The Turkish cuisine is a complete deal, a real package, ranging from surprisingly easy to absolutely intricate and challenging.
Here are some authentic Turkish recipes that are comparatively easy to prepare at home from the ingredients available in Turkmenistan (and elsewhere in Central Asia).
Mercimekli Mualla (EGGPLANTS WITH LENTILS, COOKED IN OLIVE OIL)
Ingredients
80 gr / 1 cup green lentils
2 medium eggplants (aubergine)
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 red bell pepper, cut in half and thinly sliced
400 gr / 14 oz (a can of) chopped tomatoes in juice
50 ml/ about 2 fl oz/ 1/4 cup olive oil and
45 ml / 3 tablespoons of olive oil to saute eggplants
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon dried mint (spearmint)
240 ml/ 8 lf oz / 1 cup water
Crusty bread to serve (you can also use lavash or chorek available in Turkmenistan)
Recipe
- Put lentils in a pan of boiling water, stir and cover. Simmer in low heat for 15 minutes. Drain its water and set aside.
- Using a vegetable peeler, peel the eggplants in zebra stripes. Cut the eggplant in half lengthways and then cut each half into medium thick slices. Spread them on a wide tray, sprinkle salt over and leave aside for 15 minutes. With using paper towel, squeeze excess water out of eggplants.
- Heat the olive oil in a heavy pan and very lightly sauté the eggplant slices for a minute or two. This will help eggplants to soften up and start bringing out their lovely sweet flesh.
- In a large bowl, combine the partially cooked lentils, onion, garlic, bell peppers, chopped tomatoes, salt, mint, olive oil and the sugar, mix well. Season with ground black pepper, check the seasoning and add more salt if needed.
- In a wide heavy pan, place a layer of the eggplant slices. Spread the half of the vegetable mixture over the eggplants evenly. Place the remaining of the eggplant slices over the top and spread the remaining vegetable mixture over. Add the water, cover and cook in medium to low heat for about 40 minutes.
- Once cooked, cover and cool the dish in the pan. Serve at room temperature with some crusty bread.
BULGURLU LAHANA (CABBAGE WITH BULGUR, GROUND MEAT, SPICES)
Ingredients
- ½ head of medium cabbage or left over cabbage leaves from cabbage rolls – 700 gr, washed and coarsely chopped (remove the hard stalk in the middle)
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 225gr/ 8 oz. / 1 cup coarse bulgur
- 225 gr / 8 oz. ground (minced) beef or lamb
- 1 tbsp. red pepper paste (optional; you can use additional 1 tbsp. tomato paste if not using red pepper paste)
- 1 tbsp. double concentrated tomato paste
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 10 ml / 2 tsp. dried mint
- 5 ml / 1 tsp. red pepper flakes (or more, if you like spicier)
- 16 fl. oz. / 2 cups hot water
- 30 ml / 2 tbsp. olive oil
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
- Plain yoghurt to serve
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan and stir in the ground (minced) meat. Sauté for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.
- Add the onions and coarsely chopped cabbage to the pan and sauté for another 4 -5 minutes (their volume will shrink as they cook).
- Stir in the bulgur, tomato paste, red pepper paste and water. Combine well.
- Add the lemon juice, red pepper flakes and dried mint and season with salt and ground black pepper.
- Bring to the boil then cover and cook over low heat for 15 – 20 minutes or until all cooked.
- Serve hot, with sprinkles of dried mint and red pepper flakes over top and a dollop of plain yoghurt by the side.
Lahmacun
Ingredients
For the dough
- 200g strong white bread flour, plus extra to dust
- ½ tsp salt
- 7g fast-action dried yeast
- ¼ tsp caster sugar
- 40ml sunflower oil, plus extra for oiling
- 1 medium free-range egg
- 75ml lukewarm water
For the topping
- ½ onion, finely chopped
- 1 green pepper, finely chopped
- ½ heaped tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- Scant tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp aleppo chilli flakes (or ½ tsp regular chilli flakes)
- 2 heaped tbsp tomato purée (or domates salçasi)
- Small bunch fresh flatleaf parsley, finely chopped, plus extra to serve
- 200g 20% fat beef mince
- Dried sumac for sprinkling
- 35g toasted pine nuts (optional)
- 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses (optional)
- Sliced cucumber, red onion and cherry tomatoes dressed with red wine vinegar and olive oil to serve
Recipe
For the dough, mix the flour, salt, yeast and sugar in a medium bowl. Mix the sunflower oil, egg and water in a jug, then stir into the dry ingredients to form a sticky dough. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a few minutes until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Put in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, put the onion, green pepper, ground spices, chilli, tomato purée and parsley in a food processor and whizz until the veg is finely chopped. Add the meat and plenty of salt and stir to combine (don’t whizz). Set aside.
- Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Once the dough has risen, punch it down, knead for another minute or so, then divide in half. Roll each piece out to 4mm thick on a well floured surface, keeping the remaining dough covered with a tea towel. Once both are rolled, leave to rise again for 15 minutes, covered with clean tea towels.
- When ready, divide the topping between the bases, spreading it to the edges of the dough. Transfer to baking sheets, then bake for 10-15 minutes until the base is blistering and the topping is cooked. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with the sumac and pine nuts, then drizzle over the pomegranate molasses, if using. Serve hot, scattered with cucumber, red onion, tomatoes and extra parsley. /// nCa, 22 May 2025 (recipes by Amal Nusrat at Quora – (https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-of-the-easiest-Turkish-foods-to-cook)