Kumpir craze: How Turkish stuffed potatoes beat kebabs
Potatoes are a favourite in many places. Stuffed with a variety of ingredients and baked in the oven, they are a staple in Turkey. Kumpir, available in both meat and vegetarian versions, are sold in bars and on the streets. They have become more popular than kebabs.
What does kumpir mean and where does it come from?
Kumpir is another name for a baked potato, whose flesh is mixed with meat or vegetables. Currently, this simple and delicious dish is extremely popular in Turkey, but it originally comes from the former countries of Yugoslavia. Kumpir is most often prepared with meat such as lamb, mutton, or chicken, but vegetarian options are also available.
How is kumpir served?
In many Turkish bars, you can choose your own toppings. You receive a baked potato filled with hot purée, which you mix with meat and vegetables. The dish is topped with cold sauces, much like kebabs or burgers.
With a kumpir in a paper bowl, you can head to the park or the coast. It tastes best in the summer outdoors, but nothing is stopping you from preparing this delicious, filling, and nostalgia-inducing dish at home.
Kumpir, or Turkish-style potatoes with chorizo or tofu – recipe for a meat and vegetarian version
For the dish, choose large, well-shaped potato tubers. In Turkey, one can weigh about 500 grams.
Ingredients for 2 servings:
- 2 large potatoes,
- 100 grams chorizo sausage or 100 grams tofu,
- 1 onion,
- 2 cloves of garlic,
- 1 red bell pepper,
- 100 grams yellow cheese,
- for the tofu version: olive oil and soy sauce.
Instructions:
- Scrub the potatoes and cook them in salted water with the skins on. Cut them in half or make a slit to scoop out the flesh.
- For the meat version: Fry sliced chorizo with finely chopped onion, garlic, and bell pepper in a pan.
- For the vegetarian version: Sauté the onion in olive oil, add sliced garlic, diced bell pepper, and crumbled tofu, pour in soy sauce, and mix.
- Mix the pan toppings with the potato flesh.
- Fill the insides of the scooped potato skins with the mixture, sprinkle with grated yellow cheese, and place in an oven preheated to 200 degrees Celsius for about 7-10 minutes.
- Serve with tomato salsa, horseradish sauce, or garlic sauce.
