Beef and Yoghurt Kofte

NAME: _Meat and Yoghurt Kofte

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INGREDIENTS/UTENSILS:
300g minced beef (or lamb)
200ml greek yoghurt (or sour cream)
2-4 tsp dried mint
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tsp sugar
1 medium brown onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp powdered cardamom
2 tsp powdered coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp salt
375ml tomato passata (or a tin of diced tomatoes)
2 tsp powdered tomato or 2 tbsp tomato paste
4 tbsp beef, mutton, or goat dripping (or high temperature oil)

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METHOD:
Cut onion in half lengthways. Finely chop one half, cut the other lengthways into crescents. Mince the garlic. Put chopped onion, minced garlic, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp cardamom, 1 tsp sugar, 2 tsp mint, both tbsp flour, and the mince into a mixing bowl and mix well, slowly adding half the yoghurt (or sour cream) until the mixture becomes sticky enough to hold together. Form the mixture into balls around 1cm - 1.5cm diameter, set aside.

Heat the fat close to smoking point, drop the kofte in a layer to cover the bottom of the pan, shake around until they're browned evenly, then lift from the oil and do the next batch, until all completed.

Pour off all but about half a tbsp of the oil in the pan, throw in the crescent onions, fry until translucent, then add the remaining spices, fry for about a minute more, then add the tomato passata to deglaze and continue to warm it. Add the remaining yoghurt, keep stirring until simmering begins, turn off heat.

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SERVING:
Serve kofte over a bed of rice, ladle the tomato/yoghurt sauce generously over.

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NOTES:
I made this recipe up using existing Middle Eastern recipes for a guideline, I was aiming for the sweet/yoghurt/cardamom flavour and this nails it pretty much as I remember from my childhood.

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ENJOY!