Grilled kefta with lemon tahini sauce and tomato bulgur

meat Israeli and Mediterranean · regular · 55 min, including 35 hands-on

Lebanese-style beef kefta with parsley, grated onion, baharat, cumin and a touch of cinnamon and dried mint, seared on the griddle and served with sumac onions, a decidedly lemony tahini sauce and bulgur pilaf cooked in an onion and tomato purée base.

Ingredients for two

Method

1. Grate 75 g yellow onion and squeeze it between your hands: keep the pulp moist, but without any dripping juice. Mix with the beef, 25 g very finely chopped parsley, cumin, baharat, cinnamon, dried mint rubbed between your fingers, chilli, 6 g salt and the pepper. Knead for 1–2 minutes, until the mixture holds together and becomes slightly sticky. Fry a small, hazelnut-sized piece of the mixture for 1 minute and taste; adjust the salt and spices before shaping the kefta. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
2. Chop the remaining 65 g yellow onion. Cook in 15 g oil in a saucepan over a medium heat for 5 minutes, until lightly golden. Add the tomato purée and stir for 1 minute: it should darken slightly and flavour the oil. Add the bulgur and stir for 1–2 minutes, until every grain is glossy and coated in red, then pour in 340 g water and add 2.5 g salt.
3. Bring to the boil, cover and cook over a very low heat for 12 minutes. Meanwhile, make the sauce: mix the tahini, 25 g lemon juice from one half of the lemon, garlic and 1 g salt in a bowl. The paste will thicken and seize at first. Whisk in the 65 g cold water in three additions; the sauce should fall in a ribbon, like cream. Taste: it should be clearly lemony and salty, with a slight sesame bitterness. Take out the meat mixture and divide into 6 equal portions, about 75 g each. With slightly damp hands, shape into 6 oval kefta, 2 cm thick, and brush with 5 g oil. Slice the red onion very finely, rub with the sumac and the remaining 5 g parsley, roughly chopped, and set aside.
4. When the bulgur has absorbed the water, with no free liquid and small craters on the surface, turn off the heat and leave covered: it can wait for 15–20 minutes without cooling. Immediately heat the griddle pan over a high heat for 4–5 minutes, until a drop of water evaporates on contact. Oil the ridges with kitchen paper soaked in the remaining 5 g oil. Switch on the extractor fan or open a window: meat with 15% fat will smoke on a hot griddle.
5. Place the kefta in the pan without crowding and reduce to a medium-high heat. Grill undisturbed for 4 minutes on the first side, then for 3–4 minutes on the second, lifting them with a spatula. They are cooked when clearly marked, firm to the touch, with clear juices beading on the surface and no pink centre when one is cut open, or 71 °C on a thermometer if you have one. Do not press them against the pan: their juices should stay inside the meat.
6. Rest the kefta on a warm plate for 3 minutes. If the bulgur has cooled, return it to a low heat for 2 minutes during this rest, fluffing with a fork. Divide the tomato bulgur between plates, add 3 kefta per person, spoon over the resting juices and top with the sumac red onions. Pour a little tahini sauce around the edges and serve the rest in a bowl, with the second lemon half cut into wedges to squeeze over the kefta.

On your plate

Cooking tips

Beef that is too lean makes dry kefta; ask the butcher for about 15% fat. Squeezing the onion helps the mixture hold together without egg or breadcrumbs. These are in the same family as the Israeli grilled kebabs in the collection, but cinnamon and dried mint make them Beirut-style kafta, with a different plate of bulgur, tahini and sumac onions. If the bulgur is still firm after resting, add 50 g hot water, cover and wait for 5 minutes. If the tahini sauce thickens as it stands, stir in an extra spoonful of cold water. Instead of the sumac onions, or as well as them, grill 2 tomato halves cut-side down for 3 minutes after the kefta. The meat mixture and sauce can be made in the morning and refrigerated separately, then shape and grill the kefta at dinnertime. Reheat leftover cooked kefta over a low heat with a splash of water and a lid, or eat cold in a pita with tahini.

Equipment : 28 cm griddle pan, 18 cm saucepan with a lid, grater, bowl and small whisk, kitchen thermometer, optional

Lebanese kafta with beef, parsley, onion, seven-spice, cinnamon and dried mint, served with tahini tarator sauce, sumac onion salad and tomato bulgur pilaf.