Çökertme Kebabı

Built on straw potatoes fried twice, which is the actual work of the dish.

Beef. Not vegetarian — contains beef.

Ingredients

the potatoes

• 700 g floury potatoes, cut in fine matchsticks
• oil, for frying, about 5 cm depth
• salt

the beef

• 600 g beef sirloin, in thin strips
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt

to finish

• 400 g thick yoghurt
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste with salt
• 300 g tomatoes, blended and sieved
• 40 g butter
• 1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

Method

1. IT IS BUILT ON STRAW POTATOES FRIED TWICE, AND THE POTATOES ARE THE ACTUAL WORK OF THE DISH. The beef takes four minutes and the sauces are simple; the thing that decides whether this plate is any good is a nest of potato matchsticks crisp enough to stay crisp under yoghurt. That needs two fries at two temperatures: once at about 140°C to cook the potato through without colouring it, then drained and rested, then again at 190°C for ninety seconds to crisp and colour. One fry at one temperature gives either pale limp straws or brown ones still soft inside, and either collapses into wet starch the moment the yoghurt goes on.
2. THE MATCHSTICKS ARE RINSED AND DRIED BONE DRY. Cut fine, rinsed in two changes of cold water to take the loose starch off -- or they stick together in a solid raft -- and then dried properly on a cloth. Wet potato in 140°C oil spits and steams and will not crisp at the second fry either.
3. THEY ARE RESTED BETWEEN THE TWO FRIES AND NOT RUSHED. At least ten minutes on a rack, longer is fine. The surface dries and firms in that time, and the second fry then crisps a dry surface rather than fighting steam from inside.
4. THE BEEF IS CUT THIN AND COOKED IN A SMOKING PAN IN TWO BATCHES. Thin strips across the grain, and a pan hot enough that they hiss. All of it at once drops the temperature, the strips release water and stew grey, and sirloin that has stewed is tough.
5. THE PLATE IS BUILT IN A FIXED ORDER AND EATEN AT ONCE: garlic yoghurt first, then the straw potatoes on top of it, then the beef, then the tomato sauce and the foaming pepper butter. Potatoes under the yoghurt would be soft before the plate reached the table; the yoghurt beneath gives them one layer of separation and buys a couple of minutes, which is all anybody needs.
6. The potatoes cut into FINE matchsticks, rinsed in TWO changes of cold water, and dried BONE DRY on a cloth.
7. The oil heated to 5 cm and brought to about 140°C -- a matchstick should bubble gently without colouring.
8. FIRST FRY: the potatoes cooked in batches 4 to 5 MINUTES, until soft and still PALE. Lifted onto a rack.
9. RESTED at least 10 MINUTES.
10. The yoghurt beaten with the garlic paste and left at ROOM TEMPERATURE.
11. The tomatoes blended, sieved and cooked down 12 MINUTES until thick. Kept hot.
12. The beef strips tossed with the garlic, oil, salt and pepper and cooked in a SMOKING pan in TWO batches, 2 MINUTES a batch. Kept warm.
13. The oil brought up to about 190°C.
14. SECOND FRY: the potatoes returned in batches for 90 SECONDS, until golden and CRISP. Drained on a rack and salted at once.
15. Warm plates. The garlic yoghurt spread over each.
16. The crisp potatoes heaped on the yoghurt, then the beef, then the hot tomato sauce.
17. The butter heated with the pepper flakes until foaming and poured over. Served immediately.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Turkey · All recipes