Kıymalı börek (Turkish style minced meat pasty)

Merhaba From Türkiye 👋

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Börek in Turkish refers to any meal made from Yufka (phyllo dough). Thinly rolled pastry, often the paper-thin variety known as yufka, is wrapped around various savory fillings or arranged in layers . The myriad types of börek are unmatched delicacies when cooked to perfection. Boreks can be fried, baked, cooked on a griddle or boiled. Traditionally it was said that no girl should marry until she had mastered the art of börek making. Preferred fillings are cheese, minced meat, spinach and potatoes. In the form of rolls filled with cheese or minced meat mixtures and fried, böreks are known as "Sigara (cigarette) boregi". Böreks should be light and crisp, without a trace of excess oil.

Börek's type also named by it shape... Like I made today known as Kol böreği  is prepared in long rolls, either rounded or lined. Generally filled with minced meat or you can vary them with feta cheese, spinach or others. This Börek is commonly eaten during breakfast or brunch with hot Turkish-style tea or with ayran.

Now I will share my recipe how to make this Börek at home

 Ingredients for filling:
- about 500 gr minced meat (you can use beef or lamb)
- 2 big onions, finely chopped
- 2 stalks of leek, finely chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tbsp butter

Make filling:

1) Melt about 1 tbsp butter in a pan, saute chopped onion just until wilted, transparent and fragrant. Stir in minced meat. Cook for a few minutes until a change in color.
2) Season with salt, pepper, and cumin, stir fry for a few minutes before adding in chopped leek. Just stir for 2 minutes and remove from heat. set aside.

For the sauce:

- 2 medium eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 3/4 cup yogurt
- 1/2 cup oil
- pinch salt and pepper 

Mix all sauce ingredients and a medium bowl.

Round Yufka/ phyllo dough

Other Ingredients:
- 3 or 4 round phyllo dough (if you use square one, you may need 7 or 8 sheets)*

- black and white sesame seed for sprinkle 

(*)Use phyllo dough for borek not for baklava

(1) Fold your yufka into half then cut in middle (see figure above). Then unfold that half yufka, generously brush it with sauce, then spread filling mixture evenly onto it. 
Roll up to shape like a long log (picture below is just illustration with different filling)

Never mind the filling, it's only illustration

(2) Do the same procedure to other yufka pieces then arrange them on a baking tray (lined with parchment paper) like the letter "U" refers to/ filled each other--see illustration below.

(3) Pre-heat oven at 180 deg C. Brush your börek surface with remaining sauce then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake then until golden brown about 30 to 45 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Afiyet Olsun.

Check my other recipe of minced meat pastry here.

    


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In Turkey, we know many variety of börek depends it filling and how to make it. 

Su böreği 'water börek' is one of the most common types. Layers of dough are boiled briefly in large pans, then a mixture of feta cheese, parsley and oil is scattered between the layers. The whole thing is brushed with butter and laid in a masonry oven to cook.

Sigara böreği 'cigarette börek' or kalem böreği 'pen börek', a smaller, cylindrical variety is often filled with feta cheese, potato, parsley and sometimes with minced meat or sausage. A variety of vegetables, herbs and spices are used in böreks, such as spinach, nettle, leek, and courgette, and usually ground black pepper. The name kalem böreği was adopted in September 2011 by some Turkish pastry organizations in order to avoid alluding to smoking.

Paçanga böreği, is a traditional Sephardic Jewish specialty of Istanbul filled with pastırma or kaşar, and julienned green peppers fried in olive oil and eaten as ameze.

Saray böreği 'palace börek' is a layered börek where fresh butter is rolled between each of the dough sheets.

Talaş böreği or Nemse böreği 'sawdust' or 'Austrian' börek, is a small square börek mostly filled with lamb cubes and green peas, that has starchier yufka sheets, making it puffy and crispy.

Kol böreği 'arm börek' is prepared in long rolls, either rounded or lined, and filled with either minced meat, feta cheese, spinach or potato and baked at a low temperature.

Sarıyer böreği is a smaller and a little fattier version of the "Kol böreği", named after Sarıyer, a district of Istanbul

Gül böreği 'rose börek', also known as Yuvarlak böreği 'round or spiral börek' are rolled into small spirals and have a spicier filling than other börek.

Çiğ börek or Çibörek 'raw börek' is a half-round shaped börek, filled with raw minced meat and fried in oil on the concave side of the sac, very popular in places with a thriving Tatar community, such as Eskişehir, Polatlı and Konya.

Töbörek is another Tatar variety, similar to a çiğ börek, but baked either on the convex side of the sac or in a masonry oven instead of being fried in oil.

Laz böreği, a specialty of the Rize region, is a sweet version, filled with muhallebi (Ottoman-style milk pudding or custard) and served sprinkled with powdered sugar. It similar with Greek Bougatsa.

Kürt Böreği is similar to Laz böreği, without the custard filling. It is also called sade (plain) börek and served with fine powdered sugar.