Armenia is a small landlocked country between Asia and Europe with some beautiful landscapes. The first Christian country in the world, Armenia is filled with rich cultural heritage. Armenian cuisines have hints of European and Levantine touches in it.
Chi koftas are one of the most talked about the delicacy of Armenia. Koftas are the national dish of Armenia since the Ottoman Empire time. It is the pride of the nation. Chi kofte literally means not cooked koftas and this Armenian delicacy is specially cooked on holidays. In India too I cook koftas but this isn’t boiled. We generally deep fry these balls and eat in a buttery and cashew nut based gravy. The Arabs too make koftas and mostly Kofta kebabs almost like this and have it with bread whereas people here do not necessarily prefer to have it with bread.
Armenian Chi Kofte
Flavors of Chi Koftes
Chi Koftes can also be made with lambs. This is also sold in America as Armenian steak tartar. This amazing dish has a splendour mix of flavours that melt in your mouth in the grandeur of yumminess. The beef cooked along with sweet and spicy flavours of cinnamon and the hotness of allspice and paprika makes these koftas a ball full of flavours. This combines with the sweet and spicy flavours of onions and garlic and brings out the spiciness of this dish. To add the cherry on the cake, parsley leaves are used. They give the necessary hints of freshness required in the dish to balance out the spicy flavours of beef.
So let’s start making the dish now without further delay:
Chi kofte OR Beef Kofta recipe
Ingredients:
- 700 gm beef
- 1 onion finely minced
- 2 large onion roughly chopped
- Breadcrumbs or wheat bulgur
- 1-inch stick of cinnamon
- Caraway seeds
- Salt and freshly ground pepper as per your taste
- 1 egg
- 5-6 garlic or garlic powder
- Vegetable oil
- Paprika
- Beef broth
- Parsley
- ½ tsp allspice
- Lemon juice
To make the sauce use:
- tomato paste
- red wine
- butter
Method:
- Sauté the minced beef and onions until they are golden. Add the parsley leaves and allspice, which are also called Jamaican pepper, caraway seeds, cinnamon, paprika and the egg and let it cool down.
- After they cool down kneed it together with bread crumbs and water. Knead it into a soft and smooth dough make them into balls and then with the help of your thumb make a small hole in the centre to fill in the filling and keep them aside.
- Now brown the remaining beef with onions, garlic, salt and pepper till it all comes together in the centre of your utensil.
- After this simply place a tsp of this mixture into your koftas and seal their mouths by pinching the top. You may give it either round or shell shapes.
- Now put the beef broth to boil and add in the koftas.
- Let it boil till they all rise up to the top of the utensil, a sign that they are all done the cooking.
- For the sauce mix tomato paste and red wine and put in for some time over butter on a pan. Add the koftas and after 3-4 minutes turn off the fire. Sprinkle a dash of lime juice.
Conclusion:
Serve this dish with yoghurt and red wine and have a bite of these luscious Koftas, along with the freshness of yoghurt and sip a gulp of red wine and loll the flavours of cranberries and cherries in your mouth and drink it then. Eating global cuisines and wonderful dishes of different countries fills me with love and respect for that country, the people who have thought about making the dish and of course, the ingredients, without which not only kitchen and food, but our life is incomplete!