How to make Karniyarik

Today’s dish is Karniyarik which means “split belly” in Turkish and as you may guess, these fried eggplants are cut and stuffed with a ragout like, rich ground beef mixture with spicy, aromatic onions, chilies and tomatoes. Finished in the oven with a tomato chili sauce, this dish is one of the favorites of many Turkish people and is usually served with (pilav) Turkish rice and cacik (yogurt with garlic, herbs and cucumber).

Ingredients:

• 3 – 4 eggplants (medium to small size), approx. 1 kg
• 1 onion
• 300 g ground beef
• 4-5 green chili
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tomatoes
• ½ cup parsley chopped
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp chili paste
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper to season