Karnıyarık (Stuffed Eggplant with Mince)
کارنی یارک (قیمہ بھرے بینگن)
Karnıyarık means "split belly", which is exactly what happens: long eggplants are striped, fried whole until silky, split down the middle and stuffed with a savoury mince filling, then baked with a little tomato sauce until everything melds together. It's one of the most common dinners in Turkish homes, and Pakistani cooks will find it very familiar, a bit like baingan and keema in one dish, but gentler and juicier.
- ⏱ Total: 1 hr 15 min
- Prep: 25 min
- Cook: 50 min
- Medium
- Serves 4
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
Peel the eggplants in stripes, leaving bands of skin. Soak them in salted water for 20 minutes to draw out bitterness, then dry thoroughly.
Heat the oil in a and fry the whole eggplants over medium heat for 8–10 minutes, turning, until soft and golden all over. Drain on a rack.
Pour off most of the oil, leaving 2 tablespoons. Cook the onion for 5 minutes, then add the mince and garlic and fry over high heat for 8 minutes until browned and dry.
Add the green peppers, chopped tomatoes, half the tomato paste, pul biber, pepper and salt. Cook for 5 minutes until thick, then stir in the parsley.
Lay the eggplants in a baking dish, split each one lengthwise down the middle without cutting through, and press open to make a pocket. Fill generously with the mince and top each with a tomato slice.
Mix the rest of the tomato paste with the hot water and pour it around the eggplants. Bake at 190°C for 25–30 minutes until bubbling and the eggplants are meltingly soft.
Serve hot with buttery pilav and yogurt.
Kitchen notes
Choose long, slim eggplants with few seeds. The round ones used for bharta are too big and watery.
To use less oil, brush the eggplants with oil and roast them at 220°C for 25 minutes instead of frying.
No oven? Cook the stuffed eggplants covered in a wide pan on low heat for 20 minutes.
A dinner in every Turkish home
Karnıyarık is to Turkish home cooking what aloo gosht is to Pakistani: a weekday dinner everyone grew up with. In summer, when eggplants are cheap, it’s on the table week after week, with a pot of pilav and a bowl of yogurt.
The three stages
Frying the eggplants. Striping the skin lets them soften evenly. Frying them whole until golden makes the flesh silky so it melts into the filling. Roasting with a brush of oil works too and uses far less fat.
The filling. A simple, keema-like mince with onion, garlic, green pepper, tomato and . Cook it until dry before filling, so the eggplants don’t go soggy.
The bake. A little diluted tomato paste poured around the dish keeps everything moist and gives a light sauce to spoon over the pilav.
In a Pakistani kitchen
Use the long purple or green eggplants sold for baingan masala. Beef or mutton mince both work. If you have no oven, cook it covered on the stove.
Serving
Serve with şehriyeli pilav, yogurt and a crisp çoban salatası. For the vegetarian, olive-oil cousin of this dish, see imam bayıldı.
Questions people ask
What's the difference between karnıyarık and imam bayıldı?
Both are split, stuffed eggplants. Karnıyarık is filled with mince and served hot; imam bayıldı is filled with onion and tomato cooked in olive oil and served at room temperature.
Can I make it ahead?
Yes. Assemble the dish a few hours ahead, keep it in the fridge and bake just before serving, adding 5 minutes.
Why is my eggplant bitter?
Older eggplants with many seeds can be bitter. Soaking in salted water helps, and choosing young, firm eggplants helps most.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 410
- Protein
- 19 g
- Fat
- 30 g
- Carbs
- 18 g
