Oruk

The famous oruk of Hatay: a shell of fine bulgur kneaded with ground beef, filled with lamb and walnuts, shaped into long spindles and fried.

Ingredients

• 300 g fine bulgur (raw)
• 300 g (1¼ cups) warm water
• 200 g ground beef (15% fat)
• 30 g (1½ tbsp) red pepper paste
• 250 g ground lamb
• 150 g onion
• 50 g walnuts
• 20 g (1½ tbsp) butter
• 8 g (1 tbsp) red pepper flakes
• 3 g (1 tsp) cumin
• 2 g (1 tsp) black pepper
• 10 g (2 tsp) salt
• 80 g sunflower oil (amount absorbed while frying)

Instructions

1. 1

   Put the fine bulgur in a large bowl, pour over the warm water, cover and let it swell for 20 minutes; do not boil it.

2. 2

   For the filling, finely chop the onion. Melt the butter in a pan, cook the onion for 4-5 minutes until soft, then add the ground lamb and cook for 8 minutes until the liquid evaporates.

3. 3

   Stir in the coarsely chopped walnuts, half the red pepper flakes, the black pepper and half the salt, then take off the heat and let cool.

4. 4

   Add the ground beef, red pepper paste, cumin and the remaining pepper flakes and salt to the bulgur. Knead with wet hands for 10-15 minutes into a smooth dough that no longer sticks.

5. 5

   Take egg-sized pieces of dough and hollow each one with your index finger into a long, thin-walled shell.

6. 6

   Fill the shells with the lamb mixture, seal the opening and shape them into long spindles with pointed ends.

7. 7

   Heat the sunflower oil in a deep pan to 170 °C and fry the oruk in batches for 5-6 minutes in total, until browned on all sides.

8. 8

   Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

Nutrition

Per serving