Turkish delight

The Mediterranean region is endowed with great food. Greek cuisine, which I spoke about last week, is delectable, but equally versatile is Turkish food. Turkish cuisine has the advantage of being at the turning point of the Far-East and the Mediterranean, which mirrors a long and complex history of Turkish migration. The country has been ruled by the Persians, Seljuk, Hittites, Romans and Greeks. Therefore, the food is reminiscent of the flavours of these countries. The predominant influence though, is of the Ottoman Empire. Burghul (cracked wheat), tahini, eggplant, feta, tomato paste, yogurt, rosewater are typical ingredients in Turkish homes and are used in abundance in most of their preparations. As in Greek cuisine, here too, meze is the most frequently eaten meal in Turkey. Consisting of a number of small dishes, such as baked aubergine with onion and tomato or stuffed vegetables, meze is served before the main course. Soup translates into corba in Turkish. Mercimek broth, made from lentils or ezo gelin, made with lentils and tomatoes are the most popular. The kebab may be the hallmark of this cuisine, but it is just a small portion of what Turkey has to offer. There are vegetables galore in the Turkish diet: eggplants and zucchini are stuffed and grilled. Capsicum is typically added to casseroles, stuffed and grilled, or used to make biber salca, a hot roast capsicum paste that’s a vital ingredient in sauces and pilafs. Yogurt forms the base for most dips and sauces. Dolma is the generic term for stuffed vegetables. There are two types of dolmas: those filled with a meat mix or with a rice mix. The latter are cooked in olive oil and eaten at room temperature. Meat dolma eaten with a yogurt sauce is a common main course dish. Meat apart, the Black Sea, Aegean, and Sea of Marmara provide an endless resource of fish and shellfish. Spices are used in abundance and though burghul is the staple, in certain regions, rice takes over. While it is believed that coffee is the preferred drink in this region, actually, it is tea. Turkey is the fourth-largest consumer of tea. It is served black, with sugar, in small tulip-shaped glasses. The national alcoholic drink of is raki, which is flavoured with aniseed. Made in a multitude of flavours, no meal is complete without the Turkish delight. A gentle scent of rosewater adds an exotic note to this sweetmeat. Although of Middle Eastern origin, baklava (pastry filled with chopped walnuts or pistachios and sweetened with syrup or honey) is also popular.

Spiced Lamb and Feta Gözleme Recipe by Sandeep Pande, executive chef, Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel Ingredients For the Gözleme dough: 7 gm sachet fast-action dried yeast 1 tsp golden caster sugar 250 gm plain flour 2 tbsp olive oil For the filling: 1 tbsp olive oil, extra to finish 500 gm pack lamb mince 2 garlic cloves, crushed 2 tsp ground cumin 2 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp mild chilli powder 50 gm raisins Zest of 1 lemon 3 spring onions, finely sliced 50 gm toasted pine nuts 100 gm feta cheese For the sauce: 8 tbsp tomato ketchup 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses 1 tbsp finely chopped red onion

Method For the dough, mix the yeast, sugar and 175 ml lukewarm water in a bowl. Stir to dissolve the yeast. Set aside for 10 mins, or until liquid starts to froth. Mix the flour with tsp salt in a big bowl. Make a well in the centre, pour in the yeasty mixture and olive oil, and mix to a dough. Knead for 10 mins, then put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with oiled cling film. Leave somewhere quite warm until doubled in size. Meanwhile, make the filling. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the mince and fry, breaking up lumps as you go, until well browned. Stir in the garlic, spices and raisins, and fry for a few more mins, then turn off the heat and stir in the lemon zest, spring onions, pine nuts and seasoning. Set aside to cool. Divide the dough into 4. Working a piece at a time, roll out on a lightly floured surface to 25 x 30cm, without the dough splitting. With a long edge of the pastry laying in front of you, spoon of the mince on the bottom half — leaving a 2 cm border all round. Crumble over of the feta. Fold the other half of the dough over the filling, folding in and pinching the edges to seal. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Heat a large frying pan over a high heat and brush the gozleme all over with oil. Cook in batches for 3-5 mins on each side, or until golden and heated through. Quickly mix the tomato ketchup, pomegranate and onion, and serve with the hot, crispy gözleme.

Kofte tagine Recipe by chef Azad Taslim Arif, Otto Infinito

Ingredients 15 gm carrot 15 gm fried okra 15 gm zucchini 15 gm roasted baby potato 10 gm fried aubergine 10 gm peppers 50 gm Moroccan couscous 50 gm tomato sauce 15 gm cumin powder 15 gm garlic 5 gm cinnamon powder 10 gm onion 2 gm fresh coriander leaves 10 gm fried pumpkin 5 gm cardamom powder 5 gm coriander powder 3 gm pomegranate 5 gm olives 20 gm canned apricot 0.5 gm bay leaf 5 gm cumin powder 1 gm tajine mashala 4 gm Californian prunes 100 gm couscous 10 gm fresh parsley 120 gm minced meat, chicken

Method Make your kofte by placing the minced meat in a medium-size bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients, chopped onion, garlic, cumin powder and salt to it and knead well. Scoop up egg-sized pieces of the mixture and roll them by hand into short stubby “fingers”. Keep them aside for a few minutes. Heat oil in a pan and sauté onion and garlic. Add the bay leaf, coriander powder, cumin powder, cinnamon powder, cardamom powder, olives and and sauté well. Add the dices of vegetables and mix. To this mixture, add tomato and mix thoroughly. Now throw your premade koftes into this sauce and let it simmer for 7-8 minutes with lid on. Check if the kofte are cooked. Season and serve along with couscous and garnish with pomegranate and chopped coriander.