Ingredients
Amounts are for the recipe. Sizes, times and temperatures in the method are not scaled.
Amounts worked out from the other system are rounded.
Method
Stripe and soak the eggplants. Peel the eggplants lengthwise in stripes, leaving alternating bands of skin; the skin holds them together and the bare stripes let them absorb. Cut a deep lengthwise slit down one side of each, stopping short of the stem and the base, without cutting through. Submerge in cold water with the kosher salt (2 tbsp), weight with a plate, and leave 30 minutes.
Melt the onions. Warm a third of the olive oil (150 ml½ cup + 2 tbsp) in a wide pan over low heat. Add the onions (3) and a pinch of salt. Cook slowly, stirring now and then, until completely collapsed, translucent and sweet, with no browning at all, about 30 minutes. This step decides the dish.
Build the filling. Add the garlic cloves (10) and cook 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the chopped tomatoes (3), the sugar (4 g1 tsp) and the kosher salt (1½ tsp). Cook until jammy, with no free liquid in the pan, about 10 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the parsley (30 g). Taste; it should be aggressively seasoned, since the eggplant is bland.
Brown the eggplants. Drain the eggplants, squeeze gently and pat bone dry. Heat another third of the olive oil in a wide pan over medium-high. Brown them on all sides, turning, until the skin blisters and darkens and the flesh gives to a fingertip but hasn't collapsed, about 8 minutes.
Stuff and pack. Arrange the eggplants slit side up in a snug pot or deep skillet. Press each slit open with two spoons and pack the filling in, mounding it past the point that looks reasonable, since it settles. Lay the tomato rounds over the top.
Braise low and covered. Pour the remaining olive oil over the eggplants, then add the water (150 ml½ cup + 2 tbsp) around them, not over them, so the filling stays put. Cover, bring to a bare simmer and drop to the lowest heat. Cook about 50 minutes, until a knife slides into an eggplant with no resistance at all.
Cool to room temperature. Uncover, spoon the lemon juice over, and leave to cool completely in the pan, at least 3 hours. Do not serve warm. Spoon the pan oil back over before serving.
Notes
- This is a zeytinyağlı, an olive-oil dish eaten at room temperature, never hot. The oil has to congeal slightly and the flavors have to settle; served hot it just tastes like stewed eggplant. Overnight in the fridge, then brought fully back to room temperature, is better still.
- Oil. 150 ml for four eggplants looks alarming and is already restrained; traditional Istanbul versions use more. Cut it and you get a stewed vegetable instead of a silky one.
- Onions. They must collapse without browning. Any color turns the sweetness toasty, which is wrong here.
- Dry the eggplants properly before browning, or they steam and spit.
- Variations. Add 2 tbsp currants and 2 tbsp pine nuts to the filling. A slit green Turkish pepper (sivri biber) tucked in alongside is standard in many households. With 250 g ground lamb in the filling it becomes karnıyarık, a different dish, served hot.
- Keeps 5 days refrigerated and improves for the first three. Serve with plain yogurt and bread.