The Grand Tour Story
The Grand Tour stays in Istanbul for another night, where the streets never really seem to sleep. Ferries still cross
the Bosphorus under glowing lights, late-night tea houses stay busy until the early hours, and smoky ocakbaşı
grills continue serving hungry crowds long after midnight. The smell of charcoal, garlic and warm flatbread
follows you through every narrow street.
We end up outside a tiny family grill where Ayhan has been cooking chicken wings over glowing coals for nearly
thirty years. He serves them with a thick garlic yoghurt so good that people tear through baskets of bread before
the wings even arrive.
He simply shrugs.
"Good sauce deserves good bread."
Nobody at the table disagreed.
You’ll Need
For the Wings
1kg chicken wings
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely grated
2 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp sweet paprika, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp sea salt, ½ tsp cracked black pepper, ½ tsp chilli flakes
Juice of ½ lemon
Turkish Garlic Yoghurt
200g Greek yoghurt
2 garlic cloves, finely grated
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
Pinch of sea salt
To Finish
Fresh parsley, chopped
Sumac
Lemon wedges
Optional but dangerous
Warm Turkish flatbread
Pickled chillies
Feta cheese
Cold Turkish lager
Method
Preheat your air fryer to 200°C.
Pat the chicken wings completely dry using kitchen paper.
In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, smoked paprika, sweet paprika, cumin, oregano, sea salt, black
pepper, chilli flakes and lemon juice.
Add the wings and coat thoroughly until every wing is evenly covered.
Arrange the wings in the air fryer basket in a single layer, working in batches if necessary.
Air fry for 22–25 minutes, turning halfway through, until deeply golden with crisp, lightly charred edges.
Meanwhile, mix together the Greek yoghurt, garlic, lemon juice, chopped mint and sea salt until smooth.
Give the wings a final 2-minute blast at 205°C for extra colour and crispness.
Serve immediately with the garlic yoghurt spooned alongside or spread onto warm flatbread.
Finish with chopped parsley, a sprinkle of sumac and fresh lemon wedges.