Sigara Boregi

Intro

Being caught up with all my different stories and blogs i may have forgotten about my Turkish recipes section , ops my bad , but the wait is over as i tried a new recipe and straight from my Erasmus kitchen here in Elazig is coming hot and steamy to my blog just for you guys!

Arabic influences

Sigara boregi is an aperitif or starter which usually comes from the Arabic or Moroccan cuisine but is very common in Turkey . It's a dish that is often served in the breakfast but i prefer to enjoy it during the afternoon or anytime as a simple snack . First time i tried Sigars it was in Diyarbakir , whenever we went for breakfast outside it was always my favorite aperitif which i would choose from the plenty of plates ( because Diyarbakir is famous for it's very elaborate breakfast including not less than 20 or more plates ). I was always curious where i can find it or how can i cook it on my own . It was just this year when i found them in the supermarkets in the frozen section. Immediately i bought them ( 1 package with 20 pieces is 3 TL ) and since then i eat them at least 2 or 3 times per week, which is a lot.

Just recently i decided to try to make them myself from scratch so i got some tips from Seyda, she is a Dutch lady working in the Erasmus office here in the Firat University, and i got a pen and paper , wrote all down and went shopping .

This is what you need in order to cook them :

-Yufka

-Cheese

-Ham ( optional )

-Sunflower oil

Yufka is the Turkish name ,is a kind of pastry the one they use for shawarma but much more slimmer . You can find it in almost all Turkish supermarkets , i bought mine from Bim with 1.75 TL ,i got also a regular cheese , some pressed ham and i always prefer to eat them with ketchup but very good it can go with cucumbers or tomatoes.

This is the Yufka

As you can see is super slim and you must be very careful when you hold it or take it out from the package , it's fragile and it can break easily , as i broke many pieces.

The process of preparing them is extremely simple and it takes you 5 minutes literally. This is what you need to do :

-prepare the cheese

-cut the ham into small long pieces

-start rolling them inside the yufka

Roll them one by one with great care and once you made the pieces you want put them all together on a plate or whatever you have in handy and freeze them for about one day or so .

Yes indeed you need to freeze them , i leave them overnight so the next day i am cooking them . They require freezing so the yufka can settle in the round shape so once you fry them they will not open .

I put them in a small plastic leftover kind of plate and put them in the fridge . The very next day during my lunch break i come home fast heat up the oil and fry them like 1 minute on each side .Make sure the oil is very hot before throw them inside , and always turn them on each side .

You don't need to add to much oil . When they catch a gold color is the time to take them our , they are ready ! Place them on a plate with a paper below them so you make sure you got that extra oil out .

And now are ready to be served ...with ketchup or simple !

The traditional siraga boregi are made just with cheese but for this recipe i said to spice it up a bit and add the extra ham as well . Now that i tried both i prefer just regular with cheese so if you make this your first time use only the cheese.

Bon Appetit !

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