Turkish cuisine · Vegetable Dishes

Zeytinyağlı Patlıcan Pilaki (Braised Eggplant in Olive Oil)

Eggplant cubes braised with potatoes, carrots and garlic in olive oil, served cold with lemon.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 700 g eggplant
• 400 g potato
• 2 carrots
• 8 garlic cloves
• 2 onions
• 120 ml olive oil
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 bunch parsley
• salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Peel the eggplants in stripes, cut into 3 cm cubes, let sit in salted water for 15 min., squeeze out well and pat dry – this way they absorb less oil later.
2. Peel the potatoes and carrots and cut into similarly sized cubes or thick slices, roughly dice the onions and leave the garlic cloves whole.
3. Heat half the olive oil in a wide pot and fry the eggplant over medium-high heat for 6–8 min. until golden brown all over; remove and set aside.
4. Add the remaining oil, sauté the onions, carrots and garlic cloves for 6 min., stir in the tomato paste and toast for 1 min. until it smells rich.
5. Add the potatoes, season with sugar, salt, pepper and 300 ml water and simmer covered for 20 min.; then gently fold in the eggplant and braise a further 10 min. until everything is tender and the sauce turns glossy and thick.
6. Stir in the juice of half a lemon, let the dish cool completely and serve cold with chopped parsley and the remaining lemon wedges.