Earlier this week, I learned how to cook a traditional turkish dish, karniyarik. As a foodie, I am always on the search for new, authentic, and delicious Turkish cuisine. Literally, karniyarik means stomach cut open, but it is eggplant stuffed with meat and rice. I did more watching then helping, but I prepared a turkish salad which consisted of tomato and cucumber, drizzled in olive oil and a little lemon juice. My roommate, Seda, prepared a delicious yogurt soup and rice. Our friend, Sinem, cooked the eggplant and stuffing. It was one of the best meals I've had in Turkey, so for this week's blogpost, I'm going to share the recipe!
Karyinarik (for 3)
Ingredients:-3 eggplants
-1/2 lb of ground beef
-4 jalapeño peppers
-1 medium onion, diced
-3 large tomatoes
-1 tbsp. of tomato paste
-salt and pepper
Instructions:
- Cut the ends off of the eggplants and make a cut long-ways down the eggplant. Soak the eggplants in water, while you prepare the other ingredients.
- Chop one of the long jalapeño peppers into little pieces. Dice the onion and 1 tomato. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. (Approximately 400 degrees F)
- Warm up a pan with olive oil and add the vegetables. Add the meat and cook together. Then add the tomato paste, salt, and pepper. This will be the stuffing.
- While the stuffing is cooking, warm up another pan with olive oil and cook the eggplant a little on each side, until soft. BE CAREFUL OF OIL POPPING OUT OF THE PAN!
- After the eggplant is soft, carefully stuff it with the meat that has been cooking in the pan. Use a spoon to hold the sides open (the eggplant may be hot so be careful, this took 2 people when we did it).
- Place the eggplants in a baking dish and decorate it with tomatoes and the other 3 jalapeño peppers, one for each eggplant/person.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Enjoy with a dollop of yogurt(süzme yoghurt) and rice.
 |
| Me with the chefs! |
 |
| The finished product! |
It was so much fun "helping" prepare the dish and then enjoying it with the girls. I am a strong believer in food and cuisine bringing people together, so this was an awesome experience for me! I am so happy they shared a taste of Turkish culture with me and hopefully this week I can share a Chinese dish recipe from my mom.
Weekend in Ankara
On Sunday, me and Sinem took a dolmuş to Hamamönü for brunch and shopped around the town. It is a historical district in Ankara. There were many artisans selling/making beautiful jewelry, artwork, and other handicrafts. The artists were so sweet and one even let me paint on her painting! We had a traditional Turkish breakfast and we were near another college campus so there were many college students around. It was a really nice town to walk around and discover the hidden gems of the town. Hopefully in the next 3 weeks, I will be able to find more cute towns like Hamamönü in Ankara!
 |
| Street view of Hamamönü |
 |
| Artist painting in the market. |
 |
| Cute, local bookstore! |
Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that recipe! I think I actually may give it a try- minus the jalepenos- I'll find something else to use instead. I think that you're exactly right about food bringing cultures together. It's like you literally get a "taste" of another's culture. I'm glad that preparing and eating the food was a great experience. The pictures were helpful too!
Does dolmuş mean trip? I assume so. I'm glad that you feel comfortable in the city. How is work? Any news there? I would love to hear about it and see pictures too!
Best,
Tammy