Vegan Meatballs: Traditional Çiğ Köfte

Çiğ köfte, pronounced chee kofta, is a vegan meatballs dish in Turkish, Armenian, and Kurdish cuisines and is vaguely similar to the Western steak tartare. Traditionally it is made with meat, but in majority of Turkish establishments it is made with fine bulgur wheat— completely vegan.

Watch how to make it step by step in this video:

Let me get this out of the way- I am not necessarily fond of raw cuisine. Almost all my visits to acclaimed raw-forward restaurants ended in slight disappointment after being served similar flavors course after course. Thinking you might feel the same way about uncooked food, I was reluctant to share this traditional Turkish recipe… until I remembered how delicious and flavorful it is. In a culture where meat kebabs galore, these vegan meatballs are loved by anyone who is anyone as long as they can handle its spice.

Roots of Çiğ Köfte

The dish is said to have been a part of Turkish cuisine for 3,000+ years, with the oldest story going back to King Nimrod’s ban on lighting fires and a hunter’s subsequent necessity to sustain his family on raw food. I don’t particularly believe in the story, but I sure am glad the dish was invented somehow. Ready to give Turkish vegan meatballs a try?

Special Ingredients You Will Need for Vegan Meatballs

Extra-Fine Bulgur: This one is a non-negotiable since regular Bob's Red Mill bulgur from the store is way too coarse to make cig kofte with. In most Middle Eastern/Turkish stores, you will find at least 3-4 varieties of bulgur, each used for making a different dish. Extra-fine simit bulgur is the best for this recipe.

Alternatively, you can process regular coarse bulgur in a powerful blender with a dry container. Additionally, although it won't be an authentic cig kofte by any means, you could try substituting it with gluten-free grains and seeds such as quinoa—make sure it's extra fine.

Isot (aka Urfa Biber): This is the other non-negotiable ingredient you most likely won’t have in your pantry already- but this variety of chili pepper is so good and versatile that I’d highly recommend going to either a local Middle Eastern market or online to grab one. Just make sure the one you buy lists “pepper” as the only ingredient and does not contain added salt or oil. This very labor-intensive variety of chili is sun-dried and then tightly wrapped each night to regain its moisture— a process repeated for approximately two weeks. The result is an omni-dimensional smoky flavor well worth the effort.

Sumac: You can substitute cumin 1:1 for this recipe if needed. However I would recommend this lemony spice for purposes of building a master spice rack as many Middle Eastern recipes will call for it.

Pomegranate Molasses: Another Middle Eastern cuisine staple, this tart liquid can be incorporated into many dishes as a glaze or a dressing. Here, I use it as an ingredient as well as for garnishing. You can make this at home, or find it elsewhere. If necessary, substitute with equal parts of blackstrap molasses & lemon juice 1:1.

Pepper Paste: Not gochujang, nor harissa. This cousin of tomato paste you would ideally add to our recipe often has two ingredients: peppers and salt. We use this spicy chili pepper paste as a dip, on toast, and in cooking almost daily. I am shocked that this versatile staple isn’t widely available in the US alongside its (in my opinion) slightly less flavorful cousin.

Last, but not least: time and good wrists. You can cut down on both with the help of a stand mixer, but make sure to add the bulgur very gradually to mimic the traditional method.

Full Ingredient List for Raw Vegan Meatballs:

• 4 cups very fine bulgur (the dark variety called simit is best)
• 1.5 cups ripe tomatoes, grated (about 3 medium)
• 2 medium onions, grated
• 3 garlic cloves, finely diced
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ⅓ cup pomegranate molasses
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 tablespoon red pepper paste (spicy or regular)
• ⅓ cup isot / Urfa biber flakes
• ⅓ cup sweet paprika
• 1 tablespoon Aleppo pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon sumac
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt (gradually add more if desired)
• 3-5 ice cubes for kneading
• Garnish: fresh Italian parsley and pickles
• For serving: Romaine lettuce leaves and sliced lemon (or wheat tortilla instead of/in addition to the lettuce as is often served in Turkey for all you carb lovers out there)

How to Make Traditional Cig Kofte:

1. Begin by finely grating the tomatoes, or put them through the food processor. 
2. Grate the onions, or blitz them in the food processor until they look finely diced. Strain the diced onions to remove as much of its water as possible either by hand or through a strainer. This step is essential to get rid of that bitter taste of onions.
3. Thoroughly mix all the ingredients except for ice cubes and the set-aside bulgur. To this mix, gradually start adding the bulgur, and begin kneading to roughly combine everything for a few minutes, ideally on a large tray.
4. If using hands for kneading, use your palms to push the mixture down into the tray, over and over again until it gets much softer and sticks together. Add ice cubes one by one for the gradual addition of water to the mix. Depending on your preference of chewiness, the kneading will take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour both when kneaded by hand or by a stand mixer using the dough hook.
5. After a satisfactory taste-test, begin shaping them by taking a two-tablespoon portion into your palm, leave some space between your fingers, and make your hand into a fist. This shape will be a lot easier to achieve when wearing kitchen gloves and moistening hands with either olive oil or water.
6. See the notes for instructions on how to save it for later.

How to Save Çiğ Köfte

To save in the refrigerator:

The mixture can rest in the refrigerator in an airtight container/Ziploc bags prior to forming the balls. I'd recommend saving in the fridge for up to two days to be safe, as anything more would be risking it since all the ingredients are uncooked. Although I'll admit we've had five-day-old cig kofte from the fridge before and were okay... but the taste is always best when fresh.

To save in the freezer:

Save it as a mixture (not the balls) in the freezer for up to three months in an airtight container/Ziploc bags. To serve, thaw in the fridge for at least four hours. The mixture at this point will have excess water due to cell wall damage of the ingredients. Squeeze the excess liquid out and form into balls. But again, since most ingredients in this dish are raw, this approach can be risky depending on how the mixture was handled before it was frozen.

Want more traditional Turkish recipes? Start here:

• Turkish Spinach Pie
• Gozleme
• Stuffed Vine Leaves & Tart Cherry Stuffed Vine Leaves (my favorite!)
• Zucchini Fritters
• Baklava
• Semolina Cake (aka Sambali--from my hometown!)

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Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if you make this recipe! Afiyet olsun (bon appétit)!

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Afiyet olsun! (bon appetite)