Beef kofta and rice

Place ground beef in a wide bowl, add cumin, sumac, black pepper and salt. Knead with both hands eight minutes until the mixture turns pale and tacky; this gives the kofta its bind.

Wet your hands. Take eighty grams of mixture, roll into a ten-centimetre cylinder thickness of two centimetres. Repeat for ten kofta. Rest in fridge ten minutes so they hold shape during searing.

Heat two tablespoons of ghee in a heavy skillet over medium-high. Sear the kofta four minutes per side without moving so the crust forms. Lift onto a warm plate, do not clean the pan.

Add the remaining ghee to the same pan over medium heat. Add rinsed dry rice and the bay leaf, stir three minutes until each grain glistens and gives off a gentle nutty fragrance.

Pour 640 millilitres of hot water and a pinch of salt, scrape the caramelised meat juices into the rice. Cover, lowest heat, cook eighteen minutes. Rest off heat four.

Place the kofta on top of the rice for the last three minutes covered to warm through. Serve straight from the pan, the bay leaf removed. A sprinkle of extra sumac brightens the plate.