Karnıyarık

Split-belly eggplant stuffed with spiced meat: Turkey's great everyday dish

Origin: Turkey

Karnıyarık, literally 'split belly' in Turkish (karın: belly, yarık: split), is the meaty counterpart to the famous olive-oil-only imam bayıldı, and in the daily life of Turkish households, considerably more common. Eggplants are fried until their skin blisters and their flesh softens, then split open and filled with a spiced mixture of minced lamb or beef, onions, tomatoes, and green peppers. The whole dish is finished in the oven until the filling is cooked through and the eggplant has fully collapsed around it. Unlike imam bayıldı, which belongs to the cold zeytinyağlı category and is served at room temperature as a starter or meze, karnıyarık is a hot main course; domestic, hearty, and deeply satisfying. It is served with rice pilaf and a bowl of plain yogurt alongside, which is considered as essential to the dish as the eggplant itself. Karnıyarık illustrates one of the defining movements in Ottoman cooking: the meeting of the Anatolian meat tradition; in which lamb and beef were the primary proteins of the interior; with the Arab-influenced vegetable-cooking tradition that eggplant embodied. The dish likely crystallised in its current form in the 17th and 18th century Anatolian kitchen, when both the techniques of frying eggplant and the spice vocabulary of the eastern Mediterranean had been fully absorbed into everyday Turkish home cooking. Versions of karnıyarık exist across the entire former Ottoman sphere. In Bosnia and Serbia it appears as punjena patlidžana; in Bulgaria as пълнени патладжани (plneni patladjani); in Lebanon and Syria as batinjan mahshi bil-lahm; in Egypt as mahshi batingan. All reflect the same underlying Ottoman culinary grammar: an eggplant vessel, a spiced meat filling, a tomato or stock-based braising liquid, baked or simmered to tenderness. The Turkish version is distinguished by the inclusion of sivri biber (long mild green peppers) in the filling, by the technique of deep- or shallow-frying the whole eggplant before stuffing, and by the classic accompaniment of sade pilav (plain white rice pilaf) and soğuk yoğurt (cold plain yogurt). The green peppers placed on top of each stuffed eggplant before baking; one or two slices of tomato alongside; are a characteristic garnish that identifies the dish instantly on any Turkish table.

Ingredients

Eggplant

4 medium eggplants (long variety, about 200g each), firm and glossy
1 tsp fine salt, for salting the eggplants
4 tbsp olive oil or sunflower oil, for frying the eggplants

Filling

300 g minced lamb or beef (or a mixture), not too lean
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 medium tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped, use half in the filling, keep half for topping
2 sivri biber (long mild green peppers) or regular green peppers, deseeded and finely chopped, plus a few slices reserved for topping
2 tbsp olive oil, for cooking the filling
0.5 tsp ground allspice
0.5 tsp black pepper
1 pinch ground cinnamon
1 tsp fine salt, for the filling
1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Baking Liquid

200 ml hot water
1 tbsp tomato paste

To Serve

1 portion plain white rice pilaf, to serve alongside
1 bowl cold plain yogurt, to serve alongside

Method

Cut the stem end off each eggplant but leave the calyx intact if possible. Use a vegetable peeler to strip alternating lengthways stripes of skin from each eggplant: this traditional striping (called 'alacalı' in Turkish) speeds up cooking and creates a handsome zebra pattern. Rub the eggplants all over with salt and leave in a colander for 15–20 minutes. Rinse and pat very dry.
Heat the oil for frying in a wide heavy pan over medium-high heat. Add the eggplants and fry, turning occasionally, for 10–12 minutes until the skin is blistered and the eggplants are considerably softened and yielding to a gentle squeeze; they should be about 70% cooked through. Remove to a plate and allow to cool enough to handle.
While the eggplants cool, make the filling. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 8 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Add the minced meat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and cook until browned and the raw smell is gone; about 7–8 minutes. Add the chopped green peppers and half of the chopped tomatoes, the allspice, black pepper, cinnamon, and salt. Cook for 5 minutes until the tomatoes break down. Remove from the heat, stir in the parsley, and taste for seasoning.
Preheat the oven to 190°C / 375°F / Gas 5. Place the fried eggplants in a single layer in a deep baking dish. Use a spoon to carefully open a deep lengthways slit in each eggplant, gently pressing the flesh to either side to create a generous pocket without tearing through the sides or base.
Fill each eggplant pocket generously with the meat mixture, pressing it in firmly and mounding it slightly; do not be shy with the filling. Place a slice or two of the reserved tomato and a slice of green pepper on top of each filled eggplant as a garnish.
Mix the hot water and tomato paste together until dissolved. Pour this liquid around (not over) the eggplants in the baking dish; it should come about 1cm up the sides of the dish. Cover the dish tightly with foil.
Bake covered for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake uncovered for a further 15–20 minutes until the filling is lightly browned on top, the eggplants are completely collapsed and tender, and the liquid has reduced to a small, flavourful pool of sauce in the base of the dish.
Serve immediately, hot from the oven, with plain rice pilaf and cold plain yogurt alongside. Spoon the pan juices over the eggplants at the table.

Notes

Karnıyarık can be assembled fully, eggplants fried and stuffed, up to several hours before baking and kept covered at room temperature. Leftovers reheat well: add a splash of water to the dish, cover with foil, and warm in a 160°C oven for 20 minutes. The choice between lamb and beef is regional and personal: lamb gives more richness and the traditional flavour of Anatolian cooking; beef is leaner and slightly milder. A 50/50 mixture of the two is excellent. Some versions include a handful of pine nuts and currants fried briefly in butter added to the filling for a more elaborate, palace-style preparation.

The Gastrographer

Name: Karnıyarık
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 80 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Turkey
Ingredients: 4 medium eggplants (long variety, about 200g each), firm and glossy; 1 tsp fine salt, for salting the eggplants; 4 tbsp olive oil or sunflower oil, for frying the eggplants; 300 g minced lamb or beef (or a mixture), not too lean; 1 large onion, finely chopped; 3 garlic cloves, finely minced; 2 medium tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped, use half in the filling, keep half for topping; 2 sivri biber (long mild green peppers) or regular green peppers, deseeded and finely chopped, plus a few slices reserved for topping; 2 tbsp olive oil, for cooking the filling; 0.5 tsp ground allspice; 0.5 tsp black pepper; 1 pinch ground cinnamon; 1 tsp fine salt, for the filling; 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped; 200 ml hot water; 1 tbsp tomato paste; 1 portion plain white rice pilaf, to serve alongside; 1 bowl cold plain yogurt, to serve alongside

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