Zubereitung

1. 1

   Wash the potatoes and boil them in their skins in plenty of water until tender, when a knife slides in easily.

2. 2

   Drain the potatoes, let the steam escape briefly, peel them while still hot and press them through a potato ricer. Spread the riced potato out flat in a bowl and leave it to cool completely, because cold dough is much easier to shape.

3. 3

   Meanwhile, for the filling, peel and finely dice the onion. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan, sweat the onion until soft, add the minced meat and fry it over a high heat, breaking it up into crumbs, until no pink can be seen and the liquid has evaporated. Season with 1 tsp salt, the pepper and the baharat.

4. 4

   Finely chop the parsley and mix it into the filling. Spread the filling out flat on a plate and leave it to cool completely.

5. 5

   Add the egg, cornflour, 1 tsp salt and the turmeric to the cold potatoes and quickly knead by hand into a smooth, supple dough; do not knead for too long, otherwise it becomes sticky. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces of about 55 g.

6. 6

   Moisten your hands slightly. Roll a piece of dough into a ball and press it in the flat of your hand into an oval about 10 cm long and 1 cm thick. Put 1 heaped tbsp filling (about 25 g) in the middle, cup your hand slightly and push the dough together over the filling from the sides until it is completely enclosed.

7. 7

   Smooth over the seam and shape the croquette between your palms into a flat oval about 8 cm long and 2 cm thick. Turn it in the breadcrumbs to coat it all over, press the crumbs on lightly and place the croquette on a tray lined with baking paper; shape all the rest in the same way.

8. 8

   For frying, fill a large, heavy, deep-sided frying pan with oil to a depth of about 1 cm, no more than a third of the height of its sides, and heat the oil to 170 °C, checking with a kitchen thermometer. Keep a lid that fits close to hand, keep children away from the stove and never let water get into the hot oil.

9. 9

   Place 5 to 6 croquettes at a time in the oil, spaced apart, and fry until the underside is golden brown, then turn them carefully with two spatulas and fry the second side in the same way, 7 to 8 minutes in total. Let the oil come back up to 170 °C between batches.

10. 10

    Drain the croquettes on kitchen paper. Cut one croquette open: the filling should be cooked all the way through, with no pink patches, and at least 70 °C in the centre; otherwise fry the rest at 160 °C for another 1 to 2 minutes per side. Serve hot.

11. 11

    Tip: Pîvaz bi sumaq — sumac onions and Tirşî — mixed pickles with cauliflower, carrot, cucumber and peppers go well with them, and during Ramadan the croquettes sit on the table next to soup and dates. Shaped, breaded croquettes can be frozen side by side on a tray and kept for up to 2 months; fry them from frozen at 160 °C for about 2 minutes longer per side, until the filling reaches 70 °C. Keep leftover fried croquettes in the fridge and, within two days, bake them in the oven at 180 °C fan until crisp again and piping hot all the way through.