Turkish Food – Ekşili Patlıcan (Sour Aubergine)

Somebody asked us recently whether we actually make / cook all the food that we put on this blog. Apart from the fact that we fell in love with Turkey and Turkish food when we first came on holiday here, the next main reason for choosing to move to a place like Fethiye was so we could buy lovely, fresh ingredients and learn about different recipes.

We both cook all the time and the variety of Turkish dishes means we’re always going to be discovering new ones to have a go at.

Food For Summer Days

This blog is all about how we survive – no, live – life abroad. A big part of that life is cooking. Whenever we happen to be making a different Turkish dish, we’ll post the recipe here. And when the weather in Fethiye is sizzling hot, we have the perfect dish that kicks our dwindling appetite into gear; Ekşili Patlıcan (sour aubergine stew).

We’ve mentioned before that we are readers of a blog called Almost Turkish Recipes. From this blog, Ekşili Patlıcan has become a regular on our mealtime menu – especially when the weather is so hot. The recipe has been gradually over time, just to suit our tastes.

This is how we make ekşili patlıcan – sour aubergine stew.

How To Make Ekşili Patlıcan

• Cut two onions in half and slice them into half moons
• Chop three aubergines into bite-sized chunks
• Roughly chop 4 or 5 tomatoes. (If you’re in Turkey, two of the big meaty tomatoes will be enough.)

• Throw all this into a big pan, add a good glug of olive oil, put on a medium heat and mix everything carefully. (If you’re like us, you won’t have a pan big enough and your aubergine will keep falling out. Bear with it because it will reduce quite a lot – or you can always buy a bigger pan. We’ll get round to it one day.)
• Now add 2 teaspoons of honey, the juice of a lemon (we also add home made nar ekşisi – sour pomegranate sauce – for extra flavour), 3 cloves of grated / crushed garlic, salt, pepper and as much chilli powder as you can handle (quite a lot for us!).

As we said, the mixture will reduce and your tomatoes will break down to create the juice you need. You don’t need to add any water or stock.

Taste your sauce to check the flavours. If it’s missing anything, add more sweet / sour / chilli – whatever suits your taste.

After half an hour or so, check your aubergines are soft and if they are, remove the pan from the heat. If you’re wondering why this is what we eat when it’s so hot, this is where the summery bit comes in.

Put a serving of ekşili patlıcan onto a plate / into a bowl and leave it to go cold and sprinkle with fresh, chopped parsley just before you eat it.

We usually prepare a portion of Turkish rice to go with it and we also let that go cold. Trust us, it’s somehow a refreshing, light dish, perfect for when we’re melting in the soaring temperatures.

And if you don’t want rice but you’re thinking a chunk of lovely freshly baked bread would go well with it, you’re thinking right.

Afiyet Olsun!

Ekşili Patlıcan – Afternotes

• Ekşili patlıcan is suitable for both vegetarians and vegans.
• The dish is best enjoyed at room temperature. Serve on its own or with rice.
• For other summer aubergine dishes, try our recipe for aubergine salad or baba ganoush.
• If you like meaty aubergine dishes, You could make Hünkar Beğendi, the Turkish version of musakka or lots of people’s favourite; our recipe for karnıyarık.
• All of these recipes, and more, are in our index of Turkish recipes.