Stage #1
Put all the dry ingredients together in a bowl and start mixing until they are all combined. Stop when it’s a uniform colour.
You can add more or less spices, in the East of Turkey they add a lot of isot and pepper making the çiğ köfte darker and stronger tasting. In the West it’s a softer flavour and colour.
Stage #2
Gradually add the the oil and start kneading. Keep a bowl of warm water to dip your hands in and you can add some drips here or there to add moisture to the mix. When the ingredients are combined enough to make a kind of ball, you can check and adjust the levels of spices and then… keep kneading for 1 to 1.5 more hours. Or if you have a stand mixer then put it on the knead setting and let it go until it is soft and combined, 40 minutes or so. You will see the separate bulgur granules still but It will be like a paste and when you taste it, it won’t have any graininess. If it doesn’t get wet enough, you can add some warm water.
Add the parsley and knead for 5 more minutes.
Then put a cover over the bowl and rest it for an hour.
After an hour shape the kofte with your fingers. The traditional shape comes from pressing it between your fingers so you can see clearly the finger impressions and it’s sort of bumpy log.
To serve, rip up a lettuce leaf and place the çiğ köfte inside, add a leaf or two of mint, squeeze some lemon juice and a drizzle of sour pomegranate molasses. (Try to get the Turkish pomegranate molasses as it’s sourer and differs from the bolder North African and Arabic types.) You can add some Turkish pickles to the side too.
Serve with Turkish tea.
Thanks again to Tony Sak for the recipe
See Tony’s other kofte recipes.