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Turkish vegetarian recipes

49 Turkish vegetarian recipes, each written for this site and each saying what its method turns on.

• Aşure, sourced from Turkey. Every grain and pulse is cooked separately before they meet, because none of them cooks at the same rate. vegan.
• Ayva Tatlısı, sourced from Turkey. The seeds and cores go into the pan with the fruit, because that is where the pectin is that sets the syrup. vegetarian.
• Bağaça, sourced from Turkey. Leavened with a chickpea ferment started half a day ahead, not with yeast. vegetarian.
• Barbunya Pilaki, sourced from Turkey. It is cooled in its own liquid, which sets to a light jelly around the beans. vegan.
• Bici Bici, sourced from Turkey. A plain starch block is cut into cubes and served over ice shaved fine enough to melt on the tongue. vegan.
• Bülbül Yuvası, sourced from Turkey. The sheet is wrapped round a thin rod and pushed together to pleat before it is coiled, with the centre left hollow. vegetarian.
• Cevizli İrmik Tatlısı, sourced from Turkey. The walnuts go into the batter rather than on top, and the syrup is spiced with cloves and orange zest. Egg, vegetarian.
• Cezerye, sourced from Turkey. Grated carrot is boiled and then roasted dry with sugar until the paste comes away from the pan in one mass. vegan.
• Çiğ Köfte, sourced from Turkey. Nothing is cooked and nothing is heated — the bulgur is worked by hand for half an hour until it binds. vegan.
• Çılbır, sourced from Turkey. The eggs are poached and laid on yoghurt warmed to blood heat, with foaming pepper butter poured over. Egg, vegetarian.
• Dibile, sourced from Turkey. The strips are folded in the hot oil itself and then dipped in syrup, where the dry version is only dusted. Egg, vegetarian.
• Domates Mücveri, sourced from Turkey. You cannot wring out a tomato, so the tomatoes are crushed into the batter and flour does the drying instead of the hands. Egg, vegetarian.
• Dondurma, sourced from Turkey. Salep and mastic make it chewy enough to pull, and it is beaten rather than churned. vegetarian.
• Ekmek Kadayıfı, sourced from Turkey. Made from a dried bread round and no threads at all, soaked until it swells to twice its thickness. vegetarian.
• Ezogelin Çorbası, sourced from Turkey. Three starches at once — red lentils, bulgur and rice — each breaking down to a different degree. vegetarian.
• Fava, sourced from Turkey. It sets firm in a tray and is cut into cubes, not served as a dip. vegan.
• Güllaç, sourced from Turkey. Nothing is cooked — the starch sheets soften in warm sweetened milk in the dish they are served from. vegetarian.
• İmam Bayıldı, sourced from Turkey. No meat at all, an extravagant amount of olive oil, and it is cooled completely before it is eaten. vegan.
• Ispanaklı Yumurta, sourced from Turkey. The eggs are broken into wells pressed into the cooked-down spinach and left whole. Egg, vegetarian.
• İzmir Bombası, sourced from Turkey. The filling goes in frozen, which is the only way the outside bakes crisp while the centre stays liquid. Egg, vegetarian.
• Kabak Tatlısı, sourced from Turkey. Layered with sugar overnight, then cooked in nothing but the liquid that draws out of it. vegetarian.
• Kadın Göbeği, sourced from Turkey. A dimple is pressed into each ball with a wet finger before frying, and it survives the oil. Egg, vegetarian.
• Kalburabastı, sourced from Turkey. The dough is pressed against a sieve to take the riddled pattern, then folded round the walnuts. Egg, vegetarian.
• Kandil Simidi, sourced from Turkey. A biscuit and not a bread despite the name — there is no yeast and it is meant to snap. Egg, vegetarian.
• Kazandibi, sourced from Turkey. The pudding is deliberately burnt against the base of the pan, and that burnt layer is turned out to become the top. vegetarian.
• Keşkül, sourced from Turkey. The almonds are ground and steeped in the milk, then strained out — so it tastes of almond without being gritty. Egg, vegetarian.
• Köylü Pastası, sourced from Turkey. Four ingredients and no sugar in the dough — it is sweetened only by what goes on top. Egg, vegetarian.
• Kısır, sourced from Turkey. The bulgur is soaked in tomato paste and hot water and never boiled, which is where the colour comes from. vegan.
• Lokma, sourced from Turkey. A wet yeasted batter squeezed out between thumb and forefinger, so each one tears off round. vegan.
• Lokum, sourced from Turkey. The starch and sugar are cooked together for an hour until a drop in cold water holds a thread. vegetarian.
• Macun, sourced from Turkey. Five flavours are cooked as five separate pastes and never mixed — they are wound onto the stick side by side. vegan.
• Mercimek Köftesi, sourced from Turkey. The bulgur goes into the hot lentils off the heat and swells in the residual heat, never on the stove. vegan.
• Mesir Macunu, sourced from Turkey. The spices are infused into the syrup and then strained out again, so what sets is clear of grit. vegetarian.
• Muğla Halkası, sourced from Turkey. The fat is olive oil rather than butter, and lemon juice is what brings the dough together. Egg, vegetarian.
• Nevzine Tatlısı, sourced from Turkey. The syrup is grape molasses rather than sugar, and a splash of vinegar sets the bicarbonate working. Egg, vegetarian.
• Piyaz, sourced from Turkey. The onion is salted and rinsed before it goes in, and the dressing is a tahini tarator rather than oil and lemon. Egg, vegetarian.
• Şakşuka, sourced from Turkey. There are no eggs in it, and the vegetables are fried separately and only then put under sauce. vegetarian.
• Şambali, sourced from Turkey. It is cut into diamonds before it bakes, not after, so the syrup runs down the cuts. vegetarian.
• Şekerpare, sourced from Turkey. Each ball is pressed with the thumb and an almond set in the hollow, which is also what stops it doming. Egg, vegetarian.
• Supangle, sourced from Turkey. A layer of plain cake goes in the bottom of each glass and the hot chocolate pudding is poured straight onto it. Egg, vegetarian.
• Sütlü Nuriye, sourced from Turkey. Hot milk is poured over it instead of syrup, which is what makes it pale. vegetarian.
• Şıllık, sourced from Turkey. Thin crepes rather than pastry, folded over ground walnuts and then soaked. Egg, vegetarian.
• Tahinli Pide, sourced from Turkey. The tahini is swirled onto the shaped dough with the fingertips, never rolled up inside it. vegetarian.
• Tel Kadayıf, sourced from Turkey. The butter is rubbed through every strand by hand before any of it is laid in the tray. vegetarian.
• Trileçe, sourced from Turkey. Three different milks soak one sponge, and a caramel is poured over the top to set as a lid. Egg, vegetarian.
• Tulumba, sourced from Turkey. The dough is piped straight into the oil and snipped to length with wet scissors. Egg, vegetarian.
• Türlü, sourced from Turkey. Everything goes in raw and all at once, and nothing is browned first. vegan.
• Yanıksı Dondurma, sourced from Turkey. The milk is deliberately scorched against the base of the pan, and the burnt layer is stirred back in. vegetarian.
• Zerde, sourced from Turkey. Made with water and no milk at all, which is what lets the saffron colour show. vegan.

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