Ladies’ Thighs

Name: Ladies’ Thighs (Kadınbudu Köfte)
Cuisine: Turkey
Ingredients: light sunflower or rapeseed oil; light sunflower or rapeseed oil; pepper; parsley, finely chopped, a bunch; egg, beaten 1; flour 2 tsp; salt; cumin, ground 1 tsp; minced lamb 450 g/1 lb; basmati rice, cooked, a handful; dried thyme 1 tsp or fresh; thyme a sprig; cumin, ground 1 tsp; dried thyme 1 tsp or fresh; onion, finely chopped 1; olive oil, 1 tbsp

Kadınbudu Köfte

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Yashim Cooks Istanbul

By Jason Goodwin

Published 2016

About

This classic Ottoman palace dish is surprisingly quick and easy to make. The palace ladies were not skinny supermodels, either. I learned this recipe from the conductor Cem Mansur, who cooked it for me at his beautiful house in Ortakoy.

Ingredients

onion, finely chopped 1
olive oil, 1 tbsp
minced lamb 450

Asia
Turkey
Dinner
Mediterranean
Istanbul

Method

Sweat the onion with olive oil until it begins to colour, then raise to a high heat and turn in half the minced lamb. When the lamb is browned and dry, mix in the cooked rice.
Turn the mixture into a bowl, add the remaining raw lamb, and stir it up with a hefty pinch of salt, the ground cumin and thyme, parsley and some fresh pepper.
When everything is wel