Spicy koftas with garlic dip

The fact that Stu, Jacek and I went to two very good places on Saturday has about as much to do with this kofta recipe with garlic dip as my resolutions for turning forty 😉 But yes, first there was Klub Komediowy, which I hold in very high regard. Today, though, I’m talking about Warmut, on Marszałkowska Street. A fairly new place with very fresh music and an interesting interior. Above all, it has wonderful snacks to nibble between sips of vodka 🙂

Those snacks are nothing like these koftas either, which have more in common with your average kebab shop. But they’re very much my sort of thing, especially alongside a chilled drink, which I must admit Stu and I slightly overdid. Why? Because they perfectly bring back the flavours of Portugal and the fish spreads you find there. We ordered a second round, they were that good. Tuna spread, mackerel spread and a third one resembling paprykarz szczeciński, only without the rice, served with excellent focaccia and bread. Oh, finger-licking stuff. I thoroughly recommend the place. Cysiu 😉 really knows how to run a restaurant. First he brought us those excellent bowls at Raj, and now these little plates at Warmut.

But we overdid the liquids and went overboard with those fish. So that was the end of the resolutions. I promise to do better. Today I was planning to make a start with these koftas. I had some meat left over from the bolognese I’d made for Ninka, so I decided it was worth having at least one hot meal, preferably from the oven rather than a frying pan. And that’s how these came together in no time. They’re very hot, so they clean out your digestive tract almost like Kret drain cleaner, but mellowed by the light dip, they go down remarkably smoothly.

Recommended!

PS

This recipe was very spontaneous and hurried — there were only three 😉 — so even by Prymitywna Kuchnia standards, the photographs are exceptionally unexceptional. Sorry, or rather, je suis désolé. Hmm, speaking of je suis désolé, all I remember from French lessons is saying “Je suis desole purqui je suis ne prepare pur la lesson”, or something like that, phonetically, I think. My teacher would double up with laughter. I think the only thing that made her laugh more was my recitation of the poem “Rappelle toi Barbara” 🙂

At a glance:

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Baking time: 25 minutes

Oven temperature: 200 degrees Celsius

Serves: these quantities make 3 small koftas, enough for one person; multiply the ingredients to make as many as you like

Calories: not as many as you might think

Ingredients for fairly spicy beef and pork koftas:

• 150 grams mixed pork and beef mince
• half a fresh chilli
• half a medium shallot
• 1 level teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• ground black pepper
• ground cumin
• ground nutmeg
• sweet paprika
• salt
• wooden skewers 

Ingredients for Greek-style yoghurt and garlic dip:

• 3 tablespoons fat-free Greek-style yoghurt
• half a clove of garlic
• freshly ground black pepper
• half a teaspoon of olive oil
• salt

Koftas for a party:

This is an ideal party recipe. Pop to the shops, buy as much mixed pork and beef mince, or just beef mince, as you need, and prepare it in literally 10 – 20 minutes. Then all that’s left is baking, which takes next to no time too. So if someone says they’ll be round in an hour, you can have an excellent dish ready, baked rather than fried, which makes it decidedly more fitness-friendly.

I made the dip first, because it needs time in the fridge for the flavours to mingle. I finely chopped the garlic, although you can put it through a garlic press, and added it to a bowl of Greek-style yoghurt. I added seasoning to taste and the olive oil, mixed thoroughly, covered it and put it in the fridge.

Then I put the meat in a deep bowl and added the spices and salt. Season to your own taste: I generally like spices and use plenty, which makes the food aromatic, but do it your way. I mixed the meat thoroughly with a spoon. I finely chopped the chilli and shallot and added them too, followed by the mustard and soy sauce. I mixed very thoroughly so the meat was evenly seasoned.

Next I spooned out portions of meat, shaped each into a round patty, pushed a skewer through it and formed it into a fairly narrow kofta. Once they were ready — I had 3, but make as many as you like — I put them in the fridge for 15 – 20 minutes.

I heated the oven to 200 degrees and baked the koftas on a rack for 20 minutes. Put something underneath, as quite a lot of fat will drip from the meat, and we don’t want that in the dish. After 20 minutes, I changed the oven from top and bottom heat to the electric grill on medium and browned the koftas for 4 – 5 minutes. That’s it: ready. Serve with whatever accompaniments you like and, of course, the dip you made earlier, which mellows the fairly fierce heat of these koftas.

Enjoy.