Karniyarik – Eggplant Stuffed with Ground Beef Recipe
Karniyarik are eggplants cut lengthwise and stuffed with an aromatic filling of ground meat, tomatoes, and spices. In Turkey it’s a typical lunch or dinner dish, often served with rice and yogurt – a kind of homemade comfort food. It can be compared to Greek moussaka, but here the eggplant stays in halves, and the whole dish is lighter and more saucy.
This is a classic of Turkish home cooking: soft, creamy eggplant, aromatic meat filling, and a rich tomato sauce all in one dish. It’s impressive enough for guests yet simple and comforting enough for a weekday dinner.
Chef's tips
Choose firm, slender eggplants with shiny skin – they have fewer seeds and a more delicate taste. Don’t skip salting and resting the eggplants; it helps them soften evenly and reduces any bitterness. If your oven tends to dry dishes out, add a little extra water to the sauce in the baking dish.
How to serve
Serve the eggplants straight from the oven with fluffy rice or bulgur, a generous spoonful of thick yogurt, and a simple cucumber-tomato salad with lemon. A sprinkle of fresh parsley or dill on top just before serving brightens the flavors.
Ingredients
- eggplant medium, long - 4 piece
- ground beef can be mixed beef and pork - 350 g
- onion large - 1 piece
- garlic - 3 cloves
- tomato ripe - 2 piece
- green pepper small pods - 2 piece
- tomato paste - 25 g
- vegetable oil for frying the eggplants and the filling - 80 ml
- parsley chopped - 10 g
- salt to taste - 6 g
- black pepper - 2 g
- ground cumin - 2 g
- water for the sauce - 150 ml
Preparation
- Wash and dry the eggplants, then peel them lengthwise in strips, leaving every other strip of skin so they keep their shape.
- Make a deep lengthwise cut in each eggplant without cutting it in half, creating a kind of “pocket”.
- Sprinkle the eggplants with salt on the outside and gently inside the cut, set aside for 20 minutes so they release their juices and lose any bitterness, then rinse and pat dry with paper towels.
- Heat about half of the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
- Fry the eggplants on each side for a few minutes until they soften and are lightly browned; add a little more oil if needed. Transfer them to a baking dish, cut side facing up.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (top and bottom heat).
- In the same pan, add a little more oil if needed and sauté the finely chopped onion for 3–5 minutes, until soft and slightly translucent.
- Add the chopped garlic and fry for about 30 seconds, stirring.
- Add the ground meat, break it up with a spoon and fry for 6–8 minutes, until browned with no raw pieces left.
- Add the tomatoes cut into small cubes, cumin, salt, and pepper, and cook for another 5 minutes, until the tomatoes break down and you get a thick filling.
- Finally, add the chopped parsley, mix, and remove the pan from the heat.
- Gently open the cuts in the eggplants with a spoon and fill them with the meat mixture, pressing it in so it doesn’t fall out.
- Cut the peppers into pieces and place one piece on each eggplant; you can also add a slice of tomato on top.
- In a cup, mix the tomato paste with water and a pinch of salt, then pour the sauce into the bottom of the baking dish, avoiding the tops of the eggplants.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 10–15 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and the eggplants are very soft.
- Serve hot, preferably with rice and a spoonful of plain yogurt.
Storage
Bakłażany przechowuj w lodówce w naczyniu z pokrywką, podgrzewaj w piekarniku lub na patelni pod przykryciem, podlewając odrobiną wody, aby sos się nie przypalił. Możesz je zamrozić, ale po rozmrożeniu bakłażan będzie bardziej miękki – najlepiej zużyć w ciągu 2–3 miesięcy.
