History

A southeastern Turkish-Armenian dish from Antep and Mardin, lahmacun reached Istanbul with mid-20th-century migration from the south. The city now has stone-oven specialists like Borsam Taşfırın in Kadıköy, running an unchanged 1968 recipe, alongside neighborhood Antep-rooted operators across Beyoğlu and Üsküdar. The wood-fired bake takes under a minute; the disc is meant to be rolled around lemon, sumac onions and fresh parsley and eaten immediately while the dough is still pliable.

Common allergens: Gluten

Make it at home

Yield 8Hands-on 30 minTotal 2 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 500g strong flour
  • 300ml warm water
  • 1 teaspoon instant yeast
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 300g minced lamb, around 20 percent fat
  • 1 small onion, very finely chopped
  • 1 long red pepper, very finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon Aleppo pepper
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 1 lemon, in wedges, to serve

Method

  1. Mix flour, yeast, salt and water into a dough, knead 8 minutes, rest covered for 90 minutes until doubled.
  2. Blend the lamb, onion, pepper, tomato paste, Aleppo pepper, cumin and a pinch of salt into a wet paste.
  3. Heat the oven to its hottest setting with a pizza stone or upturned baking tray inside.
  4. Divide the dough into 8 balls, roll each one paper-thin into a disc.
  5. Spread a thin layer of lamb mixture right to the edge, slide onto the hot stone and bake 4 to 6 minutes until the meat is set and the edges crisp.
  6. Sprinkle with parsley, drop a lemon wedge on top, roll up and eat hot.

Tip from the editors. The dough must be thinner than you think. If you can read a newspaper through it, you are close to the Kadıköy version.

Where to eat lahmacun

Lahmacun in Istanbul

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