Koupes

Name: Koupes
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Cypriot
Ingredients: Bulgur; Plain flour; Water; Turkey mince; Onion; Ground cinnamon; Allspice; Flat-leaf parsley; Salt; Black pepper; Vegetable oil

315 kcal a serving, against 538 for the traditional version. That is 223 kcal off, or 41%, with 16g of protein. Serves 8. 2 hours, most of it faffing with bulgur.

What the traditional version is

Bulgur is soaked and worked with flour and a little oil to make a shell. The filling is lamb mince, sweated with onion, cinnamon and allspice. Each one is shaped by hand, stuffed, then deep-fried until shattering crisp and golden. You eat them with lemon wedges and no fuss.

What changed, and what each change costs

300g lamb or 15% beef mince switched for 350g turkey mince

Turkey mince is leaner and much higher in protein, so you can use more of it and still come out ahead on both counts. The extra 50g was needed to keep the filling from vanishing inside the thicker baked shell.

What it costs you. If you want the richness of lamb fat, it's not here. The filling comes out lighter and more savoury, but not as lush. At least you can actually taste the spices now.

Olive oil in the shell cut to zero

When you bake these, the shell needs less lubrication, and the minute amount of oil inside doesn't make much difference anyway.

What it costs you. The shell is slightly dryer, but you'd only care if you ate them side by side, and even then you'd probably care more about the frying.

Deep-frying replaced by baking, with 30ml oil brushed over all

Every 100g of koupes absorbs about 12g of oil in the frier, which is a lot even by my standards. Baking with a brush-on finish cuts about 90% of that at a stroke.

What it costs you. If fried is the first word you associate with koupes, prepare for a gentle letdown. Baking gives a decent crust and a respectable crunch at the edges, but the snap is a memory. It isn't fried, it's baked - and the crust, like your resolve, will soften if you hang about. Eat them hot or be disappointed.

Flour in the shell cut by a quarter

With less oil and no frying, the shell needs less flour to hold together. Go too low and it crumbles, go this low and it just works.

What it costs you. Less flour means a slightly crumblier bite and a shell that's more about bulgur than anything else. If you like your koupes on the nutty side, this goes in your favour.

Filling up, shell down

Because you're baking and using leaner mince, you can get away with thinner shells and a bit more filling for the same shape and size. More protein, less pointless chew at the edges.

What it costs you. Shell purists will have words, but I can't hear them through a mouthful of filling.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Bulgur
Plain flour
Water
Turkey mince
Onion
Ground cinnamon
Allspice
Flat-leaf parsley
Salt
Black pepper
Vegetable oil

How it starts

Soak the bulgur in cold water for 30 minutes, then drain well and squeeze out any extra.
Mix the bulgur with the flour and half the salt, then start kneading with wet hands until it clumps together.
For the filling, soften the onion in a dry frying pan for 5 minutes, then add the turkey mince and cook until the pink is gone.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Cypriot.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	538	315
Protein	15.7g	16g
Fat	29g	7.9g
Saturated fat	5.2g	1.5g
Carbohydrate	56.4g	47.8g
Protein per 100 kcal	2.9g	5.1g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Cypriot prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked. How every number is computed sets out the method.

Allergens. gluten.

The method is in the book

Are they as good as proper fried koupes? No. The shell never snaps quite the same and you'll spot the missing lamb fat if you're looking for it. But if you want something you can eat three of without immediately regretting it, baked turkey koupes aren't a disgrace. Far more protein, a heap less oil, still taste of Cyprus. That's honest work, even if it isn't glory.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Cypriot, along with 47 more. Buy the paperback