Lahmacun and Ayran

Lahmacun is well-known Turkish food which made of a thin, mostly circular piece of dough topped with ground beef or lamb, onion, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, parsley and spices. It is generally served with “ayran”, a traditional Turkish drink consisting of yogurt, water and a pinch of salt.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Waiting Time: at least an hour

Baking Time: 7 minutes for each

Serving: 10

INGREDIENTS:

For the dough;

250 ml lukewarm water
250-300 gr (plus for dusting) all-purpose/bread flour
1 tsp salt

For Filling;

300 gr ground beef (50% fat)
2 tomatoes, finely grated (middle size)
50 ml olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped (middle size)
1 red pepper, finely chopped
2 green peppers, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Parsley (a handful), finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
¾ tsp red pepper
1 tsp black pepper
Sumac (optional)

For Ayran;

200 ml water
50 gr Greek yoghurt
Salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

Into a stand mixer bowl with dough attachment, pour the water then add the salt and flour carefully. Start to mix until everything holds together well. It should neither stick to your hands nor be too firm.

Cover with cling wrap and let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour.
In the meantime, to prepare the filling, into a food processor pulse the onions first then squeeze the juice out of onions and transfer into a bowl.
Do the same for other ingredients (tomatoes, red and green pepper, garlic, parsley) and put into the bowl.
Add the spices, tomato paste, olive oil.

Put the ground beef and mix them with your hand.

Divide the dough into a small ball. Each dough should be apprx 50-55 gr.

Preheat the oven to 230C/450F
Roll each dough out into a circle about 2mm thickness by dusting flour as much as needed. As you are rolling one of them out, keep with cover the rest.

Place the dough on the baking tray.
Put the prepared mixture on it and provide it to spread all over the dough by using your fingers.

Bake each dough on the lower rack of the oven about 7 minutes.
Repeat the same process for each dough.
To make ayran; mix water, yoghurt and salt until smooth.
Lahmacun can be served parsley, onion (cut into thin circle) with sumac or slice of lemon and ayran.

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