Karnıyarık recipe: Turkish aubergines stuffed with spiced mince
Karnıyarık is the dish Turkish people mean when they talk about home cooking. Aubergines are fried until soft and golden, split down the middle and filled with minced meat cooked with onion, peppers and tomato, then baked in a little tomato sauce until everything is soft and rich. It is served hot, almost always with rice pilaf and a bowl of yoghurt, and it is one of the dishes most likely to be sitting in the steam trays of any lokanta at lunchtime.
The name means “split belly”, which describes exactly what you do to the aubergines. It is a close relative of the meat-free imam bayıldı, as the Wikipedia entry on karnıyarık notes, but heartier and more of a main course. This recipe gives you the option to fry the aubergines in the traditional way or roast them for a lighter result.
What is karnıyarık?
Karnıyarık is a summer dish in Turkey, made when aubergines are cheap and at their best, though in practice it is cooked all year. The aubergines are peeled in stripes (in Turkish, alaca or “pied”), which helps them hold their shape while letting the flesh soften. The filling is simple: onion, mince, garlic, green pepper, tomato and parsley, sometimes sharpened with pepper paste. The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism includes it among its sample Turkish dishes under the literal translation “cut-belly eggplants”.
Variations
Some families add a little cheese on top before baking, some bake with a slice of tomato and a whole pepper on each aubergine (as here), and some skip the oven and finish the dish on the hob in a covered pan. A version without meat, filled with onions and tomato, edges towards imam bayıldı, and a dish called patlıcan musakka uses similar flavours layered rather than stuffed.
Ingredients
Serves 4 as a main course.
For the aubergines
- 4 medium aubergines (about 1kg in total)
- 2 tbsp salt, for soaking
- 100ml sunflower oil for frying, or 3 tbsp olive oil for roasting
For the filling
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion (about 200g), finely chopped
- 300g beef or lamb mince (15–20% fat)
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 long green Turkish peppers (sivri biber) or 1 green pepper, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tsp Turkish red pepper paste (biber salçası)
- 2 medium tomatoes (about 200g), grated or finely chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp pul biber (Turkish chilli flakes)
- 15g flat-leaf parsley, chopped
For the topping and sauce
- 2 small tomatoes, sliced
- 4 long green peppers, left whole
- 1 tbsp tomato purée mixed with 250ml hot water and ½ tsp salt
How to make karnıyarık
1. Prepare the aubergines
Peel the aubergines lengthways in stripes, leaving alternate strips of skin on. Soak in cold water with the salt for 20 minutes, then drain and pat completely dry with kitchen paper.
2. Fry or roast the aubergines
Heat the sunflower oil in a large frying pan and fry the aubergines over a medium-high heat, turning, for 8–10 minutes until browned and soft all over. Drain on kitchen paper. To roast instead, brush with olive oil and cook at 200°C (180°C fan) for 25 minutes, turning once.
3. Make the mince filling
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until soft. Add the mince and cook over a high heat, breaking it up, for 8 minutes until browned and any liquid has evaporated. Stir in the garlic, green pepper, tomato purée and pepper paste and cook for 2 minutes, then add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and pul biber. Simmer for 5 minutes until thick, then stir in the parsley.
4. Split and fill
Heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan). Lay the aubergines in a baking dish. Cut a deep slit along each one, stopping short of the ends, and press the flesh apart with a spoon to make a boat. Spoon in the filling, pressing it down and heaping it up.
5. Top and bake
Lay tomato slices along each aubergine and tuck the whole green peppers between them. Pour the tomato water into the dish around (not over) the aubergines. Bake uncovered for 30–35 minutes until the sauce has reduced and the peppers have blistered.
6. Rest and serve
Rest for 10 minutes, then serve hot with rice pilaf and yoghurt, spooning some of the sauce from the dish over each portion.
Watch: how to make karnıyarık
This video shows how to peel, fry and split the aubergines and how much filling to use.
Tips for the best karnıyarık
- Dry the aubergines thoroughly after soaking. Wet aubergines spit in the oil and absorb more of it.
- Fry until properly soft. The aubergines should collapse slightly when pressed; undercooked ones stay spongy after baking.
- Cook the mince until dry before adding tomatoes. Browning gives the filling its depth.
- Pour the sauce around, not over. You want the tops to roast a little while the bottoms stay juicy.
- Use long Turkish green peppers if you can find them in a Turkish grocer. Their mild heat is part of the flavour.
What to serve with karnıyarık
Rice pilaf and plain yoghurt or cacık (yoghurt with cucumber and garlic) are the classic partners. For a full lokanta-style meal, start with a bowl of mercimek çorbası (red lentil soup), add a simple salad or some kısır, and if you are cooking for a crowd, offer a tray of meat-free imam bayıldı alongside for vegetarians.
Where to eat karnıyarık in London
Karnıyarık is a staple of Turkish home-cooking restaurants, where it usually sits in a hot display counter alongside stews and rice. Find one near you in our lokanta (home cooking) listings, and see our guide to popular Turkish dishes for what else to order.
- Ebby’s Kitchen – Turkish home cooking in Shoreditch & Hoxton
- Iznik – Turkish home cooking in Highbury
- Köfteci Metin London – Turkish home cooking in Harringay & Green Lanes
- TANDIR – Turkish home cooking in Palmers Green
- Beyti Ocakbaşı – Turkish home cooking in Newington Green
- Hanımeli – Turkish gözleme & mantı in Dalston & Stoke Newington
See all 15 Home Cooking (Lokanta) places in London
Karnıyarık FAQs
What is the difference between karnıyarık and imam bayıldı?
Karnıyarık is filled with minced meat and served hot as a main course. İmam bayıldı has a meat-free filling of slow-cooked onions, uses more olive oil and is eaten at room temperature.
Can I make karnıyarık ahead?
Yes. Assemble it up to the baking stage, cover and chill for up to a day, then bake for 5–10 minutes longer. Leftovers reheat well in the oven.
Do I have to salt the aubergines?
Modern aubergines are rarely bitter, but soaking in salted water also helps them absorb less oil when fried, so it is worth doing.
Can I make it vegetarian?
Swap the mince for 250g finely chopped mushrooms and 100g cooked green lentils, or make imam bayıldı instead.
Photo: William Neuheisel from DC, US, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
