How to cook Karnıyarık ?
Stuffed Eggplants… Karnıyarık
Here is another Turkish delicacy much appreciated by adults and children alike! Stuffed aubergines! In my house it was one of the many dishes served on Sunday or other special days. It is one of those dishes that recall the childhood of every Turk! It reminds me of the succulent dishes my mom cooked.
The preparation is a bit long but it is really worth it. In Turkey, Karnıyarık are served with pilau rice or bulgur and cacık.
Ingredients to prepare the stuffed aubergines
Here are the ingredients to prepare the Karnıyarık, stuffed aubergines.
- 4 medium long eggplants
- 300 grams of chopped minced meat
- an onion
- a clove of garlic
- two ripe tomatoes
- two friarielli chillies
- a spoonful of tomato paste
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- salt and pepper
- For the decoration, you will need two more tomatoes and some parsley.
- For frying, use some sunflower oil.
How to prepare Karnıyarık
First, we have to wash and dry our aubergines thoroughly, remove one strip out of two and pre-cut them in half. We leave them in salted water for about 30 minutes. After this time, excess water must be thoroughly removed and dried. It is also possible to completely cut the aubergines in half before frying them, but I prefer to use my mother’s method.
Let’s start frying the aubergines in olive oil. As soon as the aubergines are cooked, we can complete the cut in two and put them in a baking pan (with parchment paper if you prefer).
Meanwhile, chop the onion and garlic, which we brown in a large pan. Add the minced meat and let it cook a little before adding salt and pepper.
We wash the peppers and cut them into slices (or even smaller) and add them to the mince. Cut the two washed tomatoes into cubes and add them to the mixture as well. Let it cook over low heat to absorb the liquid and to ensure that the tomatoes are well cooked and blended.
Separately, in another bowl, dissolve the tomato paste in a little hot water.
Once the filling is ready, turn off the heat and pick up the fried aubergines placed in the oven pan. To stuff them, you can gently remove some of their pulp, but I advise you that it’s best to gently push down on the pulp and then stuff them. Removing the pulp of this extraordinary food seems to me a shame! It is true that my mom took off some of it, she chopped it up in record time and added it to the filling after she cooked for another couple of minutes.
When you have stuffed all the eggplant halves, pour the prepared “tomato paste with water” into the bottom of the pan.
For the final touch, we have to cut the tomatoes into quarters and put them on the eggplant before baking at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes (in a hot oven).
As soon as your Karnıyarık are ready to serve, sprinkle them with fresh parsley. Delicious!
