🌶️ Çiğ köfte (vegan bulgur köfte)

Name: Çiğ köfte (vegan bulgur köfte)
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Turkey · Şanlıurfa and southeastern Anatolia
Ingredients: 250 g fine bulgur; 3 tbsp tomato paste; 1 onion, grated; 2 tbsp isot pepper (Urfa chilli flakes); 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped; 1 tsp salt, 100 ml hot water; Lettuce leaves and lemon wedges to serve

Origin: Turkey · Şanlıurfa and southeastern Anatolia

195kcal

per serving · 150 g

130kcal

per 100 g

6 gProtein4 g / 100 g

3 gFat2 g / 100 g

38 gCarbs25 g / 100 g

Çiğ köfte is a spicy Turkish appetiser made by kneading fine bulgur with tomato paste, onion, isot pepper and cumin until it becomes a soft, cohesive paste. Today it is made without meat, so the bulgur softens through long kneading rather than cooking. It is shaped into small fingers, sprinkled with parsley and eaten wrapped in lettuce leaves with a squeeze of lemon.

Diets

✓

Vegetarianno meat or fish in a typical recipe

✓

Veganno meat, fish or animal products in a typical recipe

✓

No pork

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

Contains glutenbecause of: bulgur

Not keto25 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten

What it is made of

bulgurtomato pasteonionisot peppercuminparsley

Recipe

6 servings45 min

Ingredients

250 g fine bulgur
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 onion, grated
2 tbsp isot pepper (Urfa chilli flakes)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp salt, 100 ml hot water
Lettuce leaves and lemon wedges to serve

Method

Put the bulgur in a wide bowl, add the onion, isot pepper, cumin and salt and start kneading.
Add the hot water little by little and knead firmly for 15–20 minutes until the bulgur softens.
Knead in the tomato paste until the mixture is smooth, red and holds together.
Mix in most of the parsley.
Squeeze small portions in your fist to form finger shapes and serve with lettuce leaves, lemon and the remaining parsley.

How to make it lighter

Çiğ köfte has no added fat in this recipe — wrap it in lettuce rather than flatbread to keep it light.
Add extra parsley, tomatoes and cucumber on the side to bulk up the plate.
Portion by pieces: four or five fingers with salad make a reasonable snack.

History

Çiğ köfte is strongly associated with Şanlıurfa and southeastern Turkey, where it was traditionally kneaded with raw meat. Commercial sale of the raw-meat version is restricted in Turkey, and the meat-free bulgur version now sold by çiğ köfte shops nationwide has become the everyday standard.

Count it in one photo

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →