Domates soslu patlıcan biber kızartma (fried aubergine and green peppers in olive oil and tomatoes) was one of the first home-cooked Turkish recipes we tried when we moved to Fethiye.
We were round at a Turkish friend’s house and his mum had made some for us.
Vegetable Appreciation
Along with the famous Turkish green beans in olive oil, kızartma was probably one of the true beginnings of our real appreciation for vegetables and vegetable dishes.
And now, if it’s in the bain-marie of local lokantas, we often order a bowl.
Kızartma is often just the fried peppers and aubergines (and sometimes potatoes and courgettes).
When it’s served, Turkish people will spoon generous servings of plain yoghurt over the top of it.
Sometimes, however, it is served with tomato sauce and that is the recipe we’re focusing on in this article.
Unless you really go to town on the presentation, kızartma – especially the tomato sauce version that we’re doing – is not the most appetising-looking of dishes.
But trust us when we tell you it tastes fabulous!
Versatility
We like it as part of our Turkish breakfast table served at room temperature because it goes so well with eggs; boiled, poached or fried.
If you want to, you can also enjoy kızartma as part of a main meal. It will go really well with a portion of Turkish rice or bulgur pilaf.
Grilled meats also make a perfect partner.
Common Kızartma Ingredients
The ingredients for domates soslu kızartma are much the same as those for Turkish şakşuka.
However, the difference in the way your vegetables are cut, and the slightly different cooking method, makes for a different dish.
We have a tiny kitchen so we both have our own dishes that we cook. Whoever is cooking, the other doesn’t interfere – most of the time. It’s better that way.
So this kızartma is Barry’s version. And he often makes it when we have a glut of peppers and aubergines in the fridge.
These gluts of vegetables are easily done when there’s just so much produce on the local markets.
Thankfully, there are lots of well known Turkish dishes, like kızartma, that are helpful in making sure no vegetables go to waste.
How To Make Domates Soslu Kızartma
Let’s make our fried peppers and aubergines in tomato sauce.
Kızartma Recipe – Fried Vegetables In Tomato Sauce
Equipment
- large saucepan
Ingredients
For The Kızartma – Fried Vegetables
- 8 green pointed peppers halved across the middle
- 4 medium aubergines (eggplants) cut into strips of 1.5 centimetre thickness
- 3 cloves garlic peeled, smashed & roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil for frying
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes optional
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
For The Tomato Sauce
- 8 medium tomatoes roughly chopped
- 2 teaspoons vinegar
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme or oregano
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salça tomato puree
- salt & pepper to season
Instructions
For The Kızartma – Fried Vegetables
- Add your olive oil to a large saucepan or deep frying pan and gently heat.
- Once your oil is hot, add your sliced aubergines and let them sizzle and absorb the oil. Be careful not to let them stick to the base of your pan.
- As the aubergines start to colour and soften, add your smashed garlic, cumin and chilli (if using).
- Now add your halved green peppers and stir in.
- Allow them to start to soften and colour. This will take 10-15 minutes.
- Once your peppers and aubergines have softened, season well with salt and pepper.
For The Tomato Sauce
- Now it's time to add your chopped tomatoes to the pan. Mix them all in.
- Add the rest of your sauce ingredients, stir and cover the pan with a lid, leaving a small gap.
- Leave to simmer for around 10 minutes until your tomatoes have started to break down. Be careful not to let the sauce become a soupy texture.
- Now remove your kızartma from the heat and add to your serving bowl.
- Allow to cool to room temperature before serving.
Notes
- Common vegetables for making kızartma are aubergines, green peppers, courgettes and potatoes.
- When you slice your aubergines, slice them in half horizontally. Then take each half and make vertical slices around 1 centimetre thick.
- In Turkey, we use the long thin pointed peppers; sivri biber. If you can’t find those, bell peppers will be fine sliced into wide strips.
- If you want to, you can make your tomato sauce in a separate pan and pour it over your vegetables before serving. We just like our fried vegetables to absorb the flavours and juices.
- Calories are approximate and based on 6 servings.
Nutrition
And that’s how we make our domates soslu kızartma.
Add it all to a large serving bowl and leave it to cool until it gets to room temperature.
We get 4-6 servings from our kızartma, depending on what we’re serving it with. It’s great as a side to an evening meal.
The day after, as we said, the refrigerated leftovers are a perfect addition to your breakfast table.
For more Turkish food and photos take a look at our Turkish Recipes index. If you’re a big aubergine lover, you can also try some of these well known Turkish aubergine recipes.
RevW
Wednesday 22nd of September 2021
That's almost identical to my mother's recipe for "what's almost overripe in the garden" fried vegetables! Now I must try potatoes this way!
Turkey's For Life
Wednesday 22nd of September 2021
Thanks a lot for your comment and great to see other people love their fried vegetables, too. Yeah, the potatoes work well in kızartma. :)
Turkey's For Life
Sunday 29th of May 2011
@ Idil: The potatoes cooked like that are amazing. We have them quite a lot now because we like them so much.
Idil
Saturday 28th of May 2011
I don't know about the kızartma but the potatoes look amazing.
Turkey's For Life
Tuesday 26th of April 2011
@ Fellow Northerner from Golborne: Wow! That's not far from out hometown of Wigan! :) Glad you like the recipes. We love Iskender kebab, too!
Anonymous
Tuesday 12th of April 2011
Love the recipes! I lived in Istanbul for 10 years and still dream of Iskender kebab! Cheers from a fellow Northerner (Golborne!)