Recipe: Arnavut Ciğeri (Albanian Liver)

I will start this recipe by stating that normally, I abhor fried liver and onions. However, there is one dish – a classic Ottoman appetizer that I love and can’t have enough of when I’m in a Turkish restaurant. It’s offered as part of meze or as a main course. And, of course, I cook it at home.

Arnavut ciğeri, which means Albanian liver, is a pan-fried savory liver dish livened with crushed red pepper flakes, accompanied by a red onion and parsley salad flavored with sumac. I usually enjoy it as a main course instead of just as meze.

The classic recipe calls for lamb’s liver, but I prefer beef liver, as I think it’s much more flavorful and easier to get at a supermarket near me.

Below is my mother’s recipe. I make her original or a variation where I use thin habanero slices instead of the traditional Turkish long hot peppers or substitute tomato wedges for the peppers.

Sometimes, my wife cooks another variation where she lightly sautés white onions with cremini mushroom slices and sprinkles cilantro instead of flat leaf parsley on top. She adds the sumac to the flour and spices mix.

Ingredients:

1 large red onion, cut in half lengthways and thinly sliced
8 sprigs flat leaf parsley, stems removed, coarsely chopped
2 tsps. ground sumac

1 lb. liver, cut into bite-sized pieces if used for meze or strips if used for a main course 2 tsps. paprika
½ tsp. crushed chili pepper flakes or spicy smoked paprika
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oil for frying (in Turkey and Greece, they use olive oil, but when I cook it I prefer canola)
Lemon wedges, at least one per person
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:

Make the salad first. Slice the red onion, and rub 1 or 2 tsps. sea salt into the onion slices. This will soften the onions and make them tastier.

Stir in the chopped parsley, ground sumac, and black pepper, and combine. Spread the salad on a serving dish, and set aside.

Remove the skin and ducts from the liver and slice it into pieces.

In a plate mix the flour, 2/3 tsp. sea salt, paprika, and chili pepper flakes or spicy paprika. Place the liver pieces onto the flour and spices mix to coat all over.

Heat the oil over high heat in a heavy skillet, and fry the coated liver pieces for 4-5 minutes until the pieces become crispy and have a medium brown coating outside but are still moist and soft inside.

Remove the liver onto a paper towel to get rid of any excess oil.

Drain the salad of any liquid that might have accumulated on the plate.

Place the fried liver on a platter, and cover with the salad. Serve warm.

Place a lemon wedge on each plate, and squeeze the lemon over the liver. The fresh lemon juice gives a refreshing taste to the dish and complements the onion and parsley or cilantro salad.