Afghan Kofta 🇦🇫

March 8, International Women's Day. 

What a perfect day to start my very first blogpost with you all. This recipe that I'm sharing is so dear to me, because it reminds me of my childhood growing up with my grandma's and mom's cooking. I can't think of any other way to celebrate this day by sharing this recipe, which was taught to me by generations of strong and resilient women. The Afghan Kofta, which is simply beef meatballs, smells and tastes so good and is one of the most popular dishes in Afghanistan. But, even people who are not so familiar with Afghan food and tries it for the first time fall instantly in love with the rich flavors and aroma; just mouthwatering 🤤

I did my own little twist to this recipe.
Try it. Share it. Enjoy it!

P.S. I just found out that March 9 is National Meatball Day - the coincidence amazes me! 😄

I mean, just look at the steam! You have to try it.

List of ingredients:

Makes about 4 servings.

For kofta

• 1 lb of ground beef
• 1 medium sized onion
• 1 tbsp of finely chopped garlic
• 1 tbsp of finely chopped ginger
• 1 egg
• 1 handful fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

For the sauce

• Vegetable oil to fry onion mixture
• 1 tbsp of onion mixture; chopped onion, garlic, ginger, cilantro (saved aside)
• 1 can of diced tomatoes 
• 2 cups of water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

Step-by-step guide:

Fresh herbs and produce.

Start by cutting the onion.

Use half of the onion if it's large. Coarse chop.

Chop the ginger.

Peal the garlic.

Cilantro time. Cut to smaller pieces if needed.

Toss it all in the food chopper.

Chop only for a few seconds. Don't chop it too minced otherwise the onions will become too liquidy. You can't form round meatballs with liquid; they will just fall apart.

The consistency should look like this. Finely chopped.

Onion mixture.

Save aside one to two tablespoons onion mixture for the sauce.

Mix it with love.

Add the egg and spices.

Wonderful blend of spices. Pretty much the secret to rich flavored food.

Let the spices do their magic.

Mix, mix, mix. Don't forget to wash your hands.

To get the same size for all the meatballs, make a flat round shape that almost fits the size of your palm. The bigger your palm, the bigger the meatballs!

Meatballs ready to dip into the sauce.

Time for sauce-making. Heat some oil in a pot.

Add the onion mixture that you set aside from before.

Fry it. Not for too long; they burn pretty fast when they are minced!

I used a can of diced tomatoes. Traditionally, you use tomato paste. I just like to bite on tomatoes.

Fry the diced tomatoes, and then add the spices for the sauce.

Add 2 cups of water.

Meatballs are ready to dive in.

Let the meatballs cook for around 40 minutes. Turn the meatballs carefully a few times in between.

Yum. The sauce should get a thick consistency with a darker red-brownish color.

Voilà, and there you have it. Serve with basmati rice.