İçli köfte: stuffed bulgur köfte with walnuts, boiled or fried

İçli köfte are the köfte that make people stop talking at the table. A thin, crisp or tender shell of fine bulgur, shaped like a small rugby ball with pointed ends, and inside a loose filling of mince, onion, walnuts and spice. The name means "köfte with an inside". In Gaziantep, where I grew up, they turn up at weddings, at Bayram, and whenever an aunt wants to show what her hands can do.

They have a reputation for being difficult. They are not difficult. They are slow, and they need you to knead the shell for longer than feels reasonable. I live in Bristol now and I have taught friends here to make them at my kitchen table; every one of them managed a decent tray on the first try, as long as they did what they were told about the kneading.

This page goes through the process in the order you will do it, with what each stage should look and feel like.

Stage one: the filling, made first and cooled

The filling has to be completely cold before you shape anything. Warm filling softens the shell from the inside and makes it tear. So make it first, spread it on a plate, and put it in the fridge while you work on the shell.

Picture the pan halfway through: the mince has gone from pink and clumped to brown and crumbly, the onions have turned soft and translucent, and the fat is pooling at the edges. That is when the spices and pepper paste go in. Cook for another minute, take the pan off the heat, then stir in the walnuts and parsley. The walnuts are added off the heat so they stay crunchy. The finished filling should look loose and slightly moist, not greasy and not dry.

Chop the walnuts by hand to the size of lentils. A food processor turns them to paste in a second, and you lose the bite that makes içli köfte what it is.

Stage two: the shell, and why you knead it so long

The shell is fine bulgur (the very fine grind, almost like coarse semolina), softened with warm water and then kneaded with a little lean mince and flour. The mince is not there for flavour as much as for structure: its proteins act like glue. Use the leanest beef you can find and, if you have a butcher, ask for it minced twice.

Pour the warm water over the bulgur, cover and leave it for 20 minutes. When you come back, the grains will have swollen and the bowl will look like damp sand. Now add the mince, flour, pepper paste, salt and cumin, and knead.

Knead for at least 15 minutes. I mean it. Wet your hands from a bowl of water beside you every minute or so, and push the mixture away from you with the heel of your hand, fold it back, turn, repeat. At the start it is crumbly and the grains feel separate. After about 8 minutes it starts to hold together. Somewhere between 12 and 15 minutes it changes: it becomes smooth, slightly shiny, and sticks together like a soft dough, with the red of the pepper paste spread evenly through it.

The pinch test

Before shaping, take a piece the size of a walnut and press it flat between your palms until it is about 3 mm thick. Look at the edges. If they crack in several places, knead for 3 more minutes, adding a spoonful of water. If the disc holds a clean round edge with perhaps one small crack, you are ready.

Stage three: shaping the shell

This is the part people worry about. Here is how it goes, described as if you are watching over my shoulder.

Wet your hands. Roll a piece of shell into a ball a little larger than a walnut, about 40 g. Hold it in your left palm. Push your right index finger into the centre to make a hole, then start turning the ball around your finger while pressing gently against your left palm. The ball becomes a hollow cone, then a long thin cup. Keep turning and pressing until the walls are about 3 mm thick, roughly the thickness of two coins stacked together. If you hold it up to the window, the thin parts should look almost see-through at the edges.

Put a heaped tablespoon of cold filling inside, about 20 g. Do not overfill. Then bring the open edge together, pinching gently as you turn, until it closes. Smooth the seam with a wet finger and pull the ends into points. You should have a shape a little longer than your thumb, plump in the middle.

If a shell tears, patch it with a pinch of extra dough and a wet finger. Nobody will know.

A shaping plan for a tray of 20

Weighing the first two or three makes the rest consistent. After that your hands will remember.

Stage four: boil or fry

In Gaziantep both are common. Boiled içli köfte have a soft, slightly chewy shell and taste of the bulgur and pepper. Fried ones are crisp and deep brown outside. Boiled ones are lighter and can be fried later, which is a trick worth knowing.

To boil, bring a wide pan of well-salted water to a simmer, not a rolling boil, and slide the köfte in a few at a time. After 4 to 5 minutes they float. Give them 2 more minutes, then lift them out with a slotted spoon.

To fry, heat oil 5 cm (2 inches) deep to 175°C (350°F). Without a thermometer, drop in a crumb of shell: it should sizzle at once and rise within a few seconds. Fry four or five at a time for 4 to 5 minutes, turning, until mahogany brown all over. Drain on kitchen paper.

Recipe

İçli köfte (stuffed bulgur köfte)

Makes about 20 köfte, serves 6 to 8 as a starter

Prep

1 hr 15 min

Cook

40 min

Rest

30 min

Total

2 hr 25 min

Amounts in

cups & spoons grams & ml

Filling

• 1 tbsp15 g butter
• 9 oz250 g minced beef or lamb (about 20% fat)
• 2 medium2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 1 tsp5 g Turkish red pepper paste (biber salçası)
• 1 tsp1 tsp pul biber (red pepper flakes)
• 1/2 tsp1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup80 g walnuts, chopped by hand to lentil size
• 1/2 cup15 g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Shell

• 2 cups340 g fine bulgur
• 1 cup240 ml warm water, plus more for kneading
• 5 oz150 g very lean minced beef, minced twice if possible
• 1/4 cup30 g plain flour
• 1 tbsp15 g Turkish red pepper paste (biber salçası)
• 1 tsp1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp1 tsp ground cumin

To cook

• about 4 cupsabout 1 litre sunflower oil for frying, or salted water for boiling

Method

1. Melt the butter in a frying pan and cook the mince over medium-high heat for 8 minutes, breaking it up, until brown and crumbly.
2. Add the onions and cook for 8 minutes until soft; stir in the pepper paste, pul biber, allspice, black pepper and salt and cook for 1 minute.
3. Take the pan off the heat, stir in the walnuts and parsley, spread the filling on a plate and chill until completely cold.
4. Pour the warm water over the fine bulgur, cover and leave for 20 minutes until swollen.
5. Add the lean mince, flour, pepper paste, salt and cumin and knead with wet hands for 15 minutes until the mixture is smooth, slightly shiny and holds together.
6. Press a walnut-sized piece flat to 3 mm; if the edges crack badly, knead 3 minutes more with a spoonful of water.
7. Roll a 40 g ball, hollow it around your finger into a long cup with walls about 3 mm thick, fill with about 20 g of cold filling and pinch closed into a point at each end.
8. To boil, simmer the köfte a few at a time in well-salted water for 6 to 7 minutes in total, about 2 minutes after they float, and lift out with a slotted spoon.
9. To fry, heat the oil to 175°C (350°F) and fry four or five at a time for 4 to 5 minutes, turning, until deep brown; drain on kitchen paper.
10. Serve warm with lemon wedges.

Cook's notes

• Freeze shaped raw köfte on a tray, then bag them; boil or fry from frozen, adding 2 to 3 minutes.
• Boiled köfte can be fried the next day for a crisper, sturdier shell.

Cook's questions

Can I use coarse bulgur?

No. Coarse bulgur will not knead into a smooth dough, and the shell will split. You need the finest grind you can find. Keep the coarse bulgur for pilaf.

Why did my köfte burst in the water?

Usually one of three things: the water was boiling too hard, the shell was too thin at one spot, or the seam was not sealed well. Keep the water at a gentle simmer and smooth every seam with a wet finger.

Can I make the shell without meat?

Yes. Many households make a meatless shell with fine bulgur, a little more flour and some semolina, kneaded with water and pepper paste. It is a little more fragile, so make the walls slightly thicker, about 4 mm.

How far ahead can I shape them?

Shaped raw köfte keep in the fridge, covered, for up to a day. For longer, freeze them.

Serving

Serve içli köfte warm, with lemon wedges for squeezing over and a plain green salad or a salad of parsley, onion and sumac. For a fuller spread, put them next to kısır and a bowl of yogurt, or make them the centre of a meze table with mercimek köftesi beside them. Boiled içli köfte are also served in some homes in a yogurt sauce, warmed gently so it does not split. If you want more köfte and stuffed dishes, the mains section has the rest.

My last piece of advice is the same one I give in my kitchen: do not judge your first three köfte. The fourth one is always better.