Recipes – Turkish food guides

Turkish tea recipe: how to brew çay in a çaydanlık

Turkish tea is brewed strong in the top of a double teapot and diluted with hot water in the glass. Here is how to make çay the way it is drunk in Turkey.

Poğaça recipe: soft Turkish cheese buns for breakfast

Poğaça are soft, savoury Turkish buns, usually filled with white cheese and parsley and scattered with seeds. Perfect warm with a glass of tea.

Turkish delight recipe: homemade lokum with rosewater

Homemade lokum is softer and more fragrant than the boxed kind. It takes patience and stirring, but just sugar, cornflour, water and rosewater.

Ayran recipe: how to make Turkish yoghurt drink at home

Ayran is yoghurt, cold water and a pinch of salt, whisked until frothy. Five minutes, three ingredients, and the right drink with any kebab.

Levrek buğulama recipe: Turkish steamed sea bass with tomatoes

Sea bass cooked gently in its own steam with tomatoes, peppers, garlic and lemon: a light, one-pan Turkish fish supper ready in about 40 minutes.

Midye dolma recipe: Turkish stuffed mussels with spiced rice

Mussels packed with spiced rice, pine nuts and currants, steamed in their shells and eaten with a squeeze of lemon: Istanbul's favourite late-night snack.

Kumpir recipe: Turkish loaded baked potato

A big jacket potato mashed in its skin with butter and melting cheese, then piled with salads, pickles and sausage: kumpir is Turkish street food at its most fun.