Well, I think when you’re phonetically translating a word of foreign origin there’s probably no real wrong way of spelling it–as long as it’s approximately the sound of that word as closely as possible.
I think of kofte as meatballs, so they don’t necessarily need to be on a skewer and, like Hal said, can be fried or baked or prepared any way one would prepare a meatball. Adana kebab is also minced, but it’s definitely grilled on a skewer like other kebabs.
