Description
These chicken kofta kebabs combine ground chicken with fresh herbs, lots of warm spices, cooked millet, and hemp hearts. The millet and hemp hearts make the mixture a little less meat-heavy, while shallow frying gives the kofta a golden-brown crust and extra flavor. I love serving them with my millet and hemp heart tabbouleh and a wedge of lime.
Ingredients
- 300 grams ground chicken
- 1 thumb-size piece of ginger
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2/3 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/3 cup chopped parsley
- 1 small onion or shallot
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 4 tablespoons cooked millet
- 3 tablespoons hemp hearts
- 1/2–2/3 of a beaten egg
- Extra virgin olive oil, enough to cover the bottom of the pan
Instructions
- Soak the bamboo skewers in water in advance. I used eight 25 cm / 10-inch skewers and removed their 4 cm handles so four would fit in my pan at once. The resulting 21 cm / 8.2-inch skewers were the right size for eight kofta, cooked in two batches of four.
- Grate the ginger and garlic, or mince the garlic with a garlic press. Mince the parsley, cilantro, and onion or shallot in a small food processor. If you don’t have one, finely chop the herbs, and grate the onion.
- Beat the egg in a small bowl.
- Add the ground chicken, cooked millet, hemp hearts, and herb and onion mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add the ginger and garlic along with all the spices.
- Add half of the beaten egg. Mix with a fork, rather than your hands, until combined, taking care not to overmix. If the mixture needs more moisture, add a little more beaten egg. Level the mixture in the bowl and divide it approximately into eight equal parts.
- Remove the skewers from the water. With a wet hand, gently press each portion of the mixture into a cylinder around a skewer, leaving about 1 inch free at both ends.
- Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat—enough to cover the bottom of the pan, but not too much. Once the pan and oil are hot, add four skewers, or as many as fit. Cook in two batches if your pan fits four at a time.
- Fry for 2 minutes on one side. Carefully turn the kofta and fry for about 2 more minutes, or until golden brown. Turn again to brown the third side. When golden brown all around, transfer to a plate and cook the next batch.
Notes
Using a full pack of chicken: If your ground chicken comes in a 400 g or 1 lb pack, you can use the whole pack. In this case, use the whole beaten egg and add an extra dash of each spice and the salt. This quantity will make about 2 extra skewers.
Serve on the skewers or gently push from one end to slide the kofta off. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers for sandwiches, salads, or lunch boxes.
Ground turkey can replace the chicken. For a lamb variation, I would use parsley and mint instead of parsley and cilantro.
