Everyday dinner
Lamb kofta with rice and cucumber salad
Gently spiced lamb kofta with fluffy rice, crunchy cucumber and tomato salad, and lemon yoghurt.
Free guide: thirty gluten-free dinners, with the shopping lists
This complete meal serves four, with three small lamb kofta each, basmati rice, cucumber and tomato salad, and a spoonful of lemon yoghurt. The kofta need no breadcrumbs or egg.
The ingredient list gives the total amount needed for the whole meal, with shared ingredients allocated in the method. Before shopping, subtract only the amounts you already have; no pantry supplies have been assumed. Start with raw lamb mince and dry rice. This recipe is in development and has not been kitchen-tested.
The recipe
Lamb kofta with rice and cucumber salad
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total*
- 50 min
- Makes
- 4 servings
*Estimated development timings. The rice stands for 5 minutes while the kofta finish cooking; this is included in the total time.
Ingredients
Tick things off as you go.
For the kofta
For the rice
For the salad and yoghurt
Shared ingredients for the whole meal
Equipment
- Use a large rimmed baking tray, approximately 35 × 25 cm, with room for twelve kofta without touching.
- Use a 2-litre saucepan with a close-fitting lid and one hob ring.
- Have a mixing bowl, a salad bowl and a small bowl for the yoghurt.
- Use weighing scales, measuring spoons, a measuring jug and a fine sieve.
- Have a chopping board, a sharp knife, a fork and a spatula.
- Use a clean digital food thermometer to check the centres of the kofta.
Let’s make it.
- 01
Prepare the kitchen
Heat the oven to 220°C / 200°C fan. Check the rice packet for its absorption water quantity and cooking time before starting. Clear one oven shelf for the tray and one hob ring for the saucepan. Wash the cucumber, tomatoes and mint, then dry them. Finely chop the mint and separate it into 10 g and 5 g portions. Brush the tray with 5 ml olive oil so its cooking surface has a thin, even coating.
- 02
Make the cold sides
Cut the cucumber into small chunks and the tomatoes into bite-sized pieces. Toss them with 5 g mint, 15 ml lemon juice, 10 ml olive oil and 1/4 tsp salt until lightly coated. In the small bowl, stir the yoghurt with the remaining 15 ml lemon juice until smooth. Cover both bowls and refrigerate while you prepare the raw lamb.
- 03
Shape the kofta
Put the lamb, garlic, cumin, coriander, remaining 10 g mint, remaining 1/4 tsp salt and black pepper in the mixing bowl. Knead briefly with clean hands until the mixture becomes cohesive and holds its shape. Divide into twelve equal portions and form short ovals about 7 cm long and no more than 2.5 cm thick. Space them across the tray without touching. Wash your hands and clean anything that has touched raw lamb before handling ready-to-eat food.
- 04
Bake the kofta
Bake on the middle shelf for approximately 20–25 minutes, turning carefully after 12 minutes. Start the rice as soon as the tray goes into the oven. The kofta should develop browned patches and hold together when turned; browning alone does not confirm they are cooked through.
- 05
Cook the rice
Rinse the rice in a sieve until the draining water looks much clearer. Put it in the saucepan with 600 ml water, or the packet's stated absorption quantity. Bring to the boil, cover and reduce the heat to its lowest setting. Cook for 10–12 minutes, or follow the packet timing, until the water has been absorbed and a tasted grain is tender. If still firm and dry, add 30 ml water and cook covered for another 2–3 minutes, repeating if needed. Remove from the heat and leave covered for 5 minutes while you check the kofta, then loosen the grains with a fork.
- 06
Check and serve
Check the centres of several kofta, including the largest and ones from different parts of the tray, with a clean food thermometer. They must reach 75°C for at least 30 seconds. If any are below this, continue baking and check again, cleaning the probe between checks. Divide the hot rice between four plates and add three kofta to each. Toss the chilled salad again and divide it equally, then add a quarter of the lemon yoghurt to each plate. Serve immediately while the rice and kofta are hot.
Ingredient checks
Use plain lamb mince rather than a prepared kofta mixture, which may contain breadcrumbs. Check the spices, rice, yoghurt, oil, salt and pepper for gluten-free suitability and allergen warnings; use gluten-free-labelled spices where suitability is uncertain. No stock, bottled sauce, flour coating or bread is required. For someone with coeliac disease, prevent gluten cross-contact by cleaning the tray, sieve, boards, utensils and work surfaces, and using ingredients from uncontaminated containers. Keep raw lamb and its utensils away from the salad and yoghurt. Shared ingredients are listed once with their full meal quantities and allocations; deduct only confirmed pantry stock when shopping.
Allergens: Contains milk in the Greek yoghurt.; The specified ingredients do not intentionally include celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, molluscs, mustard, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, soya or sulphites; check the actual products and their precautionary allergen labels.; Gluten-free does not mean suitable for every food allergy, and substitutions may change the allergens present..
Make it work for you
Replace the Greek yoghurt with 200 g plain, unsweetened gluten-free dairy-free yoghurt if needed; check for soya, tree nuts and other allergens, including milk cross-contact warnings.
Replace the mint with the same weight of flat-leaf parsley, keeping the same allocation between kofta and salad.
Replace the tomatoes with 400 g diced sweet pepper for a different salad, retaining the cucumber and dressing quantities.
For another day
Keep leftover kofta, rice, salad and yoghurt in separate covered containers so the cold sides do not need reheating.
Divide leftover rice into shallow portions and chill promptly, ideally within one hour; do not leave it in the saucepan to cool. Refrigerate and use within 24 hours.
Cool cooked kofta and refrigerate within two hours, then eat within 48 hours or freeze promptly after cooling. Defrost frozen kofta in the fridge before reheating.
Reheat kofta and rice only once, until steaming hot throughout, and serve immediately. Follow the shorter 24-hour limit if they have been stored together.
Refrigerate leftover salad and yoghurt promptly and use within 24 hours, or sooner if the yoghurt's use-by date requires it. The cucumber will soften; freezing these cold sides is not recommended.
The main method uses raw mince and freshly cooked rice; do not substitute cooked leftovers into the raw kofta mixture.
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