Flavours of Istanbul
November 5, 2020 • Written By Lottie Levy
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The menu
Köfte
Turkish street wings
Smoked aubergine
Ezme salad
Pide
Recipes (serves two people)
Köfte (sulphites, milk)
Ingredients
- 250g Lamb Shoulder Mince
- 2 medium onion, finely chopped, cooked until soft and translucent
- 1 garlic clove, crushed and cooked with onions
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp fresh mint
- 1 tbsp fresh coriander
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp preserved lemon, deseeded and sliced (garnish)
- 150g salted yogurt, 1 tsp orange blossom, 1 tbsp Honey
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220oc
- Mix all the ingredients for the köfte together, using your hands to mix the ingredients together. Keep on kneading for about 5 minutes, until the mixture begins to resemble a sort of paste
- Roll into balls about the size of a golf ball and flatten them a little bit
- Sear for 1-2 minutes each side in a frying pan or BBQ on a high heat until caramelised and crisp
- Arrange on two oven baking trays and bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until cooked through
- Serve hot or room temp with other mezze dishes etc
Turkish Street Wings (gluten, milk)
Ingredients
- 100g rice flour
- 100g strong flour
- 20g corn flour
- 100ml butter milk
- 10 large free-range chicken wings
- 500ml chicken stock
- 2 tbsp Belazu shawarma paste
- 2 sprigs of picked dill
- 4-6 Turkish green peppers, blackened and salted in a frying pan 1-2 Minutes
For the Ketchup:
- 100ml tomato ketchup
- 1 tbsp Belazu shawarma paste
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
Method
- Poached the wings in the stock until tender, 10-25 minutes
- Mix all the ketchup ingredients together until well combined and set aside until serving
- Gently coat the wings in the buttermilk, 2 x tbsp shawarma paste then toss with the mixed flours to crumb crimping with your hands to create gnarly clumps, these bits will create extra crunch
- Fry the wings until golden in preheated vegetable oil @190oc
- Drain on kitchen towel and serve with peppers, ketchup, and dill.
Smoked aubergine
Ingredients
- 2 large aubergines/ heirloom
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 60ml olive oil
- 400g diced, de-seeded ripe beautiful tomatoes
- 1 cinnamon stick
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp dark sugar
- 4 cloves garlic, grated
- ½ tsp ground sumac
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp coriander leaves
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley
Method
- Preheat oven to 230oc
- Prick the aubergines and bake until soft and slightly collapsed, 30-40minutes
- When cool enough, peel and scrape out the inside and finely chop by hand dispose of any juices
- Heat the olive oil and cook the spices, tomato, garlic, sugar until soft and fragrant 10-15 minutes
- Fold through the lemon juice, herbs, and aubergine, serve hot or at room temperature.
Ezme Salad
Ingredients
• 300g ripe vine aged tomatoes, diced
• 2 banana shallots, finely diced
• 1 medium red onion, finely diced
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 hot red chilli, de-seeded, diced
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp sumac
• 2 tsp pomegranate molasses
• 5 tbsp parsley, chopped
• 1 green + 1 red pepper, deseeded, finely chopped
Method
- Place all Ingredients in a bowl and mix well until well combined, leave for 1-24 hours in the refrigerator to allow the flavours to com together. The longer the better!
Pide (milk, gluten)
Ingredients
- 450g strong flour
- 1 tbsp dried yeast
- 1 tbsp honey (dough)
- 100ml lukewarm water
- 100ml lukewarm milk
- 10ml olive oil, extra to drizzle
- 1 tsp smoke paprika
Topping:
• 300g salt cured cheese like feta/salata/goats
• Wild honey to taste
• 2-4 black Turkish figs
• Belazu wild zahter herb to taste
Method
- Combine flour, yeast, wild honey, and salt then add the oil, milk and warm water
- Use your hands to combine the dough and knead the mixture for five minutes to activate the gluten
- When you have a soft shine dough cover the bowl and place the bowl in a warm place
- After an hour, the dough should be ready for use. It should have risen a third to double –
If not place it in a warmer environment and leave it a little longer
- Preheat oven to 220oc, prepare two large baking sheets with baking paper, divide the dough into about 8 equal balls, freeze 4 for another time, roll each of the balls out into a thin oval shape, place each of the 4-dough basis on the baking tray
- Pull the Figs apart and divide over the dough bases leaving a 1 1/2 cm border around the outside. Fold the border over the filling and pinch the top and bottom ends together
- Repeat the same steps until all the dough has the Pide filling. Brush each Pide with the olive oil
- Bake the Pide for about 8-16 minute or until golden. Finish with lashings of honey and zahter,
- Cut/tear and enjoy!