The king of meatballs

The King of meatballs

One of the most common dishes in Macedonia and the whole of the Balkans and one of the most beloved comfort foods in this region of the Mediterranean
His Majesty the Pasha meatball or as we call it Kjofte

If you visit Turkey, you`ll see Kjofte meatballs of ground meat in almost every restaurant on every small street from Istanbul to the smallest village.
Some Kjofte are made with bulgur rice, breadcrumbs others are meat only, mostly lamb but sometimes combination of beef and lamb.
This dish is old , Macedonian, our grandmothers and mothers prepared it. It`s Turkish origin is in its name `Pasha` or `Pasa` represents a higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitaries and others. However, Macedonia was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire for almost 5 centuries and many recipes were inherited from the Turkish cuisine. This dish consists of small meatball in a special sauce prepared from flour which we call `Kasha`

Ingredients:

• 500 g minced beef
• 50 g rice
• 1 egg
• 1 grated onion
• finely chopped parsley
• ground black pepper
• 1/4 tbs salt

For the `Kasha`

• 4 tablespoons of flour
• oil
• 1.5 liters of water
• 2-3 tbs tomato puree
• 1 large carrot 
• 5-6 pieces of garlic
• mixed spices, black pepper,parsley, bay leaf

Preparation

1. First boil rice until half cooked 
2. Mix minced meat with onions.Add dried spices, black pepper, salt and parsley and add cooked rice.Mix well everything, then form balls with a size of a ping pong ball
3. Fry meatballs in hot oil
4. When done, remove meatballs from the pot and align on a kitchen paper
5. In the same pot, add carrots to fry a bit, then add the flour to fry just for a little while until it changes color
6. Then pour water and add chopped garlic, black pepper, mixes dried spices to taste, bay leaf and tomato puree and return meat balls in the pot.Leave to simmer quietly until the rice in the balls is fully cooked (about 10-15 minutes)
7. Serve Warm