Recent shopping for a camera cable got me into yet another enlightening conversation I always find myself having with the locals – on the matters of Turkish food. A few days ago I came back to Istanbul from Sapanca and realized that I had left the camera cable at our countryside place. Getting a new one would be a major undertaking in many cities I have lived in but not in Istanbul. A few minutes after the realization I was already in Kadıköy at one of those han (little business center) packed with electronic stores. I found one selling cables of any possible kinds and could even be customized as appeared from a man fussing with a rather complex adapter system including many cables, cutoff points and such. I was immediately handed out the exact cable I needed.
In a Turkish manner chatting about anything cables but cables with the shop owner, a dark-haired man with Georgian nose, we came to the point when I explained what I am doing. In fact, a way to this point is never too long because “what do you do for a living?” is pretty much the first question you ask when you meet somebody in Turkey. If you are a foreigner this question is preceded by other compulsory questions such as where you are coming from, where your family is and whether you are married or not.
After I mentioned my professional interest in Turkish food the cable store owner started quizzing me. Do you know this dish and that? I have noticed that this is a very common reaction and most of the time people measure my competence in Turkish cooking by asking whether I know how to make hünkar beğendi, tender chunks of lamb served on the bed of charcoal-grilled eggplant puree.
When I started listing ingredients of the eggplant puree an awaiting customer at a store, a woman, interrupted me to say that the dish in question was just meat with eggplant. I realized someone felt challenged and the stakes were rising. The store owner asked if I know içli köfte. I said of course I do and he was bewildered by the mere possibility. “How can you know?” – he asked. “I am from Mardin and our young women don’t know how to make one any more”.
How can I know indeed? I was asked this question — silently or explicitly — so many times. Most of the time I am sure I can’t satisfy with answer.
Because the answer is not unlike the explanation of my dad as to how he lost over 50 kg and transformed himself beyond recognition within less than half a year. Many people who have not seen him for a while do not recognize him and it took me a few days to get used to the new version of my day as we met after the half-a-year of no see.
So many beg him to reveal the secret of this supernatural physical transformation. Pills? Wonder-belt or bracelet that allows you eat and lose weight? Black magic? My dad says that every time he gives an answer people loose interest. My dad read thousands of pages, analyzed them, created his system with trial and error and made it work. When he explains “his recipe” that is still work in progress by the way as he continues exploring, documenting and learning no one asks any more questions. We seem to assume that people are either born (“She just never gets fat, that’s her constitution”) with a certain skill or desired condition or there must be a magic pill to get there (“Eat and lose weight” kind of products). Putting little bit of work into something sounds less attractive.
 |
 |
Being my father’s daughter no wonder I have applied the same system to learning Turkish cooking: it really is about leveraging your intellectual capacity and self-discipline. I have found a fantastic teacher to learn from who has become my mother-in-law. I have used so many other sources – books, blogs, videos. I provoke locals to talk about food most of the time: cross-checking the things I have read, observed or heard from another source. And I spend crazy amount of time trying to recreate the flavors I discover because this is how they come – always without a proper recipe. It took my 5 trials to nail down the recipe of my mother-in-law’s savory turnovers (poğaça). I cooked the fish cakes I love so many times in my head before I launched into the actual making.
So what could I tell to the cable store owner from Mardin? That our staff member is from Mardin and their family regularly sends içli köfte to our house as a gratitude? That I joined my mother-in-law in making those a few times? That I read so much about the dish that is known to most of the world as kibben and cooked in dozens of way unheard of in Mardin? That it took my so many tries to eventually make the shell as thin as possible, signature of an experienced içli köfte maker?
No, I did not. Because in food I don’t believe in beating your chest to prove how great your mastery of food is. I am convinced that any food can be learned and made your own if you are humble enough to learn at any opportunity and then laboriously apply that knowledge. I told him I’ve learned Mersin version of içli köfte from my mother-in-law and asked if he had a suggestion about good Mardin restaurant in Istanbul. And he was happy to hand out the address.
Içli Köfte with Green Peas and Tahini-Yogurt Tarator
Typically içli köfte are made with minced meat included both in the dough and the stuffing. I have created a vegetarian version with green peas as here in Turkey we are enjoying their season right now. You may replace with frozen green peas, if making at other times; or even better — experiment with the seasonal produce: pumpkin, carrot or potato in winter could all be suitable replacements.
They don’t have to be as large as mine but I quite enjoy making them rather huge as with ravioli when just one is served as a starter and you can have a few for the main course.
If you have hard times finding very fine bulgur for içli köfte you may want to replace it with semolina.
Prep Time: 40 Min
Cook Time: 20 Min
Total Time: 1 Hr
Serves: 4
Ingredients
Stuffing:
- 2.5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 medium onion
- 3 large cloves garlic
- 2.5 cup/ 375 g fresh green peas
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 2.5 tbsp tahini paste
- 60 g walnuts coarsely chopped
Dough:
- 1 1/2 cup very fine (içli köftelik) bulgur
- 3/4 cup boiling water
- 1/2 medium onion finely grated
- 1 1/2 tsp high-quality tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tsp red bell pepper paste can be replaced with more tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tbsp dry mint
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
Tahini-yogurt tarator:
- 9 tbsp Greek yogurt
- 4.5 tbsp tahini paste
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 6 tbsp parsley finely chopped
- salt to taste
Directions
- Prepare stuffing: Warm up a small pan and pour in the olive oil. Saute the onions on the medium heat, until just start turning golden (about 3-5 min). Toss in the garlic, fresh green peas, the spices and about 1/2 cup water; continue cooking on the medium heat, until the peas soften (about 20 min). Transfer the cooked peas into a food processor and pulse into a paste. Stir in tahini and walnut chunks — the içli köfte stuffing is ready.
- Make içli köfte dough: Combine very fine bulgur and water and set aside covered for 15-20 minutes for the bulgur to absorb the water. Then add the rest of the dough ingredients and knead really well for a few minutes — they dough will be soft but fairly dense.
- Form içli köfte: Divide the dough into the balls size of a large walnut (about 40 g each). Prepare a bowl of cold water to dip your fingers as work so that the surface of the köfte looks smoother and the dough does not stick. Now holding one ball in your left palm make a well in it with the index finger of your right hand: while you turn your left palm with köfte counter-clockwise, your right hand index finger moves clockwise. Then apply more pressure to thin the sides and turn your köfte into a bell. If you think the sides are thin enough — thin them more; this is really important — if the dough it too thick it will not cook through and will not be fun to eat — at all! Fill your bell with the stuffing (about 2 tbsp per 40 g kofte) leaving about 1 cm on top and close the köfte. Wet your hands again and roll your köfte into a ball. Set aside and continue with the rest of the köfte.
- Prepare tahini-yogurt tarator: Whisk yogurt, tahini paste and lemon juice and mix in parsley. Salt to taste.
- Cook içli köfte: Fill a large pot with water, salt as you would for cooking pasta and bring to boil. Transfer the köfte in the pot and cook for about 20 minutes, until the shell is soft. Serve immediately with tahini-yohurt tarator sauce.
