Almost like meatloaf in the Arab world… No Arab family is without this dish, which is among the most popular ones! is delicious with garden salad. Enjoy!!
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 20 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups vegetable oil for frying
- 1 large potato, thinly sliced
- 2 pounds ground beef
- ½ onion, minced
- 3 cloves garlic
- ½ bunch fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground black pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground allspice
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 1 ½ teaspoons cumin
- 1 large tomato, thinly sliced
- ½ onion, sliced
- 2 cups long grain white rice
- 4 cups water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, place potato slices in a thin layer, and fry just until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon, and set aside on paper towels.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the ground beef, minced onion, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, allspice, nutmeg, and cumin. Press flat into a 7×11 inch baking dish. Arrange potato slices over the meat in an even layer. Place tomato slices over the potato. Top with slices of onion. Cover with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove the aluminum foil from the top, and continue to bake for another 15 minutes, or until browned.
- While the kifta is cooking, combine the rice and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender. When kifta is done, cut into squares and serve over rice.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 1626 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 98 g |
| Cholesterol | 136 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Protein | 46 g |
| Saturated Fat | 24 g |
| Sodium | 985 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 117 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
It smelled wonderful but was pretty bland.
I made this today for my Palestinian husband who has been missing the food from Jordan. He loved it and we did too. I poured the extra juice off halfway through cooking, so that it still had enough not to dry out completely, but wasn’t swimming in house and grease from the meat at the end (since I used ground beef instead of lamb). I also drizzled some seasoned tomato sauce over the top of the vegetables before baking, to give it some extra flavor. Will definitely make again!
Absolutely phenomenal. I was more than happy with how this recipe turned out!
I skipped frying the potatoes to save time. Just sliced them thinly and layered them on top. I had no problems with dryness or blandness like a few others have mentioned. This was really easy to throw together. I served it with pita instead of over rice. Tasty! Thanks for sharing!
I made the recipe as written and the meat came out really dry, even though tomatoes and onions released a bunch of liquid (which set on top). Overall the dish had a lot of heat but not a ton of flavor. I do not plan to make it again.
This was very disappointing. I thought it seemed like a lot of spice for the amount of meat, but it was actually quite bland. And one hour was too long to bake this. The meat was dried out by then. The potatoes had an odd texture. Overall, we did not enjoy this and won’t be making it again.
AWESOME. WONDERFUL. Ever since I made this my husband asks for it quite often, my kids love it. Its not hard to make at all we just love this I cant wait to serve it to people THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I love arab and indian food I am SO HAPPY to have found this recipe!!
This was just awesome–really different and fun to try. My husband and three year old son gobbled up this Middle Eastern meatloaf! I especially liked that no eggs were needed in the recipe (most “regular” meatloaf recipes call for them), as my son is allergic. Next time we’ll buy some pita bread and other goodies to make this meal even better!
this was very good. I don’t like meatloaf but like mideast dishes due to the allspice that is found in many of the recipes. I only had 1.29# of ground sirloin. Kept all the measurements as written except for the salt which I reduced to 1 tsp. and a handful of chopped parsley. I think if I had used 2# it would have been a bit bland but I like hearty flavors. I was leary of equal parts nutmeg and allspice but one did not overpower the other. Served over basmati rice w/peas, and steamed garlic green beans. The potato picked up alot of the spice flavor which was nice. I think next time I will not bother to fry the potatoes, just shred them instead and spread over top. All the components complimented the rice nicely. I was tempted to add an egg for fear that it would be dry and tough d/t using ground sirloin, but it was not. I mixed the meat and let it set for about 2 hours for the flavors to blend and then proceeded with layering it and baking. Thank you for the interesting recipe.
great recipe! i used 1.5 pounds of ground beef. very flavorful. way better than regular meat loaf!