Biberli Katıklı Ekmek Recipe
Katıklı ekmek is a local dish made in Antakya, a city in south Turkey. It resembles to lahmacun, but instead of meat it's topped with a cheese and pepper paste mixture. Ekmek means bread in Turkish and katık means something eaten beside bread. But in my hometown katık means just cheese. May be because we just eat cheese beside bread:) I'm from Trakya, the north west part of the country and my home town is popular with cheese and milk products (and also lamb meat). So, as we eat really a lot of cheese, our katık is just cheese. May be it's the same in Antakya. If it means cheese also, then biberli katıklı ekmek means bread with cheese and pepper, which makes sense.
Katıklı ekmek is a really good alternative to lahmacun for people who doesn't eat meat. It's basically a thin leavened dough topped with a cheese mixture. It is incredibly delicious. It is surprising that out of Antakya just a few people knows it. I think Antakya people do not introduce their food to foreigners so that just they can eat them.
Enjoy the recipe...
Ingredients
For the dough;
- 3-4 cups flour,
- 1,5 cups of warm water,
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast,
- 1 teaspoon of salt.
For the topping;
- 500 g curd cheese,
- 7 tablespoons pepper paste,
- 1 onion,
- 1/2 cup olive oil,
- 3 tablespoons of sesame seeds,
- 3 tablespoons black cumin,
- 1 teaspoon zahter / thyme,
- 1/2 teaspoon of cumin,
- 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.
Preparation
- For the dough, mix water and yeast in a deep bowl,
- Start to knead by adding the flour gradually,
- Add salt in half of the flour,
- Add the remaining flour gradually and knead until you get a soft dough that does not stick to the hand,
- Cover and rest for 30-45 min.,
- Chop or grate the onion for the topping,
- Take all the ingredients into a deep bowl and mix well,
- Knead the dough again and make 10 balls,
- Roll one of the balls in size of a serving plate and place in a baking tray covered with wax paper,
- Spread over one-tenth of the topping and bake in a 220 C degrees pre-heated oven until the edges are slightly browned,
- Prepare the rest in the same way,
- Serve with parsley.
Bon Appetit...