good-quality mince is essential
No self-respecting blog about Turkish food would be complete without a recipe for kuru köfte! The word kuru literally means dry when they are anything but. In fact they are rather moist with a crispy exterior!
These particular köftes are commonly associated with picnics and traveling as they can be eaten cold as well as hot, and pack easily into picnic hampers or lunch boxes.
Turkey is practically synonymous with köfte: every region has its own and there are specific restaurants offering just these. Believe me, the variations are endless.
The word itself comes from the Persian koofteh which means pounded meat and has become kofta in India, Albania qufte, Greece kefthe and Morocco kefta.
What is a köfte?
Basically it consists of ground meat, usually beef or lamb but it could be chicken or fish, or even pulses such as lentils or chickpeas mixed with salt, onion, herbs, and spices. It goes without saying that the better your mince, the better your köfte will taste.
Never buy your meat already minced: ask your butcher to cut off a piece of meat and to mince it fresh in front of you.
these are always finger-shaped
There are two basic shapes which depend not on how you’re feeling but on how they are to be cooked: if fried, you roll them into long finger-like shapes so that there is more surface area for the heat to penetrate.
If grilled, you flatten the meat mixture into the palm of your hand and judiciously pat it into rounds.Makes sense, doesn’t it?
2 slices stale white bread, crusts removed, soaked in water
soaking the bread
- Put the slices of bread in a shallow bowl filled with cold water to soak.
- Remove and squeeze dry before crumbling.
squeezing out all the water
- Place along with all the other ingredients in a mixing bowl and knead well. (One recipe specifies 5 mins!).
adding the beaten egg ……
and then kneading
- Wet your hands (to avoid the mixture sticking) and take a piece the size of a walnut. Roll between your palms into a long fingerlike shape. Continue till all the mince mixture has been used.
- Sprinkle the flour onto a plate and roll the köftes in it.
- Fry in a little sunflower oil or cover with clingfilm and store in the fridge. They freeze beautifully too.
- Serve hot or cold with a green salad and fresh bread or chips and ketchup!
kuru köfte on a plate!
Afiyet olsun!
these look so good i am making them right now! thanks for the recipe!
I love kofte ith a little tzatziki!!!!
Yes that goes brilliantly! Lovely to hear from you! Thank you!
Delicious looking as always my dear xx
Hi Heike! We miss you! How is your dad?
hi claudia…i posted mine and linked to your blog! thanks for this recipe! we just had them for lunch and everyone loved them!!!
You are great! Thanks v much for that and I am so glad they went down well!!! xx
Question: would I just use regular "dana kiyma"? Or what do you recommend I ask for at the kasap? I certainly enjoying eating these at the kofteci but haven't tried making them myself yet. =)
Hi Joy: yes, that's exactly what I would say. You can also ask for köftelik kıyma and they will give the right stuff.Do give it a try!
I can almost smell them cooking reading this. Our region adds a little fat from the lambs tail to make the meat even juicier
And how does that affect the taste? I can imagine it is indeed juicier! But somehow that lambs tail stuff makes me think the taste and smell will be too strong! If you tell me otherwise, I will believe it!
i have heard about using lamb tail fat. i bet that adds flavor! my family loved these. they are so easy and quick! i added lots of garlic too!
My mouth is watering at the moment…..I churn these koftes out every week. Lately we are on a diet so for a couple of months I haven't made them. My Turk husband was lucky that I grew up on these because my background is Ukrainian and my Grandma made the same ones except different shape. Your recipe is exactly like I make mine.
I've heard about the Lamb's tail stuff…..they use to use it in the old Ottaman days, apparently it was very popular then.
Thanks for sharing one of your recipes…love your Blog.
I really really like the sound of this. I am going to try it. I actually have all the ingredients for a change. Dont normally like minced meat, but this has inspired me! Archi