Spiced beef kofta, couscous & lemon yoghurt
Pan-seared cumin beef kofta with fluffy couscous, cucumber–tomato salad and garlicky lemon yoghurt. A complete dinner plate.
At a glance
All meals · 25 minutes active preparation · 40 minutes total · meal
Method range: 4–4 servings.
Contains: gluten, milk, wheat. Check individual packaging and cross-contact information; this is not an allergy-safety guarantee.
Estimated per serving
- Energy
- 2154 kJ
- Protein
- 41.5 g
- Carbs
- 52.2 g
- Fat
- 13.6 g
- Iron
- 5.0 mg
- Calcium
- 162.4 mg
- Folate
- 84.0 µg
- Vitamin C
- 34.0 mg
* Partial ingredient data. Additional cooking losses may not be included. Open recipe for all vitamins, minerals and calculation notes.
Ingredients
Nutrition weights for 4 servings. Changing the batch size keeps the per-serving nutrition the same.
- Lower-fat beef mince, raw500 g
- Brown onion, peeled and raw80 g
- Garlic, peeled12 g
- Ground cumin5 g
- Paprika4 g
- Fresh flat-leaf parsley20 g
- Iodised salt5 g
- Ground black pepper1 g
- Olive oil25 g
- Couscous, dry240 g
- Boiling water for couscous300 g
- Natural plain yoghurt200 g
- Lemon juice45 g
- Lebanese cucumber, unpeeled and raw200 g
- Cherry tomatoes, raw250 g
Method
- Finely grate the onion and mince the garlic. Mix beef, onion including its juice, 8 g garlic, cumin, paprika, half the chopped parsley, 3 g salt and the pepper. Mix just until it holds together, then shape into 12 short oval kofta, roughly 2 cm thick. Wash hands and utensils after handling raw mince.
- Put the dry couscous in a heatproof bowl with 5 g oil and 1 g salt. Add 300 g boiling water, cover and stand for about 5 minutes, or follow the packet water ratio if it differs. Fluff with a fork; if still firm, stir in a small splash of boiling water and cover again.
- Mix yoghurt with the remaining 4 g garlic, 25 g lemon juice and remaining 1 g salt. Halve the tomatoes and dice the cucumber. Toss them with the remaining 20 g lemon juice, 5 g oil and the rest of the parsley.
- Heat the remaining 15 g oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook kofta in two batches, turning to brown all sides, for about 8–10 minutes per batch. Check the centre reaches at least 75°C with a clean food thermometer. Lower the heat if the surface browns before the centre is cooked.
- Divide couscous and salad between four plates. Add three cooked kofta to each and spoon over the lemon yoghurt. Serve promptly. The stated nutrition includes all the measured oil and yoghurt.
Add optional toppings or substitutions to your saved copy to include them in the calculation.
Nutrition
Macros and selected micronutrients. Open All nutrients for the full nutrient and food-component profile. Availability varies by ingredient. Select a nutrient to see which ingredients supply it.
| Nutrient | Amount | Reference comparison |
|---|---|---|
| 2154 kJ | — | |
| 41.5 g | — | |
| 13.6 g | — | |
| 5.9 g | 24%AI | |
| 52.2 g | — | |
| 162 mg | 16%RDI | |
| 69 µg | 46%RDI | |
| 5.0 mg | 28%RDI | |
| 4.00 µg | 167%RDI | |
| 84 µg | 21%RDI | |
| 34.0 mg | 76%RDI |
Estimates from the identified food records, including dated product labels where specified. “Not reported” is unknown; partial totals may be incomplete. Whole-batch amounts are not compared against one person’s daily reference. Per-serving percentages compare one serving with daily RDI/AI targets for Women 31–50 years, not upper limits. Values use foods in their recorded states; additional cooking losses are not modelled unless you select a supported method when editing ingredients.
About this recipe
Editorially reviewed; not kitchen tested. Independently developed and editorially reviewed; not kitchen-tested. Timings are estimates; use stated doneness cues. Original batch size reviewed. Ingredient identity evidence does not certify allergen-free manufacture.
MorselMetrics kitchen ideas · MorselMetrics original recipe content
Original AI-assisted recipe development for MorselMetrics. Editorially reviewed; not kitchen-tested. Nutrition calculated from attributed food-composition sources.
Calculation assumptions & recipe adaptations
Calculated from weighed ingredient inputs using existing AFCD records. Raw/dry weights are specified; noodles and peas use cooked, drained weights. All listed oil, salt and sauce are counted. Cooking losses and drained residues are not separately measured; finished-dish nutrients are estimates. Unknown nutrient values remain unknown. No unlisted garnish or accompaniment is included. Not kitchen-tested.
- Lower-fat beef mince, raw: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Brown onion, peeled and raw: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Garlic, peeled: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Ground cumin: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Paprika: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Fresh flat-leaf parsley: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Iodised salt: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Ground black pepper: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Olive oil: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Couscous, dry: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Boiling water for couscous: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Natural plain yoghurt: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Lemon juice: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Lebanese cucumber, unpeeled and raw: Whole-recipe edible weight.
- Cherry tomatoes, raw: Whole-recipe edible weight.
AFCD attribution, data & methods
Food matches used for nutrition
- Lower-fat beef mince, raw: Beef, mince, lower fat, raw
- Brown onion, peeled and raw: Onion, mature, brown skinned, peeled, raw
- Garlic, peeled: Garlic, peeled, fresh, raw
- Ground cumin: Cumin (cummin) seed, dried, ground
- Paprika: Paprika, dry powder
- Fresh flat-leaf parsley: Parsley, continental, fresh, raw
- Iodised salt: Salt, table, iodised
- Ground black pepper: Pepper, black, ground
- Olive oil: Oil, olive
- Couscous, dry: Couscous, uncooked
- Boiling water for couscous: Water, tap
- Natural plain yoghurt: Yoghurt, natural, regular fat (~3%)
- Lemon juice: Juice, lemon
- Lebanese cucumber, unpeeled and raw: Cucumber, Lebanese, unpeeled, raw
- Cherry tomatoes, raw: Tomato, cherry, raw