Tava Kebabı

"Tava" means "pan" in Turkish — and tava kebabı refers to a class of dishes cooked in a wide flat pan or baking dish rather than on a grill. This is the home kitchen cousin of the charcoal kebab, developed for days when the outdoor grill was not an option and you wanted all the flavour of a kebab from the oven.

The specific preparation of baking meatballs (köfte) in a sauce of smashed tomatoes and bullhorn peppers is found across Anatolia under various names. The addition of yoghurt on top, which is added near the end of cooking, creates a sauce that is simultaneously tart, rich, and savoury — a combination that appears repeatedly in Anatolian cooking as the ideal way to balance the richness of meat.

Our tava kebab follows the traditional method: Turkish meatballs baked with smashed tomatoes and bullhorn peppers until the sauce thickens and the tops are slightly charred, then topped with cool yoghurt and served with pitta bread for scooping. It is a dish that rewards patience and punishes rushing.