“Kofteh is a showstopper dish,” says Cody Ma, who, along with his partner Misha Sesar, runs Persian all-day café Azizam, one of our Best New Restaurants of 2024. “It's seen as a feat, especially for larger parties; you hardly ever see it at a restaurant in the US.” At Azizam, Ma and Sesar serve a version of these hearty fruit-and-nut-stuffed balls of beef and grains inspired by the kofteh their grandmothers made growing up—served individually in a pool of sauce and topped with barberries.
Because the mixture of ground beef, basmati rice, and parcooked split peas is particularly tender, it can be a little tricky to form and stuff these oversized balls. At the restaurant, Ma and Sesar make a ball out of the dried fruit and walnut pieces to press into the center of the mixture, but if your fruit isn’t very sticky, it’s easier to add a scoop of the chopped fruit and the nut halves to the top of a flattened meat patty, then wrap the mixture around the filling. —Kendra Vaculin, test kitchen editor
Editor's Note: Lemon omani, also called dried black or Persian lime, is worth seeking out—for this recipe and other braises or stews. Boiled in salt brine, then dried in the sun, just 1 tsp. of ground limes packs a bunch of tart, earthy flavor.
What you’ll need
Large Pot
$55 $48 At Amazon
Medium Saucepan
$50 $39 At Amazon
Dutch Oven
$133 $80 At Amazon
Small Saucepan
$155 At Amazon
