Tuesday, April 30, 2013
My next stop on my culinary trip: Turkey
I discovered, that I seem to be on a culinary world trip lately. I started with Thailand (Beef Massaman Curry), went then Egypt (Okra-mince casserole) and today I landed in Turkey.
Our organic market has lately aubergines on offer. It's a vegetable I like, especially the color (I know, it's a bit strange statement), but it's also a veggie I'm kinda scared of. You need to salt them first in order to get the bitterness out, but you must be careful with your salt amount. I managed to screw up my Moussaka a few weeks ago in putting way too much salt on the aubergines, because I wanted to make sure, the bitterness is out. I obviously didn't try the aubergines and so my Moussaka was dreadfully salty.
But I'm not giving up easily, so I ordered the aubergines again and this time I salted the aubergines only little, after I watched Masterchef Australia (again) and watched how a proper Moussaka is done.
But that day I wasn't up for a Moussaka, I think I also didn't have mince in my freezer. I was late with my lunch, so I was looking for something quick, easy but substantial. So I found this recipe and that's my take on
Turkish pilaf with aubergines
Ingredients (for 2 servings)
1 round aubergine - medium size
1 small onion
1 tin cocktail tomatoes
1 cup basmati rice
250ml vegetable stock
2 stalks parsley
2 stalks fresh mint
salt
ground black pepper
olive oil
250ml greek yoghurt
150g english cucumber
1 small garlic clove
1 tsp fresh mint
salt
ground black pepper
Cube the aubergine in coarse pieces, salt wary with coarse salt and put aside for half an hour.
Meanwhile chop the onion and herbs finely and wash the rice till the water runs clear.
Rinse the aubergine with cold water and pat dry.
Choose a pan with a lid and heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan and brown the aubergine cubes. Remove from pan and put aside.
Pour 1 tbsp olive oil into the pan and fry the onions translucent. Add the fried aubergine cubes, tinned tomatoes and herbs and season to taste. Place the washed basmati rice on top without mixing all together, pour in the stock and bring to boil.
Reduce the heat to low, put a lid on and simmer lightly for half an hour.
In the meantime prepare your yoghurt. Grate the cucumber on the coarse site and the garlic clove on the fine site, chop the mint finely and mix everything with the yoghurt. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
After 30 minutes turn off the heat and mix gently all together.
In the original recipe I was supposed to place few paper towels on the rim of the pan and put the lid back on, in order to get the pilaf fluffy. I did it, but I didn't know for how long and saw no difference in doing so. The pilaf turned out fluffy and I think the whole story with the paper towel is unnecessary. But try it out for yourself and let me know.
Serve the pilaf with the yoghurt on top and....
Enjoy!
Our organic market has lately aubergines on offer. It's a vegetable I like, especially the color (I know, it's a bit strange statement), but it's also a veggie I'm kinda scared of. You need to salt them first in order to get the bitterness out, but you must be careful with your salt amount. I managed to screw up my Moussaka a few weeks ago in putting way too much salt on the aubergines, because I wanted to make sure, the bitterness is out. I obviously didn't try the aubergines and so my Moussaka was dreadfully salty.
But I'm not giving up easily, so I ordered the aubergines again and this time I salted the aubergines only little, after I watched Masterchef Australia (again) and watched how a proper Moussaka is done.
But that day I wasn't up for a Moussaka, I think I also didn't have mince in my freezer. I was late with my lunch, so I was looking for something quick, easy but substantial. So I found this recipe and that's my take on
Turkish pilaf with aubergines
Ingredients (for 2 servings)
1 round aubergine - medium size
1 small onion
1 tin cocktail tomatoes
1 cup basmati rice
250ml vegetable stock
2 stalks parsley
2 stalks fresh mint
salt
ground black pepper
olive oil
250ml greek yoghurt
150g english cucumber
1 small garlic clove
1 tsp fresh mint
salt
ground black pepper
Cube the aubergine in coarse pieces, salt wary with coarse salt and put aside for half an hour.
Meanwhile chop the onion and herbs finely and wash the rice till the water runs clear.
Rinse the aubergine with cold water and pat dry.
Choose a pan with a lid and heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan and brown the aubergine cubes. Remove from pan and put aside.
Pour 1 tbsp olive oil into the pan and fry the onions translucent. Add the fried aubergine cubes, tinned tomatoes and herbs and season to taste. Place the washed basmati rice on top without mixing all together, pour in the stock and bring to boil.
Reduce the heat to low, put a lid on and simmer lightly for half an hour.
In the meantime prepare your yoghurt. Grate the cucumber on the coarse site and the garlic clove on the fine site, chop the mint finely and mix everything with the yoghurt. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
After 30 minutes turn off the heat and mix gently all together.
In the original recipe I was supposed to place few paper towels on the rim of the pan and put the lid back on, in order to get the pilaf fluffy. I did it, but I didn't know for how long and saw no difference in doing so. The pilaf turned out fluffy and I think the whole story with the paper towel is unnecessary. But try it out for yourself and let me know.
Serve the pilaf with the yoghurt on top and....
Enjoy!
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