Grilled lamb kofta kebabs with pistachios & spicy salad wrap
Authentic kebabs are delicious, full of nuts, spices, herbs and fruit, as anyone who's tasted proper Middle Eastern cooking knows. In this recipe I'm using a spice called sumac – it has a lovely flavour – but if you can't find it, try lemon zest instead. Buy really good minced lamb, or else a cut of trimmed shoulder or neck fillet and mince it up at home in a food processor. If you buy slightly older lamb (hogget or mutton), it's important to ask your butcher to remove the sinews, and that you cook the meat for a few minutes longer.
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 11 of 15 ingredients — the other 4 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 11 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Lamb | 100g cooked | 294 |
| Pistachio | 1 oz (28g / ~49 kernels) | 159 |
| Tortilla | 1 medium flour (45g) | 140 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Cumin | 1 tsp ground (2.1g) | 8 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Thyme | 1 tsp dried (1.4g) | 4 |
| Parsley | 1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g) | 1 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Sumac | not in our table | 0 |
| Salad | not in our table | 0 |
| Endive | not in our table | 0 |
| Peppermint | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- 500 g trimmed shoulder or neck fillet of quality lamb, chopped into 2.5cm chunks
- 2 heaped tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1 level tablespoon ground chilli
- 1 level tablespoon ground cumin
- or finely grated zest of 1 lemon 4 sumac
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 good handful shelled pistachio nuts
- a few handfuls mixed salad leaves, such as romaine or cos, endive and rocket, washed, spun dry and shredded
- 1 small bunch fresh mint, leaves picked
- 1 red onion, peeled and very finely sliced
- 1 lemon
- 1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
- extra virgin olive oil
- 4 large flatbreads or tortilla wraps
- 4 tablespoons fat-free natural yoghurt