Keftedes

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 600 gminced beef or a beef and pork mix
• 1onion, grated
• 2 slicesstale bread, crusts off
• 100 mlmilk or red wine
• 1egg
• 3 clovesgarlic, crushed
• 1 tspdried oregano
• 1large handful mint, chopped
• 1 handfulparsley, chopped
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 1 tbspred wine vinegar

To fry

• 50 gplain flour, for dusting
• olive oil

To serve

• lemon wedges
• tzatziki
• ouzo

Directions

1. Soak the stale bread in the milk or wine until soft, then squeeze it out and crumble it into the meat.
2. Stale bread soaked and squeezed, not dry breadcrumbs. It keeps the meatballs soft and light where dry crumbs make them dense.
3. Grate the onion rather than chopping it, and squeeze out some of its juice.
4. Grated onion disappears into the mix and seasons it evenly, while chopped onion leaves hard raw pieces.
5. Mix everything together with your hands, working it well.
6. Mint is the essential herb here and it goes in by the handful. Greeks would not recognise keftedes without it.
7. The splash of vinegar is a Greek habit and it lifts the whole thing.
8. Cover and chill for at least an hour, which firms the mixture and makes it far easier to shape.
9. Roll into balls about the size of a walnut, with wet hands.
10. Roll them tightly with no cracks, pressing as you go, or they fall apart in the pan.
11. Dust each lightly in flour and shake off the excess.
12. The flour is what gives the thin crisp shell, and it must be a dusting rather than a coating.
13. Heat a generous depth of olive oil in a heavy pan over a medium heat.
14. Fry in batches for 6 to 8 minutes, turning, until deep brown all over.
15. Do not crowd the pan. Packed in, they steam grey instead of browning.
16. Drain on a rack and serve hot or at room temperature with lemon and tzatziki.
17. They are meze above all, eaten with ouzo, and they are as good cold the next day.

Technique

• They are eaten at room temperature as often as hot, which is normal for Greek meze.
• Some households bake them instead, which is lighter and noticeably less good.
• Red wine in place of milk in the soak gives a deeper, more savoury result.

Substitutions

• Lamb or a lamb and beef mix.
• Dried mint if fresh is unavailable, using about a third as much.

Variations

• Soutzoukakia, the Smyrna version, cooked in tomato sauce with cumin.
• Baked rather than fried.
• With grated courgette worked in, as kolokithokeftedes.

History

Minced-meat balls with mint and onion, fried and served cold as meze; the name comes from Persian kofta through Turkish.

Frequently asked questions

What is Keftedes?

Keftedes is a snack from Greece: herbed fried meatballs, classic meze with ouzo. Minced-meat balls with mint and onion, fried and served cold as meze; the name comes from Persian kofta through Turkish.

How long does Keftedes take to make?

Keftedes takes 20 min plus 1 hr chilling of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 24. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Keftedes?

Yes, within limits. Lamb or a lamb and beef mix. Dried mint if fresh is unavailable, using about a third as much.

What is the most important thing to get right in Keftedes?

Grate the onion rather than chopping it, and squeeze out some of its juice.