Ali Nazik: Another Special Local Dish With Aubergines

When you are naturally interested in something, unintentionally it starts to become the main subject of your conversations. I often find myself in a situation like this. Even if the conversation starts with some other subject, it ends with cooking if I am in it.

I am no different at work. Nearly all my colleagues learned that I like cooking very much and I am writing a blog about this subject. This is an advantage for me because some are trying to help me by sharing their cooking experience and they are generous enough to tell the secrets of their recipes.

Last week, one of my colleagues, Bengi, shared with me her Ali Nazik recipe while we were at lunch. She said it was very easy for her to prepare this special and favorite Turkish dish. I was surprised because I normally eat Ali Nazik in restaurants.I like it very much, it is delicious. I saw two people in my life who cooked this dish at home. One is my aunt and the other is one of my friends' mother.

I was interested in the recipe not only because it was easy but also there are aubergines in the recipe, which is the favorite vegetable for my husband. He says he wouldn't get bored if he ate aubergine meals everyday. This was a second reason for me to try it.

When I told my husband that I would try to cook Ali Nazik he was excited about it. Last weekend we went for shopping and bought necessary ingredients. This week I tried it. I saw that it was really very easy to prepare. Its taste was delicious as Bengi said. My husband also liked it very much and we thought this could be a dish to serve our guests.

Here is the list for ingredients and the directions to cook it.

Ingredients:

• 4 aubergines (long ones, mid size enough)

• 2 tablespoons of condensed yoghurt
• 250 gr. minced meat  (you can also use 250 gr. lamb or veal, in small pieces, yet you must boil them for about 45 minutes in pressure cooker first. I do this one day before I cook so the meat is ready)
• 2 mid size tomatoes
• 1-2 green peppers

• 5 cloves of garlic
• Salt, black grounded pepper
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons of olive or vegetable oil, or 1 tablespoon of butter

Preparation:

• With a knife make a deep cut through aubergines starting from the stem finishing at the bottom.
• Put the aubergines in the oven and let them get softened there at 250 degrees for about 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, peel the skins of tomatoes and chop them into very small pieces.
• Cut the peppers into small pieces.
• Peel the garlics and chop them into small pieces. (You can do all of this chopping in a food processor very easily and quickly. It will save you time.)

• Put the olive oil in a shallow skillet or pan. Wait for a minute so that it is heated.
• Put the minced meat in the skillet and let it get cooked until it lets its juice out and the juice evaporates.
• Add the tomatoes, peppers, a pinch of garlic and tomato paste.
• Add also some salt and black pepper.
• Let the mixture boil down over medium heat. Stir it from time to time.
• When the aubergines are ready, take them out of the oven and peel their skins off. As they are hot, you can hold them from the stem and peel the skins with a pair of tongs.
• Put the peeled aubergines, the yoghurt, rest of the garlic and salt into the food processor. Make this mixture into a mash.

To serve:
Put 4 tablespoons of aubergine mash on a flat plate. Spread the mash on the plate with the help of the back of the spoon. Put 2 tablespoons of meat sauce over it. You can make a bigger portion if you like with adding more aubergine mash and meat sauce.

Enjoy!