Turkish lahmacun

Ingredients

• 500g Strong white bread flour
• 10g Fast action yeast
• Sprinkling Corn Flour
• 2 Tomato
• 2 Green Chilli
• 4 Chopped Spring Onions
• Bunch Parsley
• 250g Ground Beef
• 2 tsp Chilli Flakes
• Pinch Ground Cumin
• 1 tsp Allspice
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1/2 Lemon
• 1 Red Onions

Quantities are the original recipe’s. The cost is our own estimate — typical own-brand supermarket prices for these quantities, divided by 4 servings. TheMealDB does not state how many a dish serves, so 4 is our assumption, not theirs. Treat it as “about this much a head”, not a shopping bill.

Method

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Scatter in the yeast, pour over 125ml water and dust flour across the top to cover the liquid. Leave somewhere warm for 15 mins until the surface starts to crack.
2. Work in a further 250ml water and 1 tsp salt by hand, then knead for about 10 mins until smooth and no longer tacky, adding a touch more flour if needed. Cover and leave to prove again in a warm spot for 30 mins until it has doubled.
3. Heat the oven as high as it will go (about 240C/220C fan/gas 9) and dust a baking tray or two lightly with cornmeal.
4. Cover the tomatoes with boiling water, let them sit for a minute, then drain and peel away the skins. Halve them, remove the stalks and seeds, and chop the flesh.
5. Split the chillies lengthways, cut away the stalks, seeds and pale membrane, then rinse. Slice into fine strips and then into small dice.
6. In a mixing bowl, combine the chopped tomato and chilli with the spring onions, most of the parsley finely chopped, the beef mince and the spices. Season with 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper and mix thoroughly.
7. Knead the risen dough briefly, split into four even pieces and roll each into a ball. Flatten each into a thin round and lay on the prepared trays, then spread a thin layer of the meat mixture over the surface.
8. Bake the flatbreads for 10-15 mins until the edges start to colour. Scatter over the remaining parsley and the sliced red onion once out of the oven, add a squeeze of lemon juice, and serve at once.

These steps were written by StreetOwl from the original recipe, in British English, with every oven temperature and cooking time checked against the source. They are not the original author’s words. If anything reads oddly, the original is linked below and it wins.