Karniyarik that we made with the help of our instructor |
This past March I visited Istanbul with my younger brother. During the four day trip we took a Turkish Cooking course where I picked up some delicious recipes. This past week I had the chance to cook for some friends and decided to try Turkish stuffed eggplant which is called Karniyarik (Split Belly)
To make sure I could recreate some of the dishes, I brought some spices back with me from Istanbul. My favourite spice that I discovered was Ottoman Spice, a unique chili based Turkish blend. It has become a staple in all my tomato sauces, regardless of cuisine. I needed to replenish my supply so I ask a fellow globe trotter to grab some on her recent trip to Turkey. She returned with the prized spice in hand, and for her efforts, I cooked for her!
The main difference in my version of the recipe was the size of the eggplants (aubergine). My teacher used small slender Italian eggplant and I had to use 3 medium eggplants.
Eggplants before preparation (photo source) |
Fresh ingredients |
3 medium eggplant, peeled in stripes lengthwise, halved
1 lb of ground beef
1 sweet onion choppped
4 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1/2 cup parsley, finely choppped (be generous)
1 or 2 tomatos chopped
1 tomato, sliced for garnish
dill for garnish (optional)
green peppers, 6 one for each eggplant
ottoman spice to taste
red pepper flakes to taste
sugar to taste
ground pepper to taste
salt to taste
my own personal blend of spices i cant remember but make everything taste good. ha!
2 tablespoons olive oil
mild flavor oil for browning eggplant
1 cup hot water
serve with:
basmati or jasmine rice
flat bread
yogurt (optional)
Oven should be preheated to 180 degrees C/380 F
The meat stuffing |
Eggplant ready for frying |
Now back to the eggplant. I wiped off all the excess salt and I heated some mild flavoured oil in a frying pan. Now you have to make sure the oil is super hot or the eggplant with just absorb all the oil. You want to make the eggplant brown on all side and gets a little soft.
Once I was done with pan frying the eggplant I dried them out on paper towel and took my meat filling off the fire. This is when I added the parsley and began to assemble my masterpiece.
Pre-oven prettyness |
Completed Karniyarik. It was a hit! |
It should be noted that I had so many spare ingredients that I retried the recipe again the same week. It was delicious both times. I think my teacher would have been proud!
Have you ever taken a cooking course? Have your re-creations been successful?
Be sure to follow me on twitter @nicolenewblack
Well, I don't cook at all, but I'll make sure to come and visit so you can make this for me. ha!
ReplyDeleteSounds delish. Too bad I am staying with my aunt and family who aren't appreciative of anything new or different. :-/
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