pepper to season
- Ingredients for the Flatbreads
10 oz/ 285 g plain flour
2 oz/ 55 g salted butter
180 ml/ 1/3-pint full-fat milk
½ tsp salt
- Ingredients for the Chilli and Tomato Sauce
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
2 chillies, halved
3 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp white pepper
2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
Salt to season
- Suggested Salad Ingredients
¼ white cabbage, shredded
2 carrots, peeled and grated
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
½ iceberg lettuce, shredded
1 red onion, halved and finely sliced
Directions: How to Make Lamb Koftas with Chilli Sauce, Flatbreads, and Salad
- How to Make Lamb Koftas
- Preheat the oven to 200C.
- Chop the garlic, onion, and chillies into small pieces. Alternatively, you might prefer to grate the garlic or use a garlic crusher.
- Put the lamb mince into a large bowl, and add the garlic, chillies, and onion.
- Add the dried spices to the bowl and season with salt and pepper.
- Massage the spices into the meat using your hands.
- Divide the mixture into 12 balls to make two lamb koftas per person.
- Roll each ball into a sausage shape and put them onto a baking tray.
- Put the tray into the oven and cook for ten minutes before turning the koftas, then cook for a further 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and serve onto the flatbreads straight away.
- How to Make the Flatbreads
- Put the milk and butter in a pan over low heat on the hob until the butter is melted and the milk is warm.
- Add the flour and salt to a bowl, and then make a well in the middle.
- Pour the warm milk and melted butter into the well, then use your hand to stir into the flour and salt until you have a soft dough.
- If you are not ready to roll and cook the flatbreads straight away, cover the bowl with clingfilm.
- When you are ready to cook the flatbreads, remove the cling film and divide the dough into approximately six or eight pieces, depending on how large you want the flatbreads.
- Roll each piece into a ball in your hands, then put one on a floured surface and press down with your hand.
- Flour your rolling pin, then roll out the ball of dough, turning over every few rolls. Roll until the dough is approximately 0.3 centimetres thick.
- Repeat the same process for all the balls of dough.
- Heat a frying pan or a griddle pan over medium-high heat on the hob.
- Add a flatbread to the pan and cook on the first side until it gets light brown patches on the underside, which takes approximately two minutes. The flatbread should also start to puff up a little.
- Flip the bread over, and cook for a further two minutes, or until sections are beginning to puff up and both sides have small brown patches.
- You can save time by adding two or more flatbreads to the pan at once, depending on the sizes of the pan and the flatbreads.
- Set the cooked flatbread onto a plate, and then repeat the process with the other dough balls.
- How to Make the Chilli and Tomato Sauce
- While the koftas are in the oven, make your chilli sauce.
- Drizzle some olive oil into a pan and put over medium-high heat.
- Add the chopped garlic and chillies and cook for one minute. Do not let the garlic burn.
- Add the tinned tomatoes to the pan, then add the chilli powder, paprika, sugar, salt, and pepper.
- Turn down the heat to simmer the sauce over low heat.
- For a chunky sauce, leave the mixture as it is or use a masher to break down the tomatoes a little. If you prefer a smooth sauce, blitz the mixture with a hand blender.
- Assembling the Koftas with the Sauce and Salad
- Put the flatbread on a plate and spoon over some of the tomato and chilli sauce.
- Add your choice of salad ingredients to the flatbread, then top it with the koftas.
- Spoon over some more of the chilli sauce if you wish.
- We also add some mayonnaise, sour cream, or yoghurt and mint dip to our koftas and flatbreads, but these are optional ingredients.
Additional Tips
- A tasty alternative to the salad filling is our funky red cabbage slaw.
- If you follow a gluten-free diet, you can serve the lamb koftas with chilli sauce and salad without the flatbreads or make the flatbreads using gluten-free flour.
- You can make the flatbreads using water and oil if you are on a dairy-free diet. You will also need to avoid adding mayonnaise, yoghurt or sour cream as an accompaniment.
- Covering the plate of flatbreads with a clean tea towel will keep them warm while you cook the other components and until you are ready to serve.
If You Like Our Lamb Koftas with Chilli Sauce…
- If you like our recipe for lamb koftas with chilli sauce, you might also like our recipes for spicy beef tacos, lamb kebabs, lamb massaman curry, and spicy lamb burgers.
Have you tried our lamb koftas recipe? Let us know what you think in the comments below.