The most delicious thing that I've ever tried is tantuni and today I want to tell you how to cook it.
Tantuni - finely chopped fried meat with fresh tomatoes, parsley and onion with sumac, wrapped in a roll in pita bread.
In Turkey, the birthplace of tantuni is Mersin. I was in several cities in Turkey and I can say that is very hard to find this dish anywhere, except Mersin. Initially tantuni was simple food for the poor. But nowadays tantuni is the main dish from the category of "fast food". It is prepared simply and quickly, and it is so tasty. I guarantee: both adults and children will be delighted!
Ingredients:
- 500 grams of meat (preferably, but not necessarily, steaks)
- 8-10 pieces of pita bread(20 cm in diameter)
- 2-3 tomatoes
- a bunch of parsley
- 1 onion
- 1-2 sp. of sumac (spice)
- 1 sp. of bitter red pepper
- salt if you want
- oil for frying
- 1 sp. of spicy paprika
So, let’s start with meat. If you have steaks, then cut off thin slices (1-2 mm thick) and make them as small as possible. Then rinse chopped meat with water and put it in a saucepan. Fill it with water and cook the meat on low heat approximately 30 minutes. Drain the broth from the ready meat, salt it and set aside.
While the meat is cooked, we prepare the filling. Wash the leaves of parsley and cut them. Then cut the peeled onion and sprinkle it with sumac. Then you should clean the washed tomatoes from the skins and cut 2 tomatoes in large cubes and one - very finely to add to the meat.
Spread pita bread on a plate. Then put the frying pan on the stove to start slightly smoking. Pour 1-2 spoons of oil and add 1-2 spoons of boiled meat. Fry the meat for half a minute on high heat, stirring constantly. Add 1 spoon of water for softness of meat and mix. Add another spoon of water, stir and add 1 spoon of tomatoes. Stir and cover it with pita bread, squeeze it with your hand and lightly rotate so that pita bread can be soaked with meat juice. Place heated pita on a plate. Lay out the roasted meat, tomatoes, onions and parsley in the middle of the pita. Also, you can add a pinch of spicy paprika. Cover the half of the pita and, by pressing both hands, pull the filling to the edge and roll into a tight roll. Fry 1 spoon of tomatoes in the same saucepan for a half a minute. Add them to the meat in pita bread. Sprinkle it with sumac, parsley and roll into a tight roll.
Bon Appetit! I am waiting for your feedbacks!!!
With love,
Dayana