Harput köftesi: small bulgur köfte in tomato and basil broth

Harput köftesi is a pot of tiny köfte, each no bigger than a hazelnut, simmered in a red broth of tomato and pepper paste with chickpeas and a handful of basil. It comes from Elazığ, in eastern Turkey, and takes its name from Harput, the old hilltop town above the city. You eat it from a bowl with a spoon, somewhere between a soup and a stew, and you will probably want bread for the bottom.

My family is from Gaziantep, not Elazığ, so this is not my grandmother's dish. I learned it from a neighbour when I first moved to Bristol, a woman from Elazığ who rolled köfte faster than I have ever seen anyone roll anything. She was firm about two things: the köfte must be small, and they must be kneaded until the mixture is smooth. I agreed with her immediately. I have strong feelings about kneading.

Late summer is the right time for it. The tomatoes are ripe and heavy, basil is everywhere, and a light, brothy dish suits evenings that are still warm.

What makes it Harput köftesi

There are many köfte cooked in broth in Turkish home kitchens. A few things set this one apart.

First, the size. These are small, about 10 g each, so that every spoonful holds two or three of them alongside chickpeas and broth. Large köfte would turn it into a different dish.

Second, the köfte mixture is mostly bulgur with meat, not meat with a little bulgur. Fine bulgur gives the köfte a slightly springy bite and keeps them light.

Third, basil. Elazığ cooks are known for using reyhan, a fragrant basil, in their köfte and in the broth. Many add a little chopped basil to the mixture and finish the pot with whole leaves. If your basil is the large sweet Italian kind, that works well too.

The köfte mixture: knead until it is smooth

Soak the fine bulgur in a little hot water for 10 minutes, just until it has softened. Then add the mince, grated onion, pepper paste, spices and chopped basil, and knead. Ten minutes, with damp hands. At first the bulgur and meat stay separate and the mixture crumbles. Keep going. By the end it should be one smooth, sticky paste that holds its shape when you squeeze it, with no loose grains rolling out.

This kneading is what keeps the köfte together in the broth. If you skip it, they break apart in the pot and you end up with a cloudy bulgur soup. Which is not a bad thing to eat, but it is not what you were making.

Grate the onion rather than chopping it, and squeeze out the juice in your fist before adding it. Chunks of onion make weak spots where the köfte split.

Rolling: a plan for a pot of 60

The rolling is the slowest part. Here is what to expect for the quantities below:

Keep a small bowl of water beside you and wet your palms every few köfte. Pinch off a piece the size of a hazelnut, roll it between your palms until smooth, and line them up on a tray. Once all 60 are done, put the tray in the fridge for 15 minutes while you start the broth. Cold köfte hold together better when they meet the hot liquid.

The broth

The broth starts with butter and paste. Fry tomato paste and red pepper paste (biber salçası) in butter until they darken by a shade and smell sweet, then add grated fresh tomatoes and cook them down. If the pepper paste is new to you, there is more about it in the piece on Turkish pepper paste. Then comes hot water, cooked chickpeas and salt.

The broth should be thin when the köfte go in. As they simmer, a little of the bulgur starch comes out and thickens it slightly, so by the end it has some body without being heavy. If you want it thicker, simmer uncovered for 5 more minutes. If it gets too thick on standing, add hot water.

Do not stir too soon

Drop the köfte into the simmering broth one by one, then leave them alone for 5 minutes. Stirring at this stage breaks them. After 5 minutes they have set on the outside and you can give the pan a gentle shake or a careful stir with a wooden spoon.

Recipe

Harput köftesi (small bulgur köfte in tomato broth)

About 60 small köfte, serves 6

Prep

45 min

Cook

35 min

Rest

25 min

Total

1 hr 45 min

Amounts in

cups & spoons grams & ml

Köfte

• 1 cup170 g fine bulgur
• 1/2 cup120 ml hot water
• 9 oz250 g minced beef (about 15% fat)
• 1 small1 small onion, grated and squeezed
• 1 tbsp15 g Turkish red pepper paste (biber salçası)
• 2 tbsp2 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped
• 1 tsp1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp1/2 tsp black pepper

Broth

• 2 tbsp30 g butter
• 1 tbsp15 ml sunflower oil
• 1 tbsp15 g tomato paste
• 1 tbsp15 g Turkish red pepper paste (biber salçası)
• 2 large2 large ripe tomatoes, grated, skins discarded
• 6 cups1.4 litres hot water or light stock
• 1 cup160 g cooked chickpeas, drained
• 1 tsp1 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1 handful1 handful fresh basil leaves
• 11 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve

Method

1. Pour the hot water over the fine bulgur, cover and leave for 10 minutes.
2. Add the mince, grated onion, pepper paste, chopped basil, salt, cumin and black pepper and knead with damp hands for 10 minutes until the mixture is one smooth, sticky paste.
3. Roll the mixture into hazelnut-sized balls of about 10 g with wet palms, set them on a tray and chill for 15 minutes.
4. Melt the butter with the oil in a wide pot over medium heat, add the tomato paste and pepper paste and fry for 2 minutes until a shade darker.
5. Add the grated tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes until they thicken and lose their raw smell.
6. Add the hot water, chickpeas and salt and bring to a steady simmer.
7. Drop in the köfte one at a time and leave them untouched for 5 minutes until they set.
8. Simmer gently, partly covered, for 15 to 20 minutes, shaking the pot now and then, until the köfte are firm and the broth has thickened slightly.
9. Turn off the heat, scatter over the basil leaves and rest for 5 minutes, then serve in bowls with lemon wedges.

Cook's notes

• Rolled raw köfte freeze well on a tray; drop them into the broth from frozen and add 5 minutes.
• Out of tomato season, use 200 g tinned chopped tomatoes instead of fresh.

When it goes wrong

The köfte fell apart

Usually the mixture was not kneaded long enough, or the broth was boiling hard, or someone stirred in the first 5 minutes. Knead longer next time and keep the simmer gentle.

The köfte are hard

They were rolled too big, or simmered too long. Keep them small and check one at 15 minutes: it should be firm but tender when you bite it.

The broth tastes bitter

The paste burned in the butter. It should darken by one shade only, over medium heat, for about 2 minutes.

The broth is flat

Add salt first, then a squeeze of lemon. Most of the time it needs both.

Variations

Some Elazığ families add small cubes of potato to the broth for the last 15 minutes, which makes the pot go further. Others use dried mint in the broth instead of basil when basil is out of season, sizzled for a few seconds in a spoonful of butter and poured on top. A meatless version made with only fine bulgur, a little semolina and plenty of onion and pepper paste also exists in many homes; it needs a bit more kneading to hold together.

Storing and serving

Harput köftesi keeps for two days in the fridge. The köfte keep soaking up broth, so add hot water when you reheat it, and reheat gently so they do not break. Serve it in deep bowls with bread, a lemon half, and a dish of pickles or a fresh salad of cucumber and tomato. If you like this kind of köfte, the stuffed shells of içli köfte use the same fine bulgur in a very different way, and there are more brothy bowls in the soups section.

My neighbour from Elazığ would add one more thing: the last spoonful in the bowl is always broth, so leave room for a piece of bread.