Turkish stuffed eggplant - Karnıyarık

At the weekend I was in Turkish mood again. Almost for a week I haven't prepare any Turkish food, I started to have withdrawal symptoms. 

On Sunday I undertook to cook the lunch. This is interesting only because once in a month when I go to my hometown to visit my parents, I enjoy that I'm a kid again, mum cooks, so I can get rest a bit as well. However on Fridays and Saturdays I always bake together with mum. We chat meanwhile something stupendous is born in the oven. 

Regarding the Sunday lunch, because there was minced meat, fresh eggplant at home and mum hasn't eaten karnıyarık yet, I prepared this for her.

The Turkish word karnıyarık means originally "split belly". This dish is made and as beloved by all in every part of Turkey  as the eggplant itself too. At least 100 different kind of Turkish recipes exist for the use of eggplant. By going over the ingredients and cooking metohd, most probably it springs from southeastern and eastern part of Turkey. The filling is made from onion, garlic, tomato, fresh parsley and minced meat (originally with lamb meat).

One of the well-known version of karnıyarık is imam bayaldı with a small difference. Imam bayaldı is made without meat and served as cold appetizer, meze but the karnıyarık is served generally warm.

Ingredients:

3 small eggplant

30 dkg minced lamb meat (or beef. This time I used minced chicken breast)

1 medium onion (finely chopped)

3 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

40 dkg tomato (peeled and chopped)

2 tablespoon tomato paste 

1 green paprika (finely chopped)

1 bunch of parsely

1-2 tablespoon olive oil

salt, pepper

+ for topping: 1 tomato (divide into 6 thin slices)

                           6 thin slices green paprika

1. Wash the eggplants, cut down their green ends, cut in half lengthwise and salt. Set aside for 10 minutes then wash them again with clean water, put them next to each other in an ovenproof pan. Place in the 200°C preheated oven for 20-30 minutes covered with aluminium foil until they get almost totally soft. You can prod with a fork and check when they are ready. 

2. Meanwhile simmer the onion with some olive oil. Add the minced meat, the garlic and the chopped paprika. When the meat is simmered, add the tomato, the tomate paste and season to taste. Cook it ready within approx. half an hour, stirring it from time to time. Remove from the heat and stir in most of the chopped parsley.

3. When the eggplants are ready, take out from the oven (but don't switch it off), with the help of two spoon take out the inner part of the eggplant but without cutting through to the skin on the opposite side and leaving 13 mm uncut at either end and let them cool for a while. Stuffed the epplants with the meat, decorate with the tomato and paprika slices and put it back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes. 

Serve warm. You can eat with bulgur or garlic yoghurt sauce as well, but it can be a main dish  in itself too. This is one of my favorite Turkish eggplant dish.

Afiyet olsun!