FINDIK LAHMACUN, PICKLED RED CABBAGE AND AYRAN
FINDIK LAHMACUN, PICKLED RED CABBAGE AND AYRAN
A few of my favourite, delicious things, all in one post. Make the pickled red cabbage in advance so that it has time to soften and absorb the juices. The lahmacun can be frozen, wrapped in parchment paper and foil - you can reheat from frozen, at 180c fan / 200c, wrapped, and unwrap and lay them flat for a final minute or two, so they can crisp up again. Please make it.
INGREDIENTS (Makes 32 mini “fındık lahmacun”)
For the dough:
200ml lukewarm water
125ml lukewarm milk
1 tsp caster sugar
7g dry fast action yeast
500g plain white bread flour
1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
For the topping:
1 small onion, peeled, roughly chopped
1 kapya biber / red romano or small red bell pepper, deseeded, roughly chopped
1 green sivri pepper or medium
green chili pepper*, deseeded, roughly chopped
30g fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
2 large garlic cloves
300g lamb or beef mince
2 very large, ripe tomatoes, peeled, roughly chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp hot paprika
1 tsp pul biber
2 tbsp tatlı biber salçası (Turkish
sweet (mild) red pepper paste)
1 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp coarse black pepper
METHOD:
For the dough: Pour the water and milk into a large bowl and gently stir in the sugar, followed by the yeast. Let the yeast activate for 5 minutes or so - you will see the bubbles appear.
Sift the flour into a large bowl, stir through the salt, then add olive oil, followed by the activated yeast liquid and either stir with a large spoon and flip onto a clean surface to knead by hand for around 10 minutes until the dough is soft, pliable and smooth, or knead in a stand mixer for 8-10 mins.
Rub a little extra olive over the dough, tuck the sides under to form a smooth ball, place it back into the bowl, and cover the bowl with clingfilm and a tea towel and leave somewhere warm and cosy for an hour or so until the dough doubles in size (anything between 25-35C is a good cosy temp, sometimes I preheat the oven to it’s lowest setting, turn off, then proof the dough in there with the door slightly ajar).
While the dough is proving, make the topping mixture.
Place the tomatoes in a bowl of hot water, leave for a couple of minutes, then peel off the skins and roughly chop. Blitz together with the onions and peppers in a food processor until finely chopped, pour into a large bowl and mix together well with all the remaining topping ingredients. Refrigerate until the dough has proofed.
Preheat oven to 250c fan / 270c.
Once the dough has risen and doubled in size, take it out of the bowl and gently punch it down a little then divide it into 32 equal sized pieces, roughly 26g each and roll into smooth balls on the surface. Cover them with a tea towel so that they don’t dry out and let them proof again for another 20 mins.
Place 2-3* large, shallow baking trays in the oven (you should be able to fit 4-6 on each tray) and cut out 12 square pieces of parchment paper, approximately 15 x 15cm each.
Roll 12 of the prepared doughballs into roughly 12 cm diameter discs and place each one on the 12 pieces of parchment paper. Top each dough dish with a generous tablespoon full of the topping mixture and spread it out thinly using your fingers making sure you reach the edges of the dough. Carefully take the hot trays out of the oven and lift up the lahmacun, with the sides of parchment paper, directly onto the hot trays and straight back into the oven for 5 to 7 minutes or until the lahmacun have browned on top and are nice and crispy at the bottom. Take them out of the oven and keep them wrapped in foil until the remaining lahmacun are cooked. Serve hot, immediately, or reheat for a few minutes wrapped in parchment paper for the first couple of minutes and then remove the paper for another minute or two so they crisp up again. Top with the onion salad, red cabbage and a squeeze of lemon juice before serving.
* this will depend on the size of your oven, but if you can fit three baking trays in there then obviously you can cook more lahmacun together at one time.
For the onion salad
INGREDIENTS:
1 large red onion, peeled and very finely sliced
1 tbsp sumac
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp sea salt flakes
25g (1oz) fresh flat leaf parsley
leaves, roughly chopped
METHOD:
In a small bowl, mix together with onjon, sumac, olive oil and salt and rub together between your fingers to soften the onions. Add the parsley, rub together a little more then cover and leave to one side / refrigerate until ready to serve.
For the pickled cabbage:
INGREDIENTS:
250 ml (9 fl oz) red wine vinegar
3 tbsp caster sugar
150 ml (9 fl oz) cold water
150 g (5½ oz) red cabbage,
finely shredded
METHOD:
Mix together the vinegar and sugar in a bowl and once dissolved, add the water. Add the cabbage to a large jar or Tupperware box, pour over the pickling liquid, then seal and pop in the fridge for at least a couple of hours before serving.
For the ayran (serves 4):
INGREDIENTS:
400g thick set natural yoghurt
400ml ice cold water
A good pinch of sea salt flakes to taste
Sprinkle of dried mint
METHOD:
Add the yoghurt, water and a pinch of salt to a blender and whizz up until smooth. Taste, (adding more salt and blending again if necessary) then serve topped with a little sprinkling of dried mint.
