Kofta

Kofta is a family of

There are many national and regional variations. There are also vegetable and uncooked versions. Shapes vary and include balls, patties, and cylinders. Sizes typically vary from that of a golf ball to that of an orange.

Etymology

In English, kofta is a loanword borrowed from the Hindi-Urdu कोफ़्ता / کوفتہ and Persian کوفته kofta meaning pounded meat.^[2][3][4][1] The earliest extant use of the word in the Urdu language is attested from the year 1665 in Mulla Nusrati's ʿAlī Nāma.^[5][6] It was first used in English in Qanoon-e-Islam in 1832,^[7] and then by James Wise in 1883.^[8] The languages of the region of the kofta's origin have adopted the word with minor phonetic variations.^[9] Similar foods are called in other languages croquettes, dumplings, meatballs, rissoles, and turnovers.^[9][10]

History

The ancient Roman cookbook Apicius included many meatball-type recipes.^[11]

The first appearance of recipes for kofta are in the earliest Arab cookbooks.^[12][9] The earliest recipes are for large ground lamb meatballs triple-glazed in a mixture of saffron and egg yolk.^[12] This glazing method spread to the West, where it is referred to as "gilding" or "endoring".^[9] Koftas moved to India; according to Alan Davidson, Nargisi Kofta was served at the Mughal court.^[9]

Koftas are found from the Indian subcontinent through Central Asia, the Middle East, the Balkans, and northern Africa.

• Chiftele, a Romanian version using ground pork mixed with mashed potatoes.
• Çiğ köfte, a Turkish and Armenian version made with bulgur and sometimes raw meat.
• Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian
  style of kofta, typically made from ground beef or ground lamb, and served with a side of cooked potatoes and a salad.
• İnegöl köfte, a Turkish
  style of kofta.
• Islama köfte, a steamed kofta from Turkey.
• Kibbeh, a Middle Eastern dish in which includes kofte, sometimes served raw.
• Analı kızlı, a Turkish soup.
• Kofte Chawal, an
  mutton.^[21]
• Koofteh Berenji, Koofteh Hamedani, Koofteh Nar,
  Koofteh Tabrizi and Koofteh Shirin-e Kermanshahi are all Iranian variants of kofta.^[23]
• Malai kofta[24]
• Nargisi Kofta, an Indian subcontinental dish in which a hard-boiled egg is wrapped in the kofta mixture.^[9]
• Pishtha, a meatball mentioned in the Sushrutha Samhita.^[25]
• Şiş köfte, a Turkish
  kebab-style kofta.
• Sulu köfte, a Turkish kofta soup or stew.
• Tabriz köftesi, an Azerbaijani version unusual for its average diameter of 20 centimetres (8 in).^[9]
• Tomatokeftedes, a Greek vegetarian version of kofta which uses tomatoes.^[26]
• Ktzitzot Khubeza - an Israeli
  kofta made of mallow, garlic and bread crumbs mixed with egg whites and yolks.
• Küfte, кюфте in Crimean Tatar cuisine (Crimea, Ukraine).
• Meatball, As commonly known in America.

• 
  Malai Kofta, a dish common in the Cuisine of the Indian subcontinent
• 
  Iranian Tabrizi Kofta include: yellow split peas and potatoes, as well as minced meat.
• 
  Kofte Chawal from India (vegetarian kofta made with Bottle Gourd), served with rice.
• 
  Egyptian cigar-shaped kofta stuffed in a pita.
• 
  Armenian types of kofte
• 
  Nargesi kofta, a popular dish in Lucknow and Karachi

See also

References

Look up kofta in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.