Halal-conscious recipe
Spiced lamb and feta gözleme with Halal lamb
Sarah Cook's gözleme: thin yeasted flatbreads folded around Halal lamb mince spiced with cumin, coriander and cinnamon, raisins, pine nuts and feta, pan-fried crisp and served with a pomegranate ketchup.
Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.
Photo: Caroline Ford · CC BY-SA 3.0
Why Halal checks matter here
The filling is 500 g of lamb mince, which is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, and the feta is set with rennet, which may be animal rennet.
Gözleme are thin Turkish flatbreads folded around a filling and cooked on a hot pan. Here the dough is a simple yeasted olive-oil dough, and the filling is lamb mince browned with garlic, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and chilli, lifted with raisins, lemon zest, spring onions and pine nuts, with crumbled feta on top. The lamb needs to come from a Halal butcher or a certified pack, and the feta is set with rennet, so choose one that names microbial, vegetable or Halal-certified rennet.
It follows Sarah Cook's spiced lamb and feta gözleme for BBC Good Food, which makes four. The quick sauce is ketchup stirred with pomegranate molasses and finely chopped red onion.
The dough needs to rise until doubled before you roll it, so make the filling while it proves and let it cool a little before folding.
Halal-critical ingredients
- Lamb mince Lamb mince is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, and mince without a Halal mark doesn't say how the animal was slaughtered. Buy the mince from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Lamb.
- Feta Feta is set with rennet. Rennet from a Halal-slaughtered animal, or microbial or vegetable rennet, is Halal; scholars differ on rennet from animals not slaughtered the Halal way. Use a feta that names microbial, vegetable or Halal-certified rennet, or one your school accepts. See Rennet.
Safe substitutes
- Lamb mince of unknown slaughter → Halal lamb mince
- Feta with unnamed animal rennet → Feta with microbial, vegetable or Halal-certified rennet
Allergens
gluten (flour), milk (feta), nuts (pine nuts)
Ingredients
Dough
- 7 g sachet fast-action dried yeast
- 1 tsp golden caster sugar
- 175 ml lukewarm water
- 250 g plain flour
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Filling
- 1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to finish
- 500 g Halal lamb mince
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp mild chilli powder
- 50 g raisins
- 1 lemon, zest only
- 3 spring onions, finely sliced
- 50 g toasted pine nuts
- 100 g feta made with microbial, vegetable or Halal-certified rennet
Sauce
- 8 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 1 tbsp red onion, very finely chopped
Method
- Start the dough. Mix the yeast, sugar and 175 ml lukewarm water in a small bowl, stir to dissolve and leave for 10 minutes, until it starts to froth. Mix the flour with ½ tsp salt in a large bowl, make a well, pour in the yeast mixture and olive oil and mix to a dough. Knead for 10 minutes, then put in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with oiled cling film and leave somewhere warm until doubled in size.
- Cook the filling. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the mince, breaking up the lumps, until well browned. Stir in the garlic, spices and raisins and fry for a few minutes more, then take off the heat and stir in the lemon zest, spring onions, pine nuts and seasoning. Leave to cool a little.
- Fill and fold. Divide the dough into four. Roll one piece out on a lightly floured surface to 25 × 30 cm without splitting it. With a long edge towards you, spoon a quarter of the mince over the bottom half, leaving a 2 cm border, and crumble over a quarter of the feta. Fold the top half over and fold in and pinch the edges to seal. Repeat with the rest.
- Pan-fry. Heat a large frying pan over a high heat and brush the gözleme all over with oil. Cook in batches for 3 to 5 minutes a side, until golden and hot through.
- Make the sauce and serve. Quickly mix the ketchup, pomegranate molasses and red onion, and serve with the hot gözleme.
How this recipe was researched
Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Turkish gozleme' (spiced lamb and feta gözleme with special tomato sauce) by Sarah Cook (makes 4: a 7 g sachet of fast-action yeast and 1 tsp golden caster sugar dissolved in 175 ml lukewarm water and left 10 minutes until frothy; 250 g plain flour and ½ tsp salt mixed with the yeast and 2 tbsp olive oil, kneaded 10 minutes and left covered somewhere warm until doubled; 500 g lamb mince browned in 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 2 tsp each ground cumin and coriander, 1 tsp each cinnamon and mild chilli powder and 50 g raisins fried a few minutes more, then off the heat the zest of 1 lemon, 3 sliced spring onions, 50 g toasted pine nuts and seasoning; the dough in 4, each rolled to 25 × 30 cm, a quarter of the mince on the bottom half with a 2 cm border, a quarter of 100 g feta crumbled over, folded and pinched shut; brushed with oil and cooked in a hot pan 3 to 5 minutes a side; sauce of 8 tbsp tomato ketchup, 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses and 1 tbsp very finely chopped red onion). The source gives no rising time; it says to leave the dough until doubled. We specified Halal lamb mince and a feta made with microbial, vegetable or Halal-certified rennet; nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.
Technique and ingredient sources
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Turkish gozleme — BBC Good Food
Retrieved:
By Sarah Cook. Makes 4, prep 50 minutes, cook 45 minutes: a yeasted olive-oil dough rolled thin and folded around spiced lamb mince with raisins, lemon, spring onion, pine nuts and feta, pan-fried 3 to 5 minutes a side and served with ketchup, pomegranate molasses and red onion. We specified Halal lamb and a feta with an acceptable rennet.
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Rennet analysis — isithalal.food
Retrieved:
Which rennets are Halal and where scholars differ.