Karniyarik
Karniyarik is a Turkish dish that literally means slashed belly. The dish gets the name because the eggplant looks like a belly shape and then you cut it down the middle to stuff it. It is one of my favorite eggplant dishes. Karniyarik is delicious served with some rice and yogurt on the side. Of course, you all know me by now, I would make that garlic yogurt instead.
Wow, just looking at that bite of Karniyarik, makes my mouth water.
Just so you get an idea of how to assemble the dish, I have made a quick video for you all. Hope you like it.
This is how it will look hot out of the oven. This dish will wake your taste buds up. If you decide to try it out, let me know how it turns out for you in the comments section. By the way, if you like things a little spicier, you can always add more crushed red pepper.
- 1½ pound Eggplant (about 6 small)
- 3-4 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Cup of Olive Oil for frying the eggplant
- 1 Medium Onion
- 1 pound Ground Beef
- 3 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
- 5 Tablespoons Tomato paste, reserve 2 Tablespoons for the sauce
- 1 Medium Tomato, chopped
- 1 Medium Tomato, sliced in enough slices to top each eggplant
- 1 Green Bell Pepper or enough small peppers of your choice to top the eggplant
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Black Pepper
- ½ Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
- ½ Cup Water
- Peel 1 inch strips down each eggplant, leaving 1 inch strips of peel intact. Cut a slit down the center of the eggplant starting about 1 inch from the top and leaving 1 inch at the bottom. Be careful not to cut all the way through the eggplant.
- Soak the eggplant in salty water for 30 minutes.
- Rinse well and blot with paper towels.
- Heat the 1 cup olive oil in a large skillet.
- Fry the eggplants on each side until golden. Drain on paper towels.
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Saute 1 medium onion in 3-4 tablespoons olive oil.
- Add the ground beef and saute 4-5 minutes.
- Finely chop the garlic and add to the pan. Stir well.
- Chop the tomato and stir it into the ground beef.
- Season with the salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper.
- Add 3 tablespoons tomato paste then stir well. Cook for 2-3 minutes more.
- Place the eggplant in an oven safe dish.
- Stuff the eggplant with the meat mixture.
- Place a slice of tomato and piece of pepper on each eggplant.
- Mix the water with 2 Tablespoons tomato paste and stir well.
- Pour this mixture into the pan so it surrounds the eggplant.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes.
- Serve with rice and yogurt. Afiyet olsun!
