Çökertme Kebabı, Refika Style

Ingredients
½ pound beef tenderloin
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 to 5 sprigs oregano
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds, crushed
1 teaspoon milled four peppercorn mix
1 dried hot pepper
Salt
¼ cup olive oil
2 medium potatoes
Sunflower seed oil for frying the potatoes
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup yoghurt
1 tablespoon crushed fresh thyme leaves

Directions
Slice the tenderloin into strips and put it into a resealable plastic bag. Add the garlic, oregano, mustard seeds and milled pepper. Crush the dried hot red pepper and add it the mixture. Add salt to taste and the olive oil and smush the bag around to mix everything together. Let the meat sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, then chill for another 3 hours.

Heat a large skillet over moderate heat until hot. Add the meat and saute, stirring, until lightly browned, about 2 to 3 minutes. In a separate pan heat the tomato sauce.

For the French fried potatoes: Peel the potatoes and cut them into strips. Soak them in water for 20 minutes to get rid of the excess starch. Drain and dry them really well with paper towels. In a deep large saucepan heat 2 to 3 inches of the safflower oil to 365 F. Fry the potatoes in small batches, until they turn golden. Transfer them as they are done to a paper towel lined tray and sprinkle them with salt while they are still hot.

For the yoghurt sauce: Keep the yoghurt at room temperature. In the mortar crush the fresh thyme with some salt until thyme is smashed and its green color can be seen; then mix with the yoghurt.

To serve: arrange the potatoes on the bottom of each plate, put yoghurt sauce on top of it and then the meat. Finally pour the sauce over the top and garnish with thyme sprigs.