Köfte (Turkish meatballs)

Ingredients

• 2 medium-size slices of crustless stale bread, soaked briefly in water or galetta flour
• For frying: 75 g (3 oz) plain flour, 150 ml (1/4 pint) vegetable oil
• 500 g (1 lb) minced lamb or beef
• 1 medium-size onion, grated thickly
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint, or 1 tablespoon dried mint
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 egg
• salt and black pepper

Directions

Preparation time: 20 minutes Serves: 4-6

Squeeze out excess water from the soaked bread, leaving it quite dry. Combine all the ingredients for the Köfte in a bowl and mix well. Make walnut-shaped balls and keep them covered until they are to be eaten. Then roll them lightly in flour and fry in hot oil for 2-3 minutes until golden all over. They can be shallow -or deep- fried.

Serve it with basmati rice or bulgur pilav. As a drink you can serve yourself Ayran, a kind of salted yogurt drink.