Chef's Recipes

Babajan's lamb lahmacun

Serve Babajan’s lamb lahmacun - Turkish flatbread topped with spiced lamb - hot out of the oven with a crunchy salad, sumac, olive oil and hummus.

  • 45 mins preparation
  • 15 mins cooking plus proving
  • Serves 4
  • Print
    Print
"The lahmacun at Babajan in Carlton North is the best I've had outside Turkey. Please can you get the recipe? " - Hazan Sadik, Carlton North, Vic
REQUEST A RECIPE
To request a recipe, email fareexchange@bauer-media.com.au or send us a message via Facebook. Please include the restaurant's name and address, as well as your name and address. Please note that because of the volume of requests we receive, we can only publish a selection in the magazine.

Ingredients

  • Extra-virgin olive oil and hummus, to serve
Dough
  • 300 gm plain flour, plus extra for dusting (2 cups)
  • 14 gm dried yeast (2 sachets)
  • 150 ml milk, at room temperature
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 50 ml olive oil, plus extra for oiling tray
Lamb topping
  • 300 gm minced lamb shoulder (ask your butcher to do this)
  • 1 tbsp Turkish red capsicum paste (see note)
  • ½ cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
  • 1 onion, coarsely grated
  • 1 Roma tomato, coarsely grated
Salad topping
  • 2 Roma tomatoes, peeled, coarsely chopped
  • ½ Spanish onion, thinly sliced
  • ½ cup flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
  • 4 pickled fermented green chillies, cut into 2cm pieces (see note)
  • 2 radishes, trimmed, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
  • 1 tsp sumac, plus extra to serve
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp lemon juice

Method

  • 1
    For dough, combine ingredients and 1 tsp fine salt in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and knead until a smooth dough forms (3-5 minutes). Cover bowl with plastic wrap and stand to prove until doubled in size (20-25 minutes). Divide into 4 even pieces, roll into balls, transfer to a deep oiled roasting pan, cover with plastic wrap and leave to prove for a further 10 minutes.
  • 2
    For lamb topping, combine ingredients in a bowl, season to taste and mix with your hands until just combined and mixture forms a neat ball.
  • 3
    For salad topping, combine ingredients in a bowl, folding gently to combine and season to taste.
  • 4
    Preheat oven to 300C. Roll out a ball of dough on a sheet of lightly floured baking paper to a long oval shape (about 15cm x 25cm). Press a quarter of the lamb mixture into dough, covering nearly to edges. Repeat with a second ball of dough and another quarter of lamb mixture. Transfer both with paper to a large oven tray and bake on upper-middle shelf until golden brown (4-6 minutes). Repeat with remaining dough and lamb mixture.
  • 5
    Scatter salad on top of lahmacun, sprinkle with extra sumac, drizzle with olive oil and serve hot from the oven with hummus.

Notes

Turkish red capsicum paste, sold as salca, and pickled fermented green chillies are available from Middle-Eastern delicatessens.