Wednesday, December 05, 2012

karniyarik

It was my first time making karniyarik (stuffed eggplant), which is Turkish.

I loosely followed this recipe from Saveur

Canola oil, for frying 
6 Japanese eggplants (about 2 lbs.), ends trimmed 
4 tbsp. unsalted butter 
1 lb. ground lamb 
1 tbsp. tomato paste 
12 tsp. ground cinnamon 
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 
1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped 
12 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped 
2 medium tomatoes, cored and finely chopped 
12 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley 
14 cup chopped mint leaves 
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

I first prepped all the veggies, spices and herbs and set everything on the side.

Then I cut the tops off of 2 eggplants and then split them in half lengthwise.

In a non-stick pan, I added 1 tablespoon of oil and "fried" them on medium heat, flesh side down.

When the eggplant had a little color, I flipped them over and added some water and "steamed" them so that they would cook through.

When the eggplant was cooked through, I removed them from the pan and set them aside on a paper towel.

Then I made the stuffing.

Since I used 180 grams of a minced pork & beef mixture, I didn't add any butter or extra oil.

When the meat was cooking, I also used two paper towels to soak up the oil that came out.

When the meat was browned, I added some chopped onions (1/4 of an onion), chopped bell pepper (2 small bell peppers) and 1 clove of garlic (grated).

When the onions were almost transparent, I added the 1 tablespoon tomato paste and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon.

For the tomatoes, I only used 4 cherry tomatoes and cooked them until the liquid evaporated.

Then I added the chopped mint and parsley (I just grabbed some from my lanai, didn't really measure this).

Instead of baking them in the oven for 5 minutes, I just topped the cooked eggplant with the meat mixture and served it warm.

NOTES: I think the type of eggplant that the author used was what the Japanese call "bei-nasu" (literally American eggplant) which is round and quite large.

When I went to the market I could only find long skinny eggplant, called "naga-nasu", so that is what I used.

This was my first time eating this as well as making this, but I really liked the flavors (Satoshi gave this a "thumbs up"). I think this meat mixture would be nice on warm baguette or with pita chips too.

I'm definitely making this one again.

6 comments:

jalna said...

This looks like something I would love.

K and S said...

maybe Wendell can make this for you, Jalna :)

Take care.
Kat

Rowena said...

Yours looks way better than the one at the saveur site.

K and S said...

aw thanks Rowena :)

Take care.
Kat

kuzunun annesi said...

Where is your egg plant gone :))

Naganasu is good idea for stuffing but we dont ( i am Turkish) cut in a half , just do some harakiri to the eggplant and cook it in the frying pan:))
Instead of frying I am putting eggplants in a microwawe and wait 7-8 minutes because it feels more healty or light , then take it of , take some of the eggplants bits from inside , put the stuffing in . And make some tomato sauce with olive oil or sunflower oil. Pour it on . Bake in the owen 15 minutes more . Yummy in my tummy :))

K and S said...

not exactly sure what you mean, Kuzunun, but thanks!

Take care.
Kat