İskender köfte

Method

1. Grate the onion finely, squeeze out all the juice and discard it; finely grate the garlic. Put both in a bowl with the beef, lamb, breadcrumbs, salt, cumin, pul biber and black pepper. Knead for 5 min, adding the ice water a little at a time, until the mixture turns paler, sticky and elastic; the cold water and long kneading give restaurant köfte their springy, juicy bite.

   Add in this stepOnion ½Garlic clove 1Ground beef, about 20% fat 200 gGround lamb 100 gDry breadcrumbs 20 gSalt ½ tspGround cumin ½ tspPul biber (Turkish red pepper flakes) ½ tspBlack pepper 2 pinchIce-cold water 1½ tbsp

2. Cover and refrigerate for 1 h, or up to overnight. Resting firms the meat so it holds together over the coals, and lets the spices penetrate.

3. Light the charcoal and wait 20–25 minutes until the coals are covered in white ash. Meanwhile, with wet hands, divide the meat into 8 pieces (about 40 g each), shape each into a finger about 10 cm long and flatten it slightly.

4. Make the sauce: melt 2/5 of the butter in a 16 cm saucepan over medium-low heat, stir in the tomato paste and fry for 1 minute until it darkens slightly. Add the water, sugar and salt and simmer for 5 min, stirring, until you have a smooth, glossy sauce the consistency of single cream. Keep it warm.

   Add in this stepButter 14 gTomato paste 1½ tbspWater 120 mlSugar 1 pinchSalt (for the sauce) 1 pinch

   medium-low heat

5. Oil the grill rack with a folded paper towel dipped in the oil (hold it with tongs). Grill the köfte over charcoal (medium heat) for 7 min in total, about 3–4 minutes per side, turning once when they release easily. Put the tomato halves and whole chilies on the grill at the same time and turn them until blistered. The köfte are ready when the centre is no longer pink (71 °C). Indoors, use a very hot grill pan.

   Add in this stepVegetable oil (for the grill) 1 tbspTomato 1Long green chili (sivri biber) 2

   charcoal (medium heat)

6. Toast the bread on the grill over charcoal (medium heat) for 2 min, until crisp with grill marks, then cut it into 3 cm pieces.

   Add in this stepTurkish flatbread (pide) or pita 2

   charcoal (medium heat)

7. Arrange the bread on warm plates, spoon over half the tomato sauce so it soaks in, lay the köfte on top and add the rest of the sauce. Put the yogurt and grilled tomatoes and chilies alongside. Heat the remaining butter in a small pan over medium heat for 1 min, until it foams and smells nutty, and pour it sizzling over the köfte just before serving.

   Add in this stepThick plain yogurt, at room temperature 150 gButter 21 g

   medium heat