Chef Gurdeep Loyal has shared a recipe for a spicy Turkish dish that pairs large pasta shapes with cumin-spiced lamb and hot pepper paste. The dish, known in Turkey as markana, relies on biber salçası, a concentrated paste made from cooked red peppers and salt, to provide deep umami heat.
Loyal notes that the hotter variety of the paste, called acı, works best for this preparation. The recipe calls for a generous amount of the paste to flavor the meat, which is then combined with a large pasta shape like paccheri. The cavernous middles of the pasta are designed to hold the substantial morsels of the lamb filling.
Preparing the Spicy Lamb Sauce
The cooking process begins by heating olive oil in a wide, deep frying pan. Diced red onion and a quarter-teaspoon of fine salt are added and sautéed for four minutes. The chef then adds 500g of lamb mince, two teaspoons of crushed cumin seeds, and four crushed garlic cloves. The mixture is cooked for six to seven minutes until the meat begins to brown.
Next, four tablespoons of acı biber salçası, three tablespoons of tomato puree, one teaspoon of dried mint, a teaspoon of fine salt, and a generous pinch of sugar are stirred into the pan. The ingredients are cooked for two minutes before 250ml of water is poured in. The heat is turned down to medium-low, and the sauce is simmered gently for 10 minutes.
While the lamb simmers, the pasta is cooked in salted boiling water according to packet instructions and then drained. The chef emphasizes that the large size of paccheri is essential for carrying the bold flavors of the sauce.
Assembly and Finishing Touches
The final stage involves creating two distinct flavor components to finish the dish. For the garlicky yoghurt, 200g of natural yoghurt is mixed in a small bowl with two remaining crushed garlic cloves and the finely grated zest of one large unwaxed lemon.
For the butter sauce, 50g of unsalted butter is melted in a small frying pan and cooked for three to four minutes until it just begins to tint brown. One teaspoon of pul biber or chilli flakes and one teaspoon of sumac are stirred in before the pan is removed from the heat.
To assemble the dish, most of the lemon juice and most of the finely chopped fresh dill are stirred into the lamb sauce. The drained paccheri is added to the pan and mixed well to coat. The pasta is then swirled with the garlicky yoghurt mixture and drizzled with the sumac butter.
The dish is garnished with more dill and another squeeze of lemon before being served straight from the pan. Loyal suggests that the loud flavors of the dish pair well with the cooling yoghurt and the aromatic butter.
The recipe is featured in Loyal’s book, “Flavour Heroes: 15 Modern Pantry Ingredients to Amplify Your Cooking,” published by Quadrille. The book is available for £27, or £24.30 through the Guardian Bookshop.
Source: The Guardian
