Guest Chefling: Patlican- Smoked Eggplant with Yogurt

September 10, 2012

Out and about in Ankara I really wanted to try different Turkish dishes especially one of those appetizers they have on the menu. After trying what seemed like a simple yoghurt dish, the meaning of eggplant changed forever. I ran to our turkish neighbour to ask her to teach me this so called eggplant recipe. Something I find amusing till date is that they call eggplant patlican ( pronounced pathlijaan) in Turkish which in urdu means thin (beautiful) darling.

For this simple and easy dish you will need:

1 lb eggplant
1-1½ cup yogurt
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2-3 gloves of garlic, mashed/grated
½ tsp salt to taste

First take a washed and dried egg plant and make some piercings with a knife around it. This is so that it doesn’t explode under heat. There are two ways of doing this second step.

Stove top
I prefer this method as it is much easier and quicker. You also get a lovely smokey smell in the eggplant.
You just place the eggplant on top of a stove ( I have a gas one, but I’m sure electric should work as well)
Keep rotating the eggplant while it roasts and gets dark. About 10-15 minutes later or when u can squeeze it easily with a tong then you can remove from heat and let it cool. Once its cool enough to handle you need to remove the skin by peeling it off.

Oven
This method is also easy but takes a little longer. You place the eggplant in the oven and roast until it is soft. Repeat the same steps by peeling the skin off.

Tip: You can place the eggplant in a bag right out of the oven-it helps to peel easier once cooled.
Next you can either chop or mash the eggplant but make sure its in small pieces.

In a bowl add a little olive oil, mashed garlic, salt and mix in the chopped eggplant.

Finally add in the yoghurt and mix well.

You can garnish with parsley, olives and tomatoes and serve it with fresh bread!

Enjoy your patlican, I make this about once every two weeks and we finish it the day its made.