Chicken Gözleme with veggies : Turkish Mughlai Paratha: Bideshi Khana Desi Andaz

Hi guys, I’m back with another of my salivating adventure in the land of foreign cuisine. No it’s not Mexican this time; it’s Turkish. But this is not a completely new dish; in fact it is very familiar to all of us. Ok no more guessing game. Today I’m presenting the Turkish delicacy Gözleme. I also came to know about this dish few days back only. And as soon as I found the recipe I immediately got that damn fling of attraction toward it.

Gözleme is popular as Turkish flat bread. It is a traditional savoury dish of Turkey. This is completely a handmade dish which requires a bit of your patience and time. Traditionally handmade dough is used; then freshly hand rolled flat bread is made; then it is filled with spinach and feta cheese, sealed all the way and finally cooked over grill or barbeque. Sounds terrific, right? Trust me when you will have your first bite, all your tongue and tastebuds will be filled with immense pleasure.

There are enormous variations of Gözleme present in Modern Turkish Cuisine these days. Now it is enriched with different veggies, cheese, and meat. Day by day the number of variation is increasing.

But there is a very interesting part of this Gözleme. I guess you guys who are from bengal have already got my point from the description of it; still I would like to mention it explicitly. It is the process of preparing Gözleme which is making it very much familiar to our very own Mughlai Paratha or Moghlai Paratha.

Or you can say Gözleme is the Turkish Mughlai Paratha. Mughlai Paratha also has an envelope of flour-dough and a filling of either meat or potato. It is also sealed and fried on pan. Whether you name it as Turkish Mughlai Paratha or Indian Gözleme, I will love it in both ways. So here is my pick of the day Recipe for Gözleme.

Again I’m presenting a bit tricky and layered process. So I’m mentioning the ingredients along with the preparation by different category.

Ingredients for Filling:

Boneless, skinless chicken breast: 2

Carrot: 1, medium

Green chilli: handful

Capsicum: 1, medium

Oregano

Rosemary

Pepper powder

Chilli flakes

Salt to taste

Sugar: 1 tsp

Oil: 1 tbsp

Preparation for Filling:

Cut chicken breast into small bite size pieces.

Chop capsicum and carrot into thin strips. Roughly chop chillies.

Heat oil in a nonstick wok with sugar and wait until sugar caramelize.

Add carrot and sauté for 1-2 mins.

Add green chillies and continue frying.

Add chicken pieces with pinch of salt. Continue cooking until chicken loses its pink color.

Add capsicum. Keep frying on high flame.

Add herbs and rest of the salt. (if required)

Continue cooking with the wok covered until chicken and veggies are done (See Tips)

Ingredients for the dough:

All-purpose flour: 2 cups + ¼ cup for dusting

Oil: 2 tbsp

Salt: pinch

Caster powder: ½ tsp

Egg: 2, well beaten

OR
Hung curd: 1 cup (In case you are not using Egg)
OR
Yeast: 8gms (In case you are not using Egg or Hung curd)(See Tips)
Warm milk: ¼ cup (optional) (See Tips)

Preparation for the dough:

Shift the flour in a large bowl. Mix salt and sugar with it very well.

Make a small well in the center.

If you are using egg, pour the oil in the well and mix it to give it a texture. Now add beaten egg and start kneading. Keep mixing warm milk little by little to make a tight dough. Cover the dough with a wet kitchen towel and let it rest for 2-3 hrs atleast.

If you are using hung curd, pour the oil in the center and mix it with the flour so that it looks like crumb. Add curd and mix with a light hand. Add milk little by little to make smooth dough. Cover the dough with a wet kitchen towel. And leave it covered for 5-6 hrs atleast.

If you are using yeast, mix 8 gms of yeast in 300 ml warm water with salt and sugar. Beat well with a fork. Cover and keep it in a warm place until it starts bubbling. It won’t take more than 10 mins. Now pour the yeast mixture and oil in the well. Knead it to make smooth dough. Cover the dough with a wet kitchen towel. And leave it covered for 30 mins atleast.

After the mentioned time you will notice your dough has become almost double in size.

Now knead the dough again to make it smoother. Now make lemon sized balls out of it.

Take a ball and roll it with the help of a rolling pin.

Stretch it as much as possible.

Try to make it super thin. But be careful so that you don't tear it.

So don’t over stretch it. (See Tips)

Follow same for rest of the balls.

Ingredients for Assemble:

Garlic pod: 8-10

Raw egg: 1 per serving

Salt: pinch per serving

Oil to fry

Assembling:

Beat egg well along with pinch of salt.

Finely chop garlic pods. Heat oil in a wok on high flame and fry chopped garlic on high flame until garlic turns slightly brown. Be careful, don’t burn it.

Place one stretched circle of the dough on the kitchen counter.

Place spoonful of filling at the center. Top it with few fried garlic.

Pour 1 beaten egg over the filling quickly.

Move your hands very quickly (read, super quick) and fold one part of the circle like the picture below.

Fold the opposite side before the egg runs out.

Now fold the remaining two sides to enclose the filling completely.

Heat 1 tsp of oil on a nonstick flat pan on high flame. Place the gözleme on the flat pan very carefully. Of-course you don’t want to split the egg.

Fry until the lower part gets crispy and brown.

Flip the gözleme carefully and fry until the lower part gets brown and crispy.

Flip once again if required.

Make sure both sides are crisp and brown and inner part is well done.

Follow the same steps to complete all the gözlemes.

Now cut them in half and serve hot.

Plate them with spicy salsa sauce and some fresh salad.

Tips:

1.    Don’t add any water or stock in the chicken as the chicken itself releases its own juice. Let the veggies and chicken cook in their own natural juice. It will be testier than any other way.

2.    You can use yeast instead of eggs. The traditional recipe needs yeast only.

3.    If you can’t find any of eggs and yeast, use hung curd. 

4.    You can substitute the milk with equal amount of warm water.in case you are using yeast, skip this ingredients.

5.    Use your kitchen counter for rolling purpose. On that smooth surface only you can stretch out the dough as much as possible smoothly.

6.    Use a toothpick to check whether the inner part is done or not. End of the toothpick will feel sticky if the inner side is not completely cooked. After all you definitely don't want to end up with raw inner side.