Okay, so today I tried my hand at making vegetarian çiğ köfte. Now, I’ve had the real deal before, the kind with raw meat, but I’ve been leaning more towards a vegetarian diet lately. So, I thought, why not give the meatless version a shot?
First off, I gotta say, finding a recipe was a bit of a chore. There’s a bunch out there, but they all seem to differ slightly. I ended up picking one that seemed pretty straightforward, mostly because it didn’t call for a hundred different ingredients.
I gathered everything I needed: bulgur, of course, which is like the heart of this dish. Then there’s tomato paste, some spices like cumin and chili, onions, garlic, and parsley. Pretty standard stuff, really.
Getting Started
The first step was to soak the bulgur in hot water. I just dumped it in a bowl and poured enough hot water to cover it, then let it sit for about 20 minutes. The idea is for the bulgur to absorb the water and get all soft and fluffy. That took a bit of time.
While the bulgur was doing its thing, I chopped up the onions, garlic, and parsley. I’m not the best with a knife, so this took me a while. I probably should invest in one of those fancy choppers. And I also prepared my spice mix and measured out the tomato paste.
Mixing it Up
Once the bulgur was ready, it was time to combine everything. I dumped the bulgur, chopped veggies, tomato paste, and spices into a big bowl. And then came the fun part – kneading!
The recipe said to knead for at least 15 minutes. My arms started to ache after about 5 minutes, so I know I need to hit the gym more. It’s supposed to turn into this smooth, dough-like consistency, which honestly, mine never quite reached. It was more like… chunky dough.
Shaping and Serving
After the kneading ordeal, I started shaping the mixture into these little oval patties. This was kind of messy, but also weirdly satisfying. Like playing with Play-Doh, but you can eat it afterward.
- I served them up on a platter with some lettuce leaves, lemon wedges, and a side of pomegranate molasses for dipping.
Taste-wise, it wasn’t bad! Definitely not the same as the meat version, but it had a nice spicy kick and the texture was… interesting. I think I overdid it with the water, my bulgur was a little mushy.
All in all, it was a fun experiment. Would I make it again? Maybe. But I’d definitely tweak the recipe a bit, and maybe invest in a food processor to save my arms from all that kneading. If you are a vegetarian, maybe you can try it.
And That’s all I did today!
