Our friend Halim was nice enough to share this authentic recipe with us, so I figured I would give it a try! Kafta is a Lebanese street food traditionally grilled on a giant pot of coals on skewers. I do not have the means to do that at home, so we fired up the grill pan and hoped for the best! It’s crazy how flavorful and fresh this dish is and I can’t thank Halim enough for introducing this dish to us! Hope y’all enjoy it as much as I do!
Ingredients
For the Tabouli:
- 2.5 bunches Italian parsley
- 4-5 scallions chopped
- 1 lb tomatoes diced
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 1.5 TB olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Optional: 2 serrano peppers chopped finely
For the Kafta:
- 1 lb ground beef or ground lamb
- 1 medium onion chopped finely
- 1/2 bunch Italian parsley finely chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
For the perfect bite:
- 1/4 a yellow onion cut into large chunks
- 3-4 serrano peppers, whole
- 1 tomato cut into wedges
- Lebanese bread
- A tub of your favorite hummus
Instructions:
- Start with the tabbouli. Chop up the tomatoes, scallions, parsley, serranos, and add them into a bowl.
- Juice the lemons into the bowl and add in your seasonings. Taste for salt and pepper levels. Set aside until you’re ready to eat.
- Chop up the additional tomato, onion, and serrano to be charred later
- Next, we move on to the kafta mixture. Add your 1 lb of ground lamb or ground beef into a mixing bowl.
- Next, chop up the onion and parsley and add them into the bowl.
- Add in the salt, pepper, and cayenne, and then mix with your hands.
- To form the kafta into kabob shapes, get a bowl of water ready to dip your hands in so the meat does not stick.
- Form the kafta into kabob shapes.
- Heat up your grill over medium high heat, we want a nice char.
- Grill the kafta for about 4-5 mins on each side.
- *Pro tip* When one batch of kafta comes off the grill, store it in the bread to keep it warm.
- You can either grill the veggies in the same grill pan or char in a separate pan over medium high heat (think fajita char)
- To assemble: spread the hummus on a piece of bread. Add a piece of kafta on top. Next, add on charred veggies and top if off with the tabouli.
- Enjoy family style or eat it all yourself!
