Turkish Style Chicken With Hunkar Begendi Recipes

HUNKAR BEGENDI - SULTAN'S DELIGHT (TURKISH LAMB STEW)

Steps:

• Season the pieces of lamb with salt and pepper. Dice the onion relatively finely and dice the pepper. Finely chop the garlic.
• Warm the oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over a medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook for around 5 minutes until softened and translucent. Add the lamb chunks and brown on all sides. Then add the green pepper and garlic. Stir and cook for a couple more minutes.
• Add the tomatoes, thyme, oregano and tomato paste to the pot. Stir to mix through and cook a minute. Then add the stock/water. Bring the mixture to a boil, cover with a lid, then reduce the heat so that the sauce is gently simmering. Leave to cook for around 1 hour, so that the lamb is tender. (You may want to have the lid only half-on for part of this time to help the liquid reduce a little.)
• Meanwhile, cook the eggplant. If possible, cook the eggplant on a grill/BBQ or over a gas burner. (You may want to cover around the burner with foil to catch any drips.) Alternatively, preheat the oven to 430F, prick the eggplant all over with a knife, and place it on a baking sheet or in a baking dish. Roast for around 40 minutes. In all cases, you are looking for the inside of the eggplant to become very soft, and if over grill/flame, the skin should be well-charred. Once cooked, leave the eggplant to cool so it is safe to handle and open.
• Once cooled, cut open the eggplant skin and scoop out the flesh. Either roughly chop and mash the flesh for a coarser texture, or blend it up for a smoother paste. In both cases, once chopped, try to drain off as much liquid as you can from the flesh as this can make it sour. If you want a really smooth puree, you can press the mixture through a fine strainer to remove the seeds.
• Make the bechamel: Melt the butter in a medium-small saucepan over a medium heat. Once melted, add the flour. Stir as it cooks for a couple minutes and becomes gently nutty smelling.
• Gradually add the milk and stir or whisk after each addition to make a smooth paste. Cook a minute or two more, as needed, to thicken slightly.
• Remove the sauce from the heat, then add the cheese and stir through so that the cheese mixes in and melts. Add the eggplant puree and stir to mix evenly through. Season with a little salt and pepper to taste.
• To serve, either spread some of the eggplant sauce over the bottom of individual plates or all of it on the bottom of a serving platter. In both cases, spread it out so it creates a bit of a bowl in the middle to hold the stew. Add the lamb stew in the middle of the eggplant sauce and serve with bread on the side.

HüNKAR BEğENDI, A CLASSIC TURKISH RECIPE

Steps:

• Place the aubergines over an open flame on a metal trivet and roast for about 15 - 20 minutes, turning from time to time, until the skin looks burnt and the aubergines are soft to the touch. You could also just place a sheet of foil over the gas flame, instead of a trivet. Leave to cool.
• Coat the lamb pieces with the flour, the chilli powder, the salt and a little freshly ground black pepper.
• Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan over high heat, add the lamb and sugar and brown the lamb pieces for 5 minutes, turning the lamb frequently.
• Lower the heat down to medium and tip in the onion slices and fry for 2 minutes, again, stirring frequently.
• Add the garlic and capsicum (green pepper) and cook for a minute, stirring.
• Now add the tomatoes, tomato paste and oregano and stir for 30 seconds to mix everything thoroughly.
• Add the stock and bring to boil.
• Lower the heat right down, cover and leave to simmer for 1 - 1 and a half hours, until the lamb is cooked right through and beautifully tender.
• The aubergines should be fairly cool now, scrape out the soft pulp and place in a chopper. Throw away the skins.
• Chop or blend to a smooth purée and set aside.
• Now, let's make some Bechamel Sauce. Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat.
• Add the flour and whisk with a small whisk or wooden spoon for 2 minutes until the roux has thickened, is bubbling and gives off a lovely cooked aroma.
• Slowly, add the milk, whisking continuously. Be careful, the first drip will splutter.
• Cook the bechamel sauce for 4 - 5 minutes until it thickens to the consistency of custard.
• Take it off the heat and stir in both cheeses until they melt. Shouldn't take more than a minute.
• Now, stir in the aubergine purée, a pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper until it's all completely mixed in and you have a beautiful aubergine cheese sauce. Check the salt and add more if necessary.
• Stir in half the chopped parsley.
• You have 2 choices: serve the whole lot in a large platter or divide everything into individual plates. Whatever you go with, pour the smoky aubergine sauce onto a plate and top with the lamb stew.
• Scatter with the other half of the parsley and serve with plenty of bread.

HüNKAR BEğENDI RECIPE - SULTAN'S DELIGHT

Steps:

• Melt your butter over a medium heat in large saucepan.
• Now add your lamb and stir it round until it starts to brown.
• Once your lamb is browned all over, add your onion and garlic and stir.
• Cook for 5 minutes or so, until your onion starts to sweat.
• Now add your chopped tomatoes, tomato paste (salça) and one cup of hot water.
• Stir everything together.
• Add your thyme/oregano (kekik), salt & pepper and stir.
• Once your stew is simmering, put a lid on the pan and turn the heat to low.
• Simmer your stew for around 1 hour, until the lamb has softened and your sauce has thickened.
• Remove from the heat and make your 'beğendi' puree...
• Preheat your oven to 240 degrees.
• Prick your aubergines with a sharp knife and place on a baking tray in the centre of the oven.
• Bake the aubergines until they are soft to touch (around 15-20 minutes).
• Remove from the oven and leave them to cool.
• Once cooled, make a slit along the length of each aubergine.
• Scrape out the pulp with a teaspoon.
• Discard the skins and as many of the seeds as possible.
• Chop up the pulp.
• Now melt your butter in a saucepan over a medium heat.
• Once melted, gradually add your flour, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon.
• After you've added all your flour, your mixture will be relatively solid and now you can start to add your milk.
• Add your milk a little at a time, again, stirring continuously so that the mixture remains smooth.
• Keep going until you have used up all of your milk and you have a smooth, milky mixture.
• Keep stirring and after a couple of minutes, you will notice the sauce start to thicken.
• Once the sauce has started to thicken, add your aubergine. Keep stirring, gently.
• Now add your grated cheese and keep stirring until your 'beğendi' sauce has thickened enough to make a suitable nest for your lamb.
• To serve, share the beğendi sauce between your plates, making a little nest in the centre of each.
• Now spoon the lamb stew into the nest and allow the sauces to run over the aubergine puree.
• Sprinkle the parsley over the lamb and serve up your Sultan's Delight.

HUNKAR BEGENDI

Steps:

• Take 4 medium-sized eggplants and make a few holes in each of them with a knife and place them on the baking tray. Bring the oven's heat to 200C (390F) and bake them for about 20 minutes.
• After eggplants are baked and softened peel them and then mash them and set them aside.
• Bring the heat to medium level. Then; place the olive oil in a frying pan and add the leg of lamb meat cubes and sauté until tender (about 10 minutes).
• Add the finely chopped onions and sliced garlic cloves and continue to sauté for about 2 minutes.
• Add the peeled and diced tomatoes, ground black pepper, salt, and tomato paste and continue to sauté for about 3 minutes.
• Add the 2 cups of boiled water and mix them well and close the frying pan lid.
• Bring the heat to a low level and cook for about 20 minutes to let the meat soften.
• While the meat is cooking, it is time to prepare the 'beğendi' (eggplant puree) part of the dish.
• Bring the heat to a medium level. Then; melt french butter in a frying pan and add ground flour and stir for about 3 minutes until the roux has thickened and gives a cooked aroma.
• Add the baked and mashed eggplants to the frying pan and stir the mix for about 2 minutes.
• Slowly, add the whole milk to the mix and stir continuously for about 3 minutes.
• Add salt and ground black pepper and cheese to the bechamel sauce and stir until cheese melts. Usually, melting cheese shouldn't take more than a minute.
• For serving; you can either place the entire eggplant puree mix onto a big serving plate and place the top with the lamb stew or you can make the same with individual plates. In both cases, the eggplant puree mix will be at the bottom and the lamb stew will be at the top.

TURKISH STYLE CHICKEN WITH HUNKAR BEGENDI

Steps:

• FOR CHICKEN: Brown chicken in a little olive oil. Place pieces in roasting pan, and then brown onions and garlic in oil from chicken. Add the 4 spices, and cook a bit longer. Add to chicken pieces in roasting pan, along with rest of ingredients, except walnuts. Roast for about 2 hours, until chicken is tender. Remove chicken pieces and cool them to handling temperature. Discard bay leaves. Remove skin and bones from chicken, and pull meat into large shred. Return meat to pan, mix and adjust seasonings. Heap onto serving platter and top with the nuts. Serve over Hunkar Begendi FOR HUNKAR BEGENDI: Poke holes in eggplants with a fork, and cook over hot coals or flames, close to heat source. Keep turning them so all four sides cook and turn dark brown and charred, and flesh inside becomes very soft. Hold top of eggplant with a towel, over a large bowl. Cut down the side, and scoop out the inside, into the bowl. Remove any pieces of charred skin that may fall in. Mash the pulp and whip with wire whisk, as you add lemon juice. Beat until it becomes light in color and broken down to a creamy consistency. Melt butter in pan and mix in flour. Slowly add half the milk and stir until thickened. Add a small grating of nutmeg. Add the eggplant, and cheese and heat a few minutes, stirring. Add more milk if it appears too thick. Season with Salt and Pepper. Serve with either stewed meat or Turkish Style Chicken heaped in the center.