Chee Kufta - Delicate Raw Meat Appetizer
This Armenian or Turkish Meze is a Unique Addition to a Party
It is extremely important to take pains to ensure that the lamb used is comes from a reputable source – like a good local butcher – and is very, very fresh. Lamb, for the most part, is considered to be a very "clean" meat, and is generally considered to be safe to serve raw, if reasonable precautions are taken. That being said, this is definitely a recipe for the more adventurous. In many Armenian and Turkish families, Chee Kufta ("Chee,’ in Armenian, means that it is "raw") this is a dish that is most often reserved for special occasions, where it features as a Meze or appetizer over drinks. As such, it makes a very interesting addition to a buffet or cocktail table – but don’t let it sit out in the sun or keep it in a warm space for hours at a time. Chee Kufta is a dish that it made and eaten quickly.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup lean, ground lamb, must be very fresh (as in served the same day it is ground and purchased)
- 1 cup finely ground bulgur
- 1 small green onion or 1 bunch scallions (any mild tasting onion may be substituted), finely minced
- ¼ cup sweet green pepper, finely minced
- ¼ cup parsley, finely minced
- Additional: equal parts of finely minced parsley, fresh mint, scallion and green pepper to thickly cover serving plate (maybe ¼ inch deep)
- Salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper, to taste
Method:
- Soak the bulgur in warm water until it has softened sufficiently to eat without feeling hard in your mouth, at least 1 hour, but can be done overnight, if covered and placed into the refrigerator.
- When softened, squeeze the bulgur in your fist, until all the excess water has been extracted from it and it "bounces back," light and fluffy in the bowl.
- While the bulgur is softening, spread a thick layer of the finely minced parsely, mint, scallion and green pepper on your flat serving dish.
- Cover the platter with plastic wrap and put it into the refrigerator to make the platter and vegetable nice and cold.
- In a deep mixing bowl, put the ground fresh lamb, bulgur, onions, pepper, parsley, salt and pepper and blend all together by kneading the mixture, as you would a bread dough.
- Add small amounts of ice cold water, if need be, to form a soft, pliable "dough" of meat, bulgur and vegetables. The process takes about 10 minutes to get it to the right consistency.
- Taking about a small meatball’s worth in the palm of your hand, roll it tightly, so that it holds together on its own - as you would for any meatball.
- Arrange these meatballs on the chilled serving platter.
To eat, slightly "mash" the chee kufta into the minced herb/vegetable mixture on the platter, to pick up a nice portion of the mixture and simply pop into your mouth. Serve nicely chilled and do not try to keep overnight. Don’t forget, this is a raw meat dish!
