Antakya Hot Cig Kofte 500g

What is Cig Kofte?

In Turkish, çiğ means "raw" and köfte means meatball. The word köfte derives from Persian, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root "*(s)kop–" (grind, pound, beaten). It is found in Kurdish and Persian languages as "kōfta (كوفته)" or "kûfte". It is a favorite Kurdish & Turkish snack and a specialty of Kurdish majority southeastern Turkey, especially Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakir and Adıyaman.

Bulgur is kneaded with chopped onions and water until it gets soft. Then tomato and pepper paste, spices and very fine ground beef or lamb are added. This absolutely fatless raw mincemeat is treated with spices while kneading the mixture, which is said to "cook" the meat. Lastly, green onions, fresh mint and parsley are mixed in. Some çiğ köfte makers, particularly in Adıyaman, do not use water in their recipes. Instead of water, they use ice cubes and lemons. One spice that is associated with çiğ köfte, and with Şanlıurfa as a whole, is isot, a very dark, almost blackish paprika, prepared in a special manner, and which is considered as indispensable for an authentically local preparation of çiğ köfte.

A vegetarian version of ciğ köfte may also be made with only bulgur grains. The preparation is similar to the versions that include meat and some cooks also add pomegranate molasses. Depending on the cooks preferences, spices like cumin may be used instead of isot in the preparation of vegetarian versions.

A favorite way of eating çiğ köfte is rolled in a lettuce leaf, accompanied with good quantities of ayran to counter-act the burning sensation that this very spicy food will give.

Although traditional recipe requires minced -raw- meat, the version in Turkey consumed as fast-food (through small franchise shops in every neighborhood of Turkey) must be meatless by law due to hygienic necessities. Therefore, çiğ köfte is, unless specifically made, vegan in Turkey. Meat is replaced by ground walnuts, hazelnuts and potato. Both meaty and meatless çiğköfte varieties are intended to be consumed in the same day it was produced.