Fellah meatballs are also known as garlic meatballs or bulgur meatballs and many more in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. It is safe to say that bulgur and other ingredients together make one of the most delicious dishes in Turkish cuisine. It can be the star of the dinner, but it can also be enjoyed as an appetizer. Prepared with fine bulgur, fellah meatballs are quite high in carbohydrates and potassium and are also vegetarian. When eaten in moderation, it meets the body's energy needs. They can even be eaten almost for breakfast.
Fellah meatballs can not hold the dough. The sauce does not turn out the way we want it to, or it can fall apart and dissolve during cooking. Of course, there are solutions to these problems that you experience in the kitchen. Following this recipe, you will prepare the most delicious fellah meatballs ever.
Ingredients for Fellah Vegan Meatballs Recipe
Ingredients for Fellah Meatballs that Never Disintegrate;
- 2 cups bulgur with meatballs
- 2 cups of hot water
- 1 cup of semolina
- 3 tablespoons of flour
- 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon of chili paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Half a glass of hot water
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon cumin
To boil;
- Water
- 1 teaspoon of lemon salt
- 1 teaspoon of salt
For the Fellah Meatballs sauce;
- 1.5 teaspoons of olive oil
- 5-6 cloves of garlic
- 2 tablespoons of chili paste
- 4 diced tomatoes
- Salt
- Parsley
How To Make Fellah Vegan Meatballs
- Take the bulgur in a suitable container for fellah meatballs, add hot water, stretch it and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- At the end of the time, uncover the swollen bulgur and mix it with a wooden spoon.
- Add semolina, flour, tomato paste, paprika paste, and salt, and start kneading the dough.
- Add hot water from time to time during this phase.
- After making sure that the ingredients are well mixed and the dough has cooled sufficiently, add the egg.
- After adding the cumin, knead the dough for the last time.
- Now it is time to form the fellah meatballs. To do this, first, take a bowl of water with you. Then moisten your fingertips with water and tear off small pieces of the meatball mixture and shape them into balls.
- Press the dough with your little finger and put it on the floured tray. Continue this process until the fellah meatballs mixture is ready.
- To cook the meatballs, take the boiling water in the pot, add lemon salt, and salt.
- Then add the meatballs you formed to the pot, stirring them from time to time, and cook them for about 5 minutes.
- Transfer the cooked fellah meatballs to a serving plate with the help of a sieve.
- For the tomato sauce, add the olive oil to the pan, add the finely chopped garlic and fry until the smell is gone.
- Add the tomato paste and continue frying with the garlic.
- Add the grated tomatoes to the pan and continue frying.
- Before you turn off the bottom of the prepared sauce, add salt, mix it and turn off the heat.
- Finally, add the finely chopped parsley and mix.
- Add the prepared meatballs to the sauce and mix to get the sauce.
- The fellah meatballs with plenty of sauce are ready to serve. Enjoy your meal!
How to Serve Fellah Vegan Meatballs
When serving the fellah meatballs, you can drizzle finely chopped parsley and whipped yogurt over them or serve them with minced meat and purslane.
Tips for Fellah Vegan Meatballs
- You need to adjust the consistency of the mortar well so that the fellah meatballs do not fall apart. The consistency of the mortar should not be hard or sticky. The dough for fellah balls should be kneaded very well. If your hands get too doughy while preparing the meatballs, wash your hands occasionally or you will get into trouble. If you like, you can store the kneaded meatballs in an airtight container in the freezer.
- When your meatballs are cooked, carefully pour off the excess water using a strainer and place them in a Pyrex. Wait until they have cooled a little.
- Let us first address a topic where many mistakes are made. Many of us fry the garlic beforehand when preparing garlic tomato sauce. However, in this way, the flavor of the garlic is lost. For this reason, I recommend that you add the garlic only in the final stage of the meatballs, which you will prepare with plenty of tomatoes, tomato paste, and spices.
- Now it's time for one of the most important points. You can throw the cooked meatballs into the sauce and cook them along, but then you'll have squishy meatballs. Fellah meatballs, on the other hand, are better drizzled with sauce. Drizzle the sauce you prepared when the meatballs are at room temperature. If your meatballs are at room temperature with your sauce, they will absorb the sauce better when it is hot.
PS: It is not written in the recipe, but if you want to add a little sourness to the recipe, you can add some pomegranate Molasses. You can buy Pomegranate Molasses from Gourmet212.com
Things to Consider When Cooking Fellah Meatballs
You have decided to cook the fellah meatballs. To ensure that the flavor of your meatballs settles and their texture does not deteriorate, it is a good idea to let them rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to 1 hour before this step, after you have shaped and floured the meatballs. Add your rested meatballs to the water that has started to boil. Add a few drops of olive oil to the water. Be sure to add carefully at this stage and not fill the whole pot.
Then cook it over medium heat, being careful not to mix it too much. The olive oil will prevent your fellah meatballs from sticking together.
Where Does Fellah Meatball Get Its Name
Fellah, after which the fellah meatballs are named, is the name in Arabic for people who work in agriculture. It is also the name for Egyptian farmers. In Turkey, it is the name for the Arabs who generally live in the provinces of Adana and Mersin. The reason why they are called this way is that they farm in Çukurova, the region where they settled. Although the origin story of the court is not known, it is obvious that the name comes from the people who are engaged in farming. It is prepared in different ways in different regions and is known by different names. Fellah meatballs are also known as garlic meatballs and sauce meatballs in some regions.