Sandra Pırasalı çıtır börek is the crispy Turkish leek pastry on Anatolian breakfast tables. Sweated leeks and grated carrot rolled inside yufka, brushed with an egg-milk-butter wash, topped with nigella and sesame, baked golden and shatter-crisp. Serves 6-8 in about an hour.
Börek is one of Turkey’s oldest pastry families, common across the Balkans and Mediterranean as Ottoman legacy. Ozlem Warren documents the genre across Ozlem’s Turkish Table and Sebze (Quadrille). Musa Dagdeviren’s The Turkish Cookbook (Phaidon, 2019) carries multiple börek variations among its 550 recipes. The carrot is the home-cook addition that sweetens the leek.
The trick is drying the leeks before they hit the yufka. I learnt this the hard way the first time. Leeks went in still wet, steam soaked the bottom layer, and what should have been crispy came out limp. Sauté until every drop has cooked off, then the yufka stays shattering.
Crispy Leek and Carrot Borek (Pırasalı Çıtır Börek)
Description
Sweated leeks and grated carrot rolled into yufka sheets, brushed with butter and egg, baked with nigella and sesame until golden and shatter-crisp.
Ingredients
For the filling
For the pastry
For the wash
For the topping
Instructions
- Cook the filling. Heat olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the leeks and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, for 8-10 minutes until soft and reduced. Add the grated carrot, cook 4-5 more minutes until any liquid has fully evaporated. Season with salt, pepper, parsley. Let cool completely.
- Make the wash. Whisk egg, milk and olive oil in a small bowl.
- Roll and coil. Take one yufka sheet, brush lightly with melted butter, spread a quarter of the cooled filling along one long edge. Roll up tightly like a cigarette. Place the roll into a greased round baking tin, curling it into a coil. Repeat with the remaining sheets, continuing the coil outward to fill the tin.
- Brush and top. Pour the egg-milk-oil wash over the top, letting it seep between the rolls. Sprinkle generously with nigella and sesame seeds.
- Bake. Heat oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / gas 4. Bake on the middle rack for 25-30 minutes until deep golden and crisp on top.
- Rest and serve. Cool 5 minutes before slicing into wedges. Serve warm with Turkish tea or ayran.
FAQs
Why cook the leeks before adding them to the yufka?
Leeks hold a lot of water. Raw or under-cooked leek lets steam out during baking, which soaks straight into the bottom yufka layer. Instead of crisp, you get a soggy underside that won’t release from the tin. Sauté the leeks until soft and any liquid has fully cooked off; that’s what makes the difference between çıtır (crispy) and limp.
Can I use filo pastry instead of yufka?
Yes. Filo is the closest international equivalent; yufka is slightly thicker and more pliable, but a 270g pack of supermarket filo (about 12 sheets) works in the same recipe. Brush every other layer with butter for the same crispness. Defrost filo overnight in the fridge and bring to room temperature before using.
Can I add feta cheese to the filling?
Yes — feta and leek börek is one of Turkey’s most loved combinations. Crumble 150g feta (or Turkish beyaz peynir) into the cooked filling once it’s cooled. Reduce the salt slightly since feta is already salty. The cheese melts into the layers and adds a tangy edge against the sweetness of the carrot.
Where do I find yufka outside Turkey?
Turkish grocers stock fresh yufka in packs of 4 sheets. Middle Eastern shops also carry it. In the UK, larger Tesco and Sainsbury’s stores stock filo pastry (the closest swap) in the frozen aisle. Online: Sous Chef and TurkishMart.co.uk ship fresh yufka. Look for brands like Atın or Doğtaş for quality.
How do I keep börek crispy after baking?
Two days in the fridge airtight is the maximum. Reheat in a hot oven (180°C for 5-7 minutes), never the microwave, or you lose the shatter-crisp top. For batch cooking, freeze the assembled raw tray for up to 1 month — bake straight from frozen and add 10 minutes to the cook time. Best served warm with Turkish tea or ayran.
