Karniyarik: Turkish Stuffed Aubergine with Lamb

Karniyarik is a Turkish dish of soft baked aubergines stuffed with meat in a tomato sauce.

My version includes lamb mince spiced with cumin, cinnamon, and chilli, topped with the traditional slice of green pepper and tomato.

Served with rice or bulgur pilaff, a salad and minty cucumber yogurt, it’s a satisfying, flavoured-packed dinner.

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KARNIYARIK

There are so many stuffed aubergine dishes, and from so many parts of the world, that you could probably eat a different one every week.

From Spanish berenjenas rellenas stuffed with a meat and tomato sauce topped with cheese, Italian melanzane ripiene with pork and beef or a simple stale bread and cheese filling, to various versions of imam bayildi with tomato, garlic and onions and whose name (which translates as ‘the priest fainted’) is said to refer either to its incredible deliciousness or the amount of expensive olive oil it contains.

But Turkish karniyarik with lamb, mild spicing and a hint of chilli is certainly my favourite right now.

Karniyarik literally means ‘split belly’ in Turkish. And exactly why should be pretty obvious as you read about how to make this simple but outstandingly tasty dish.

AUBERGINES

It took me a long time to learn to love aubergines. Growing up in a medium-sized town in the seventies and early eighties, you didn’t see them anyway.

I started cooking at around the age of fourteen, but really didn’t enjoy aubergines for years.

I think that was because, undercooked, they’re a horrible spongey nightmare. But, baked to melting softness like in this karniyarik, I reckon even the aubergine-phobic could be converted.

Aubergines can sometimes be bitter, although I’ve rarely found this to be the case.

Nevertheless, just in case, most aubergine recipes start with salting them and leaving to rest a while. This helps to draw out any bitter juices and starts the process of softening.

For karniyarik, we take one medium aubergine per person, cut it in half lengthways and then make a long slit, without going all the way through. The cut side is sprinkled with a little salt and set aside for around twenty minutes.

After a quick wipe, they’re browned in olive oil and are then ready to stuff and bake.

THE FILLING

Traditionally, karniyarik can be stuffed with beef or lamb. It may or may not contain spices.

My preference is for lamb, and specifically the excellent mince I get in my lamb box from Troutsdale Farm. From slow-grown, heritage Shropshire breed sheep, the lamb is full-flavoured and pairs beautifully with the cumin, cinnamon, and chilli. If you can get it, mutton would work beautifully too.

The aubergine filling is simple enough to make. You start off by softening onions and garlic in olive oil and then add in the lamb to brown it.

Next are the spices, shortly followed by tinned tomatoes. Everything is then bubbled until it’s nicely thick and reduced.

All that’s left to do then is spoon the spicy lamb mince into the aubergines. I like plenty of mince, so just spoon over the top any I can’t squeeze in.

Before the karniyarik goes into the oven, I put the traditional slice of tomato and green pepper on top of each aubergine half.

BAKING

Many karniyarik recipes pour over a mix of tomato puree and water, or olive oil and water, before baking.

I don’t bother with this as I think the juicy lamb in its lip-smacking sauce is moist enough.

To bake, I pop a tent of kitchen foil over the top to keep all those juices in and cook for around 40 minutes. I take the foil off for a further 10 minutes of cooking so that everything is nicely browned.

You’re going to want to eat this hot so, while the karniyarik’s in the oven, get all your accompaniments ready.

SERVING KARNIYARIK

Karniyarik is traditionally served with rice or a rice pilaf, although I prefer the nuttiness of bulgur wheat. I also love how it just needs soaking in boiling water to cook it.

After rinsing and draining, you can set the bulgur aside until you’re ready to eat.

To flavour the bulgur, I brown some pine nuts in butter with a little cinnamon, throw in dried fruit like apricots and raisins plus frozen peas, then stir these into the bulgur. A quick ping in the microwave and it’s ready.

Alongside the bulgur and karniyarik, I like a mixed salad with a lemon and olive oil dressing, plus cacık (the Turkish version of tzatziki): yogurt that has had garlic, salt, cucumber, and mint stirred into it.

From relatively simple ingredients, I think this makes quite a feast.

While there may be lots of stuffed aubergine dishes from around the world, for me there’s something about Karniyarik’s particular blend of flavours that’s just right.

Have you made Karniyarik? Leave a comment & let me know what you think.

5 from 2 votes

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Karniyarik: Turkish Stuffed Aubergine with Lamb

With spiced lamb mince & tomato baked in soft aubergine, Karniyarik is a Turkish dish that makes a satisfying dinner with rice or bulgur wheat, salad & cucumber yogurt.

If you can get it, this dish works wonderfully with mutton mince too.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Turkish

Keyword lamb, lamb mince

Servings 2

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 2 medium aubergines
• salt
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 350 g lamb mince or mutton mince
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
• 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp parsley finely chopped
• 4 slices fresh tomato
• 4 strips green pepper

Instructions

1. Leaving both ends on, slice the aubergines in half lengthways.

   With the cut sides facing up, make a deep slit along each half: start 1 cm in and stop 1cm from the other end, making sure you don't cut all the way down to the skin.

   Sprinkle the cut sides with a little salt and set aside for around 20 minutes.

   Wipe dry with kitchen paper.

2. Take a large frying pan, add 2 tbsp of the olive oil and heat it to moderate.

   Add the aubergine halves, cut side down, and fry until golden brown. Lightly fry the skin side for a minute or two.

   Remove the aubergines and place on a baking tray, cut side up.

3. Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C Fan / Gas 4

4. If there's less than 1 tbsp of olive oil left in the pan, add a little more.

   Turn the heat down to medium-low.

5. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softening and golden (12-15 min).

6. Turn the heat back up to moderate, add the lamb mince and cook until browned all over (5-10 min).

7. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the cumin, cinnamon, and chilli flakes.

   Cook, stirring, for 2 min.

8. Stir in the tomatoes (put a little water in the empty tin, swish it around and add that too), plus the tomato puree, sugar, and HALF the parsley.

   Bring to a simmer and gently cook until the mixture is thick (10-15 min).

9. Taste and add more seasoning, cumin etc. if needed.

   Take off the heat and stir in the rest of the parsley.

10. Gently prise open the aubergine slits and spoon the lamb mixture in and over them.

    Put a slice of tomato and a slice of green pepper in each aubergine half.

11. Loosely cover the baking tray with kitchen foil and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.

    Remove the foil and cook for a further 10 minutes.

12. Serve hot with rice or bulgur pilaf, yogurt and salad.

Recipe Notes

Stuffed aubergines should be eaten straight away, but any leftover filling can be stored in the fridge for 2 days or else frozen.

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