Turkish cuisine is a symphony of flavors where vegetables transform into works of art and desserts preserve the secrets of Ottoman palaces. Today we're making legendary dishes that Turks pass down from generation to generation.
🍆 Imam Bayildi
Famous stuffed eggplants braised in aromatic tomato-onion sauce with garlic and herbs. The name translates as "the imam fainted" — according to legend, either from delight or from the quantity of olive oil.
Ingredients:
• Medium eggplants — 4 pieces
• Yellow onions — 3 large heads
• Ripe tomatoes — 4 pieces
• Garlic — 6 cloves
• Olive oil — 150 ml
• Fresh parsley — large bunch
• Sugar — 1 teaspoon
• Salt — to taste
• Black pepper — to taste
• Water — 200 ml
Preparation:
1. Wash the eggplants, cut off the stems. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the skin in lengthwise strips every 2 cm — you should get a striped pattern. Make a deep lengthwise cut down the center of each eggplant, stopping 2 cm from each end. Salt generously inside and out, leave in a bowl for 30 minutes. The eggplants will release bitter dark brown liquid.
2. Rinse the eggplants under cold water, squeeze thoroughly. In a deep skillet, heat 100 ml olive oil until it just starts to smoke. Fry the eggplants on all sides for 3-4 minutes until golden brown and soft when pressed. Transfer to paper towels.
3. Cut the onions into thin half-rings 2-3 mm thick. In the same skillet with the remaining oil (add another 2 tablespoons) braise the onions over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula. The onions should become translucent, soft and sweetish, but not brown.
4. Blanch the tomatoes with boiling water, remove the skin, cut the flesh into small 5×5 mm cubes. Press the garlic through a press. Add to the onions the tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt, pepper. Braise for 10 minutes until thickened — the sauce should become uniform and the liquid should evaporate by half. Remove from heat, stir in the finely chopped parsley (save a bit for serving).
5. Open the pockets in the eggplants, gently spreading the flesh with a spoon. Fill each eggplant with the tomato-onion filling, packing it in. Arrange the eggplants in a deep baking dish tightly against each other, cuts facing up.
6. Pour water into the dish, drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Cover with foil, bake at 180°C for 40 minutes. Remove the foil, bake another 15 minutes until the tops caramelize and the eggplants are soft — they should pierce easily with a fork.
7. Remove from the oven, let cool to room temperature or chill in the refrigerator. Imam bayildi is traditionally served cold or warm, drizzled with sauce from the dish and sprinkled with fresh parsley. Serve with crusty white bread and a lemon wedge.
💡 Fact: According to one legend, the imam really did lose consciousness when his wife confessed how much expensive olive oil went into this dish. According to another version — he was so delighted by the taste that he couldn't contain his emotions.
🥘 Karniyarik
Eggplants stuffed with spiced meat filling with tomatoes and baked until juicy and soft. Unlike imam bayildi, this is a hearty meat dish with rich piquant flavor.
Ingredients:
• Medium eggplants — 4 pieces
• Ground beef — 400 g
• Yellow onions — 2 heads
• Tomatoes — 3 large
• Green bell pepper — 2 pieces
• Garlic — 4 cloves
• Vegetable oil — 100 ml
• Tomato paste — 2 tablespoons
• Sweet paprika — 1 teaspoon
• Ground cumin — 0.5 teaspoon
• Red pepper flakes — 0.5 teaspoon
• Salt — to taste
• Black pepper — to taste
• Water — 300 ml
• Parsley — small bunch
Preparation:
1. Wash the eggplants, use a vegetable peeler to remove lengthwise strips of skin every 1.5 cm. Cut each eggplant in half lengthwise. Score the flesh with deep diagonal crisscross lines without cutting through the skin. Salt abundantly, leave for 20 minutes in a colander. Rinse, squeeze.
2. In a skillet heat 80 ml oil to 170-180°C (test with a wooden stick — there should be active bubbles). Fry the eggplant halves cut side down for 4-5 minutes until golden brown, then flip and fry skin side down for another 3 minutes. The eggplants should become soft and pliable. Transfer to paper towels.
3. Cut the onions into small 3×3 mm cubes. In the same skillet over medium heat, fry the onions until translucent, 5-6 minutes. Add the ground meat, breaking it up with a spatula into small grains. Fry for 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly, until all liquid has evaporated and the meat is lightly browned.
4. Clean the bell peppers of seeds, cut into 5×5 mm cubes. Grate the tomatoes on a coarse grater, discard the skins. Finely chop the garlic with a knife. Add to the meat the peppers, tomatoes, garlic, tomato paste, all spices, salt. Braise for 15 minutes over medium heat until thickened and caramelized — the sauce should become rich, thick, with oily spots on the surface.
5. With a spoon make a depression in each eggplant half, spreading and slightly pressing down the flesh. Fill the depressions with meat filling, mounding it slightly and packing lightly.
6. Arrange the stuffed eggplants in a deep baking dish. Pour water around the edges of the dish, drizzle with the remaining oil. Cover with foil, bake at 190°C for 35 minutes.
7. Remove the foil, increase temperature to 200°C and bake another 10-12 minutes until the filling browns. The eggplants should soften completely and the sauce in the dish should thicken and darken. Serve hot, sprinkled with chopped parsley, with rice or bulgur.
💡 Fact: The name "karniyarik" literally means "split belly" — that's what the cut and opened eggplants look like. This dish is especially popular in the Gaziantep region, the capital of Turkish gastronomy.
🍮 Kazandibi
Legendary Ottoman dessert — the most delicate milk pudding with a caramelized crust on the bottom that gives an incomparable burnt sugar flavor. The texture is silky, the aroma vanilla-caramel.
Ingredients:
• Whole milk — 1 liter
• Sugar — 150 g
• Cornstarch — 80 g
• Rice flour — 40 g
• Vanilla extract — 2 teaspoons
• Butter — 50 g
• Ground cinnamon — for serving
Preparation:
1. In a heavy-bottomed pot with at least 2 liter capacity, mix 100 g sugar with cornstarch and rice flour. With a whisk gradually pour in 200 ml cold milk, working the mixture into a smooth liquid paste without a single lump. The consistency should be like thin sour cream.
2. Bring the remaining 800 ml milk to a boil in a separate pot. In a thin stream, whisking intensely and constantly, pour the hot milk into the starch mixture. Transfer everything back to the pot.
3. Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously with the whisk in a figure-eight motion, for 12-15 minutes. The mass will start to thicken after 5-6 minutes, keep stirring without stopping — otherwise lumps will form. The finished pudding should become very thick, flow heavily from the whisk in a wide ribbon, and leave a clear trail on the bottom of the pot when you draw a spatula through.
4. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla extract and 30 g butter until completely dissolved. The mass should become smooth and glossy.
5. In a wide skillet with a thick bottom 26-28 cm in diameter, melt the remaining 20 g butter over medium heat. Distribute it evenly over the entire surface. Pour in the remaining 50 g sugar in an even layer. Don't stir! Let the sugar caramelize for 3-4 minutes, gently swirling the pan for even melting. The caramel should become golden brown but not black, with a nutty aroma.
6. As soon as the caramel reaches the right color, immediately pour the pudding into the skillet. Quickly smooth with a silicone spatula into an even layer 2-3 cm thick. Don't mix the caramel with the pudding! Leave on the heat for another 2-3 minutes so the caramel bonds with the bottom of the pudding. You'll hear a light sizzle and smell burnt sugar.
7. Remove from heat, let cool for 20 minutes at room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours, better overnight. The pudding should set completely and become springy. With a sharp knife dipped in water, cut the kazandibi into 4×8 cm rectangles. Carefully flip each piece caramelized crust up — it should be dark brown, crispy, with a glossy sheen. Sprinkle with a pinch of cinnamon, serve cold.
💡 Fact: Kazandibi translates as "bottom of the cauldron". This dish appeared in Topkapi Palace in the 15th century when the Ottoman sultans' cooks accidentally overcooked a milk pudding. The sultan liked the caramelized crust so much that the dessert entered the permanent menu of the palace kitchen.