Kofta is a family of

meatball A meatball is ground meat (mince) rolled into a ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, eggs, butter, and seasoning. Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. There are m ...

meatloaf Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat that has been combined with other ingredients, formed into the shape of a loaf, then baked or smoked. The final shape is either hand-formed on a baking tray or pan-formed by cooking it in a loaf pan. It is ...

dishes found in

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

Central Asian Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

Balkan The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

Middle Eastern The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

North African North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, and South Caucasian cuisines. In the simplest form, koftas consist of balls of

minced meat Ground meat, called mince or minced meat outside North America, is meat finely chopped by a meat grinder or a chopping knife. A common type of ground meat is ground beef, but many other types of meats are prepared in a similar fashion, incl ...

—usually beef, chicken, lamb or mutton, camel, seldom pork, or a mixture—mixed with spices and sometimes other ingredients. The earliest known recipes are found in early Arab cookbooks and call for ground lamb. 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 A golf ball is a ball designed to be used in golf. Under the rules of golf, a golf ball has a mass no more than , has a diameter not less than , and performs within specified velocity, distance, and symmetry limits. Like golf clubs, golf bal ...

to that of an orange.

Etymology

In English, ''kofta'' is a

loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...

borrowed from the

Hindi-Urdu Hindustani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in North India and Pakistan as the lingua franca of the region. It is also spoken by the Deccani-speaking community in the Deccan plateau. Hindustani is a pluricentric language with two standa ...

कोफ़्ता / and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

''kofta'' meaning ''pounded meat''. The earliest extant use of the word in the Urdu language is attested in

Mulla Nusrati Mulla may refer to: Places * River Awbeg, in Ireland * Mulla, Afghanistan * Mollakənd, Kurdamir, Azerbaijan Other uses * Mullah, a title for an Islamic cleric * Mulla (surname), including a list of people with the name * ''Mulla'' (film), ...

's ''ʿAlī Nāma'' (1665). It was first used in English in ''

Qanoon-e-Islam ''Qanoon-e-Islam: or, the Customs of the Moosulmans of India'' (later published as ''The Qānūn-i-Islām; the customs of the Musalmāns of India'') is a book describing the culture and rituals of Indian Muslims in the nineteenth century. It w ...

'' (1832), and then by James Wise in 1883. The languages of the region of the kofta's origin have adopted the word with minor phonetic variations. In other languages, similar foods are called croquettes, dumplings, meatballs, rissoles, and turnovers.

History

The

ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

cookbook ''

Apicius ''Apicius'', also known as ''De re culinaria'' or ''De re coquinaria'' (''On the Subject of Cooking''), is a collection of Food and dining in the Roman Empire, Roman cookery recipes, which may have been compiled in the fifth century CE, or ea ...

'' included many meatball-type recipes. The first appearance of recipes for kofta are in the earliest Arab cookbooks. The earliest recipes are for large ground lamb meatballs triple-glazed in a mixture of

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of '' Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent ...

and egg yolk. This glazing method spread to the West, where it is referred to as "gilding" or "endoring". Koftas moved to India; according to Alan Davidson, Nargisi Kofta was served at the

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

court. Koftas are found from the Indian subcontinent through Central Asia, the Middle East, the Balkans, and northern Africa. Koftas are found in the traditional cuisines of

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

, and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Kofta is also a popular dish among

Assyrian people Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group Indigenous peoples, indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians Assyrian continuity, share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesop ...

. In

, it is "a preferred offering at communal gatherings of all kinds", according to Engin Akin. In

and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, it is, along with

dolma Dolma ( Turkish for "stuffed") is a family of stuffed dishes associated with Ottoman cuisine, typically made with a filling of rice, minced meat, offal, seafood, fruit, or any combination of these inside either a leaf wrapping or a hollow or h ...

lavash Lavash (; ) is a thin flatbread usually leavened, traditionally baked in a tandoor (''tonir'' or ''tanoor'') or on a '' sajj'', and common to the cuisines of South Caucasus, West Asia, and the areas surrounding the Caspian Sea. Lavash is one ...

harissa Harissa (, from Maghrebi Arabic) is a hot chili pepper paste, native to the Maghreb. The main ingredients are roasting#Vegetables, roasted chili pepper, red peppers, Baklouti peppers (), spices and herbs such as garlic paste, caraway seeds, c ...

kebabs Kebab ( , ), kebap, kabob (alternative North American English, North American spelling), kebob, or kabab (Kashmiri spelling) is a variety of roasted meat dishes that originated in the Middle East. Kebabs consist of cut up ground meat, somet ...

, and

pahlava The Pahlavas are a people mentioned in ancient Indian texts. According to Patrick Carnegy, a Raj-era ethnographer, the 4th-century BCE ''Vartika'' of Katyayana mentions the ''Sakah-Parthavah'', demonstrating an awareness of these Saka-Parthians, ...

, a dish of "clearly symbolic ethnic significance" often argued over by gastronationalists attempting to claim it as one of their own country's traditional dishes that has been co-opted by the other country.

Cooking methods

The basic Ingredient of koftas is usually meat, but they are known for their versatility. There are many different ways to prepare it, like frying, baking, steaming, boiling, or grilling. In traditional preparation methods, kofta is kneaded with fine

bulgur Bulgur (; ; ; ), or Borghol (), is a cracked wheat foodstuff found in Egyptian cuisine, South Asian cuisine and West Asian cuisine. Characteristics Bulgur is distinct from cracked wheat, which is crushed wheat grain that, unlike bulgur, has ...

and meat, and in some middle eastern countries it is served with the raw meat in the kneaded form.

Innovative fillings and sizes

With the inventive fillings that frequently enhance the flavor profile, koftas provide plenty of opportunity for creative culinary experimentation. Often added into the kofta mixture are nuts, cheese, or eggs. Furthermore, koftas come in a broad range of shapes and sizes, from little oval shaped egg size balls to flatly carved rhombuses in trays, or tennis ball sized koftas. In addition to satisfying personal tastes, this variation in size and shape enables creative display and serving possibilities.

Variations

Generally meat is mixed with spices and often other ingredients such as rice,

, vegetables, or eggs to form a paste. They can be grilled, fried, steamed, poached, baked, or marinated, and may be served with a rich spicy sauce or in a soup or stew. Koftas are sometimes made from

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

or vegetables or even cottage cheese rather than red meat. Some versions are stuffed with nuts, cheese, or eggs. Generally the size can vary from the "size of an orange to the size of a golf ball", although some variants are outside that range; ''tabriz köftesi'', which average in diameter, are the largest. They can be shaped in various forms including

patties A patty is a flattened, usually round, serving of ground meat or legumes, grains, vegetables, or meat alternatives. Common ground meat used include beef, bison, elk, turkey, chicken, ostrich, and salmon. Patties are found in multiple cuisines ...

, balls, or cylinders. Some versions are uncooked.

Examples

Chiftele Chiftele, plural form of chiftea, are flat and round meatballs from Romanian traditional cuisine. Chiftele are usually made from minced pork, mixed with mashed potatoes and spices, then deep-fried. Chiftele is served with pilaf or mashed potatoe ...

, a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

version using ground pork mixed with mashed potatoes. *

Çiğ köfte Çiğ köfte () or chee kofta is a kofta dish that is a regional specialty of southeastern Turkey, southeastern Anatolia in Urfa. The dish is served as an appetizer or meze, and it is closely related with ''kibbeh nayyeh'' from Levantine cuisine. ...

, a Turkish and

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

version made with

and raw meat, often without raw meat due to health hazards. * Mercimek köftesi, Turkish vegan kofta made with bulgur and

lentils The lentil (''Vicia lens'' or ''Lens culinaris'') is an annual plant, annual legume grown for its Lens (geometry), lens-shaped edible seeds or ''pulses'', also called ''lentils''. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in Legume, pods, usually w ...

. * Orkh or Oruq an Armenian and Syrian version made with meat and bulgur usually baked or gently fried and served in cylindrical shapes. * Ćufte, a Bosnian, Croatian and

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

style of kofta, typically made from ground beef or ground lamb, and served with a side of cooked potatoes and a salad. *

İnegöl köfte İnegöl (known as , ''Angelokomis'' in the Byzantine period) is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Bursa Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,118 km2, and its population is 302.251 (2024). İnegöl is one of the centers of the Tu ...

, a Turkish style of kofta. *

Islama köfte Islama köfte is a traditional dish originated in Adapazarı, the capital of Sakarya Province in Turkey. They are served with bread slices and unfermented grape juice on the side. The sliced bread is dipped in meat broth and grilled along with the ...

, a steamed kofta from Turkey. *

Kibbeh Kibbeh (, also kubba and other spellings; ; ) is a popular dish in the Arab world and the Levant in particular based on spiced lean ground meat and bulgur wheat. Kibbeh is considered to be a national dish of Lebanon and Syria. In Levantine ...

, a

dish in which includes kofte, sometimes served raw. * Analı kızlı, a Turkish soup. * Kofte Chawal, an Indian subcontinental dish that has meat or vegetable balls in a

curry Curry is a dish with a sauce or gravy seasoned with spices, mainly derived from the interchange of Indian cuisine with European taste in food, starting with the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch and British, and then thoroughly internatio ...

sauce and is served with rice. There are many variations using different ingredients for the balls, such as kofta curries made with

paneer Paneer (), is a fresh acid-set cheese, common in cuisine of South Asia, made from cow milk or buffalo milk. It is a non-aged, non-melting soft cheese made by curdling milk with a fruit- or vegetable-derived acid, such as lemon juice. Pa ...

bottle gourd Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, New Guinea butter bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvest ...

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

mutton Lamb and mutton, collectively sheep meat (or sheepmeat) is one of the most common meats around the world, taken from the domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries'', and generally divided into lamb, from sheep in their first year, hogget, from sheep in thei ...

. * Koofteh Berenji, Koofteh Hamedani, Koofteh Nar,

Koofteh Tabrizi Kofta is a family of meatball or meatloaf dishes found in South Asian cuisine, South Asian, Central Asian cuisine, Central Asian, Balkan cuisine, Balkan, Middle Eastern cuisine, Middle Eastern, Maghrebi cuisine, North African, and Caucasian cuis ...

and Koofteh Shirin-e Kermanshahi are all

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

variants of kofta. * Malai kofta * Nargisi Kofta, an Indian subcontinental dish in which a hard-boiled egg is wrapped in the kofta mixture. * Pishtha, a meatball mentioned in the '' Sushrutha Samhita''. *

Şiş köfte Shish kofta () (Turkish language, Turkish) is a type of kebab-style kofta dish in Turkish cuisine. The dish consists of minced lamb, mutton, veal or beef, or a mixture of these meats mixed with herbs, often including parsley and mint, placed on ...

, a Turkish kebab-style kofta. * Sulu köfte, a Turkish kofta soup or stew. * Tabriz köftesi, an Azerbaijani version unusual for its average diameter of . * Tatarsko kyufte, a Bulgarian-

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

version of kofta. * Tomatokeftedes, a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

vegetarian version of kofta which uses tomatoes.Aglaia Kremezi and Anissa Hellou, 'What's in the Name of the Dish' in Richard Hosking (ed.), ''Food and Language: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cooking 2009'' (London: Prospect Books, 2010) 206 *

Koftet el hati Koftet el hati (), commonly just referred to as kofta () in Egypt, is a traditional Egyptian dish consisting of seasoned ground meat, typically beef or a combination of beef and lamb, mixed with herbs and spices, shaped into cylindrical patties ...

, an Egyptian kofta-dish consisting of grilled ground meat skewers seasoned with a blend spices such as cumin, coriander, and cinnamon, combined with fresh herbs like parsley. * Koftet rozz, an Egyptian kofta-dish consisting of spiced meatballs made from a blend of minced meat, crushed rice, and fresh herbs, simmered in a rich, flavorful tomato-based sauce. * 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 A meatball is ground meat (mince) rolled into a ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, eggs, butter, and seasoning. Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. There are m ...

, as commonly known in America. File:MalaiKofta.jpg, ''

Malai Malai (Hindi: मलाई) is a type of clotted cream, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is used in the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent, especially in sweets from the Indian subcontinent. It is made by heating non-homogenized who ...

Kofta'', a dish common in the

cuisine of the Indian subcontinent South Asian cuisine includes the traditional cuisines from the modern-day South Asian republics of Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, also sometimes including the kingdom of Bhutan and the emirate of Afghanistan. Also som ...

File:Koofteh tabrizi.jpg, alt=Three eight-inch meatballs in sauce,

''Tabrizi Kofta'' include yellow split peas and potatoes, as well as minced meat. File:Kofte Chawal from India.jpg, alt=Sauced meatballs with rice, ''Kofte Chawal'' from

(vegetarian kofta made with Bottle Gourd), served with rice File:Mixed grill - Khan el-Khalili - Cairo, Egypt.jpg, Egyptian

koftet el hati Koftet el hati (), commonly just referred to as kofta () in Egypt, is a traditional Egyptian dish consisting of seasoned ground meat, typically beef or a combination of beef and lamb, mixed with herbs and spices, shaped into cylindrical patties ...

on a mixed grill platter, served with tehina File:Cuisine arménienne - Sini Kofte (à gauche) et deux Mitchougov Kofte (à droite).jpg, Armenian types of kofte File:Orkh-Oruq.jpg, Orkh Armenian Kofta made with meat and bulgur served in cylindrical shapes File:NargisiKofta.jpg, Nargesi kofta, a popular dish in

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

and

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

File:Mercimekkoftesi.jpg, Mercimek köftesi, Turkish plant-based kofta made with lentils and bulgur

References

{{Navboxes, list1= {{Indian dishes {{Pakistani dishes {{Cuisine of Albania {{Cuisine of Iran, bread {{Levantine cuisine {{Cuisine of Lebanon {{Cuisine of Greece {{Cuisine of Egypt {{Serbian cuisine Urdu-language words and phrases Arab cuisine Assyrian cuisine Balkan cuisine South Asian cuisine Central Asian cuisine Middle Eastern cuisine Meatballs Middle Eastern grilled meats hu:Török konyha#Húsgombócok