Merhaba dear All,
Spiced Bulgur balls over garlicky yoghurt and spinach, Arap Koftesi
Our Turkish cookery course in Amman – Jordan, with wonderful participants and Panthera Jordan
It has been a very special few days, as I traveled to Amman – Jordan for our 2 day Turkish cookery course; my sincere thanks to Panthera Jordan, dear Suhair Kilani for organising our wonderful course and all the amazing participants, it was a very memorable trip. One of the recipes from our Turkish cookery course, Spiced Bulgur balls over garlicky yoghurt and spinach, Arap Koftesi, was a big hit with the participants and I wanted to share with you all here, in this post. Bulgur balls here are deliciously flavoured with dried mint, cumin and red pepper flakes; served over garlicky yoghurt with spinach, it makes a wonderful and impressive vegetarian course, hope you enjoy the recipe below.
- For the bulgur balls:
- 340gr/2cups fine bulgur
- 11fl oz/325 ml hot water
- 2 eggs
- 45ml/3 tbsp plain flour
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- ½ tablespoon red pepper flakes
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- For the yoghurt and greens sauce:
- 500gr lambs lettuce or spinach leaves, washed and roughly chopped
- 500gr/1 ¼ lb strained whole milk yoghurt
- 2 small garlic cloves, finely chopped
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- For the red pepper flakes and dried mint sauce:
- • 30 gr butter
- • 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (please use ½ tablespoon if you like it less spicy, adjust to your taste)
- • 1 tablespoon dried mint
- Rinse the bulgur and press and get rid of the excess moisture, then place in a large mixing bowl. Pour in 10 fl oz / 295ml hot water over first, stir and let the bulgur absorb the water. If bulgur (there could be different versions of fine bulgur) still looks raw, pour in about 1fl oz / 30ml more hot water and combine well. Let the bulgur absorb all the water and let it cool.
- Then stir in the eggs, flour, tomato paste, salt, pepper, cumin and red pepper flakes. Have a bowl of cold water near you, wet your hands and knead the mixture well until all combined, elastic and smooth.
- Sprinkle some flour on a tray where we will put our bulgur balls (this will help the bulgur balls not to stick together).
- Form the bulgur balls as big as a large cherry and place on the tray with flour. Roll the bulgur balls over the flour and make sure they are coated well with the flour.
- Have boiling water in a large pot, stir in a pinch of salt. Gently drop the bulgur balls in to the pan and let it cook, uncovered, on a medium heat, for 8 minutes or so; once cooked, you will see the bulgur balls rise to the top of the pan. Take out the cooked bulgur balls with a slotted spoon and place on a large plate.
- For the yoghurt and greens sauce; mix the garlic with the yoghurt. In a large bowl, combine the garlicy yoghurt with the chopped greens. Season with salt and pepper.
- For the red pepper flakes and dried mint sauce; melt the butter in a sauce pan and stir in the red pepper flakes and dried mint (please adjust the spice level to your taste). Gently stir in the bulgur balls and combine well with this sauce.
- Serve the sautéed bulgur balls over the garlicy yoghurt with greens, immediately.
- Afiyet Olsun.
We are delighted to offer 25 % off on Signed copies of Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book for food lovers around the world, it is delivered worldwide when ordered at this link. Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book is inspired from the lovingly made and shared traditional and authentic Turkish recipes passed down to me from my mother, parents and my grandparents and it is a joy to share with you all.
Ozlem’s Turkish Table podcast with Ghillie Basan – Now Live!
I had the huge pleasure and honor visiting dear Ghillie Basan at her magical wilderness retreat at the Cairngorms National Park last year, where she recorded our wonderful podcast talking about Turkish cuisine, my cookery journey with #ozlemsturkishtable cookery book , growing up in Turkey, my roots from Antakya, stories from home, Turkish hospitality and many more, over a scrumptious Turkish spread we cooked from my cookery book ❤️💐🇹🇷 it was a very special time and I am still full of wonderful memories of our time together in Scotland. The podcast is now live, I copied the link here; I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making the podcast.
Ozlem’s Turkish Table book signing, Supper Club and Cookery Classes in Fethiye
Our Turkish breakfast and Turkish cuisine talk at the Yakamoz Hotel
Ozlem’s Turkish Table book signing at Yakamoz Hotel
We had a magical few days in Fethiye end April, where I did a talk on Turkish cuisine over a scrumptious Turkish breakfast, very kindly hosted by Yakamoz Hotel in Fethiye, followed by Ozlem’s Turkish Table book signings. We also hosted a delicious Antakya style supper club at the wonderful Mozaik Bahce restaurant, with recipes from my book; Mozaik Bahce showcases one of the best examples of Antakya and southern Turkish cuisine and it has been such a pleasure to cook in the kitchen together. Last but not least, we did a hands on Turkish cookery class at the Yakamoz Hotel with their wonderful team; it was a very memorable class – so much that I am already looking forward to being back!
Our delicious Antakya style supper club at Mozaik Bahce – Fethiye
Talking about Turkish cuisine at Mozaik Bahce
Enjoying Mozaik Bahce’s scrumptious mezes
My sincere thanks to everyone joined us in Fethiye, and Yakamoz Hotel and Mozaik Bahce for their very kind hospitality. A very sincere thanks goes to dear Lyn Ward, owner of Fethiye Times , for all her kindness and support for our events, cok tesekkurler – can’t wait to return! A few photos from our memorable time in Fethiye.
Our very memorable Turkish cookery class at Yakamoz Hotel
Strolling through magical Galata, Istanbul
I hope you enjoy the post, recipes and photos from my homeland, Afiyet Olsun,
Ozlem
