Kofta Kabobs on the Kamado

I'm a huge fan of middle eastern food, and even more so all those small local shops cooking various kabobs over open flame and charcoal. Since purchasing my Kamado I have been looking for an accessory that would allow me to cook kabobs with no grates, but since I could not find one I had to improvise.

The full recipe for my Kofta Kabobs can be found at the bottom of this post, but the majority of this article will focus on the tips and learning's from my first open coal cooks

Tip 1: Make the Kabobs the night before and tightly wrap each in plastic wrap. This will help the kabobs keep their shape and hold onto the skewer when on the grill

Tip 2: Use stainless skewers and not wood for this style of cook, the heat and flames will burn up the ends of your wood skewers and your kabobs will end up in the flames and not on the plate.

Tip3: Because we will be cooking on an angle, you need to use some form of firm vegetable to tip your skewers in order to hold the meat in place. I usually use onion and or peppers, but since the fridge was pretty bare I opted to cut the stem from some broccoli to use as a cap (the mushrooms where my first thought but we all know how well they hold up)

Tip 4: I set up the grill for indirect cooking, using the half moon heat deflector with the grate in the upper position. This gives me the ability to angle to kabobs down towards the flame using the fire bowl lip to hold them in place.

Tip 5: You may want to do a test measure on the length of your kabobs. I made mine a little long and had to squish them down a bot to ensure all the meat was over the coals.

Tip 6: This is an open lid cook for the most part, if you are going to close the dome, stay close by to avoid flare ups.

Tip 7: Rotating Kofta Kabobs on a stainless skewer can be tricky. If the meat is too loose it will spin, so be prepared to use a two hand technique. Once the meat crusts up it will be easier to slip or spin. Keep things moving to avoid deep charring, and move kabobs around in and out of hot spots.

Tip 8: If you having a hard time with flare ups or excessive charring, you can slide the kabobs off the skewers and place them on the grill over indirect heat. Close the lid and finish cooking this way.

I love to eat these in wrap or sandwich form. Today I tossed a few naan breads on the grill to warm them up, and then added shredded lettuce, to mote, sliced onion and Tzatziki (or raita if you have some). These already have some heat to them, but add some hot sauce if you want some added burn.

there you have it, the middle eastern hot dog aka Kofta Kabobs

Ingredients:

1 lb.      Ground Beef
1           Egg
1tsp      Coriander
1/2 tsp  Chili Flakes
1 tbsp   Cumin
1 tsp     Crushed ginger
1 tsp     Minced Garlic
1 tbsp   Chopped Cilantro (or mint)

Lemon Zest (1 lemon)
Salt & Pepper to taste

This recipe is my own take on a Jamie Oliver recipe that can be found HERE

Toppings: Shredded Lettuce, Dices tomato, and thin slices of onion (hot sauce if you must)

Heat Source & Tools

(1) Cowboy Brand Charcoal 
(2) Kamado Joe Heat Deflector
(3) 12" Stainless Steel Skewers