Kutilk means stuffed dumplings in Kurdish and they can be made in many ways. The dough is usually made of fine bulgur, rice, or potatoes and they can be boiled, fried, or served in soups. Traditionally they are stuffed with meat but I’m using mushrooms for my vegan Kurdish kutilk filling, which also includes nuts, raisins, and aromatic spices. Here we have the perfect fusion between South and North Kurdish cuisine. The dumplings are made like some of the ones we do in the South & sauces are more North Kurdish style.
Vegan Kurdish Kutilk (Bulgur Dumplings in Warm Mint-Yogurt Sauce topped with Chili Butter)
Print Recipe Pin RecipeServings: 4 servings
Ingredients
Dough:
- 500 g very fine bulgur - labeled Sefer Kitel Bulgur & can be found at Middle Eastern grocers (important to use the right kind)
- 300 ml water - room tempered
- ½ tsp salt
Mushroom Filling:
- 250 g button mushrooms - finely chopped
- 1 yellow onion - finely chopped
- 3 tbsp finely chopped parsley
- 3 tbsp raisins
- 50 g chopped blanched almonds or pine nuts
- ½ tsp Aleppo chili - can be substituted with medium chili flakes
- ½ tsp coriander powder
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp ground cardamom
- ⅛ tsp ground clove
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp oil for frying
Mint-Yogurt Sauce:
- 250 ml Greek-style plant yogurt - room tempered
- 250 - 300 ml boiling vegetable stock
- 2 tsp ground dried mint
- 1 tbsp vegan butter
- salt & pepper to taste
Chili Butter:
- 3 tbsp vegan butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ tbsp Aleppo pepper flakes - or half the amount medium chili flakes
- salt to taste
Instructions
Dough:
- Place bulgur in a large bowl, add salt and water. Mix, cover, and set aside 15-20 min (prepare filling). Then knead with hands ~10 min until a smooth dough forms.
Filling:
- Heat oil, sauté onions with all seasoning, add mushrooms, cook on medium heat until browned and all liquids have evaporated. Add almonds, raisins & parsley, stir-fry for 2 minutes. Let cool.
Kutilk:
- Take a piece of dough and form a golf ball-sized ball. Hold it in the palm of your hand and use your index finger of your other hand to make a dent in the middle, push all the way to the bottom without going all the way through. Then use your fingers to flatten the sides as thin as you can (you don’t want the shell to be too thick, then it gets hard). I like to place my fingers on the inside and push against the palm of my hand. Place 1 ½ tbsp of filling inside and flatten it a bit and pinch to seal, they will have a half-moon / shell-like shape but you can also make them round or any shape you prefer.
- Add kutilk (2 batches) to a large pot of salted boiling water, when floating, cook another 10-15 minutes or until bulgur is cooked through, you can try one.
Chili Butter:
- Add all ingredients to a pan, let butter melt on low heat then mix well and set the pan to the side. (Heat again just before serving)
Mint-Yogurt Sauce:
- Melt butter, mix in dried mint, stir-fry for 30 seconds. Place yogurt in a bowl, mix in butter, salt & pepper, slowly add the vegetable stock, one ladle at a time mixing in between.
To serve:
- Plate your kutilk and pour over yogurt sauce and chili butter before serving.
Notes
Find more of Seiran’s recipes at @legallyplantbased.
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