Ingredients:
7 medium potatoes
1 lb or 500 g beef kafta
2 onions
5 small tomatoes
2 small or 1 large lemon
2 spoons of tomato salsa or 4 spoons of ketchup
3-4 tsp of ground allspice
1 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp of ground black pepper
Get ground allspice on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/49jQzmm
(I might receive a small commission if you buy via my link.)
7 حبات بطاطس متوسطة
1 رطل أو 500 جرام كفتة لحم بقري
2 بصل
5 حبات طماطم صغيرة
2 ليمونة صغيرة أو 1 كبيرة
2 ملاعق صلصة طماطم أو 4 ملاعق كاتشب
3-4 ملاعق بهار حلو ناعم
1 1/2 ملعقة صغيرة من القرفة المطحونة
3/4 ملعقة صغيرة من الفلفل الأسود المطحون
Kafta mixture recipe:
1kg or 2lbs ground beef or lamb
4 medium onions
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 bunch of parsley (around 200g or 7 oz)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
salt to taste
Finely chop onions and parsley (use a blender of food processor to make this easier) and mix into ground meat along with all the seasonings.
Video Transcript:
Hello. I am Liena. Today, I will show you how to cook kafta and potatoes in Beirut style.
First, peel potatoes and cut them into cubes. I am using about 7 small to medium potatoes here. Traditionally, potatoes were deep-fried first, but I am going to use an air fryer. This will reduce calories and hopefully make it a little healthier. This doesn’t affect the result at all!
While potatoes cook, chop onions any way you like. Some people don’t use onions, and it’s okay, but I find that they add to the flavor of this dish. I always use a lot of onions. In this case, I am using two.
Now chop the tomatoes. There is no strict rule on how many tomatoes to use, but I am using about 5 small tomatoes here. Tomatoes are another component that deepens the flavor and makes it so much more comforting. If you are feeling lazy, you can blend them in a blender instead of chopping. We are going to use them to make the sauce.
Now, let’s fry the onions until they become golden.
At this point, you should have prepared kafta balls. If you live in the Middle East, you probably can buy ready kafta mixture, but if you live elsewhere or prefer to make it yourself, I will put the recipe in the description below this video.
We prepare or buy kafta mixture and freeze it in little balls. This makes it so convenient whenever you want to cook.
Add kafta balls to the onions and mix well. Cook the kafta balls until they become nice and golden.
Now, let’s add the cooked potatoes. From now on, everything will be very quick because we don’t want to overcook the potatoes and become mushy.
Salt to taste.
Add the tomatoes and spices. About 3-4 teaspoons of ground allspice, 1.5 teaspoons of ground cinnamon, and ⅔ teaspoons of ground black pepper. Some people skip allspice, but in my opinion, the result is not the same. However, if you can’t find it, it’s okay.
Cover the pan. Heat and salt will make tomatoes release juices and become a nice and savory sauce.
Once the tomatoes have released their juice, open the pan and add water. I added about two cups here.
At this point, you are supposed to add tomato salsa, which has a very strong and specific flavor. Once, I ran out of salsa and used ketchup instead. We were all surprised at how much better the dish tasted! So if you want to stick to the traditions, use salsa, but if you are like me, ketchup is even better!
Now, let’s add lemons. For this amount of kafta and potatoes, you need 1 large or 2 small lemons. Squeeze them well. If you don’t want to fish for lemon seeds later, use a citrus juicer first.
Mix everything well and cover for about a minute or so. We are done. Thank you for watching!