Last updated:
Hünkar Beğendi
Tender lamb in tomato sauce over a smoky eggplant purée enriched with milk and kaşar.
Brown lamb in oil in a heavy pan. Add onion and soften 5–6 minutes. Stir in paste and tomatoes, then water and seasoning. Cover and simmer gently for 55–70 minutes until fork-tender, adding hot water if the pan dries. Uncover briefly to reduce a watery sauce.
Meanwhile prick eggplants a few times. Place under a hot grill/broiler on a heatproof metal tray and turn regularly with tongs for 25–35 minutes until skins blister and flesh collapses. Ventilate the kitchen. Cool just enough to handle, peel, drain in a sieve and chop finely.
Melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in flour for 2 minutes, then whisk in warm milk gradually. Simmer gently for 5–7 minutes, stirring until smooth and the flour is cooked.
Fold chopped eggplant and cheese into the milk sauce. Warm gently until cheese melts; season to taste. Keep the texture soft enough to spread.
Spoon the eggplant base onto plates, top with hot tender lamb and finish with parsley. Refrigerate leftovers in shallow containers within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F. Keep at 40°F or below, use within 3–4 days and reheat cooked leftovers to 165°F.
Drain the charred eggplant before adding it to the sauce. Unlike yogurt-based ali nazik, this beğendi uses a cooked flour, milk and cheese base.
Alternating eggplant rounds and lamb patties roasted with tomatoes and green peppers. This oven adaptation follows the alternating meat-and-eggplant arrangement documented in Kilis. Use a shallow dish and avoid packing so tightly that the vegetables steam without softening.
Tender lamb, whole pearl onions and vegetables simmer together before cooked erişte is folded through the juices. A hearty Antalya-style stew.
Hot lamb and pepper butter over smoky eggplant folded into garlic yogurt. This diced-lamb adaptation is related to Gaziantep’s alinazik, which is also made with coarsely minced meat. Let the eggplant cool to warm before folding it into the yogurt so the base stays creamy.
Whole eggplants with minced lamb tucked into deep slits, cooked gently with tomato and peppers.
Hand-chopped lamb and tail fat grilled on flat skewers, with warm flatbread, charred vegetables and sumac onions.
Lamb cooked with sheep tail fat, seasoned with kekik and pepper, served in flatbread with onion and parsley.
Dried eggplant shells filled with beef, rice and currants, gently cooked in a tomato-and-pepper sauce. Currant-filled dried eggplant is associated with Denizli. This home version uses onion, herbs and mixed tomato and pepper pastes; local variations exist.
Roasted eggplant layered with minced beef and tomato, with an optional chickpea variation. The optional chickpeas reflect a documented Afyonkarahisar variation. This oven adaptation roasts the eggplant instead of frying it and has no béchamel topping.
Soft eggplants filled with beef, onion, peppers and tomato, baked in a light tomato sauce.
Individual meatballs wrapped in crossed eggplant strips and baked with tomato and pepper caps.
Mild beef-and-lamb meatballs, chilled before shaping into small fingers and grilling.
Lamb and chickpeas in turmeric broth, finished with tomato and green pepper in an earthenware casserole. This home adaptation follows the Kars lamb-and-chickpea preparation. It is distinct from other regional dishes also called piti. Use oven-safe cookware and protect the table from the hot casserole.
