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Közlenmiş Patlıcan — Charred Eggplant on Cold Garlic Yogurt
This is the meze I put on the table before anyone even sits down. Eggplant that has been properly burned — not roasted, burned — laid warm and smoky over cold yogurt sharp with garlic, finished with enough red pepper to make the plate glow. It comes from the simplest instinct in this kitchen: fire, smoke, and something cool to meet it. When this plate is in the middle of the table, the evening has officially started. #turkish #eggplant #vegetarian #grilled #meze #istanbul
35
min total
(Prep:
15
| Cook: 20)
4
servings
2
Nikos Galerakis
5 recipes
Eggplant, raw
2.0 eggplant, unpeeled (approx 1-1/4 lb)
Yogurt, NFS
1.5 1 cup
Garlic, raw
1.0 cloves
Olive oil
3.0 1 tablespoon
Salt, table
1.0 tsp
Red pepper, cooked, as ingredient
0.5 1 fl oz (NFS)
Parsley, raw
0.25 1 cup
Nutrition Facts
Energy
1021.4 kilocalorie
Protein
36.4 gram
Palmitoleic acid (C16:1, Omega-7)
0.6 gram
Gondoic acid (C20:1, Omega-9)
0.2 gram
Erucic acid (C22:1, Omega-9)
0.0 gram
Oleic acid (C18:1, Omega-9)
30.4 gram
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (C22:6, Omega-3)
0.0 gram
Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (C20:5, Omega-3)
0.0 gram
Pufa 2:5 N-3 (epa)
0.0 gram
Linoleic acid (C18:2, Omega-6)
4.7 gram
Alpha-Linolenic acid (ALA) (C18:3, Omega-3)
0.5 gram
Stearidonic acid (SDA) (C18:4, Omega-3)
0.0 gram
Arachidonic acid (ARA) (C20:4, Omega-6)
0.0 gram
Docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) (C22:5, Omega-3)
0.0 gram
Palmitic acid (C16:0)
8.1 gram
Capric acid (C10:0)
0.6 gram
Lauric acid (C12:0)
0.3 gram
Myristic acid (C14:0)
1.0 gram
Butyric acid (C4:0)
0.1 gram
Caproic acid (C6:0)
0.1 gram
Caprylic acid (C8:0)
0.2 gram
Stearic acid (C18:0)
2.1 gram
Trans Fat
0.0 gram
Dietary Fiber
34.1 gram
Sucrose
2.8 gram
Fructose
16.9 gram
Glucose
17.3 gram
Carotene, Alpha
3.1 microgram
Carotene, Beta
1172.4 microgram
Choline
135.1 milligram
Folate (Vitamin B9)
900.8 microgram
Retinol
91.9 microgram
Vitamin A
443.7 International Unit
Vitamin B-12
2.3 microgram
Vitamin B-12, Added
0.0 microgram
Vitamin B-6
1.3 milligram
Vitamin B1 (Thiamin)
0.6 milligram
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
1.3 milligram
Vitamin B3 (Niacin)
8.1 milligram
Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid)
3.1 milligram
Vitamin C
70.7 milligram
Vitamin D
2.2 microgram
Vitamin E
12.6 milligram
Vitamin K
296.6 microgram
Calcium, Ca
638.2 milligram
Copper, Cu
1.0 milligram
Iron, Fe
4.2 milligram
Magnesium, Mg
212.9 milligram
Manganese, Mn
2.7 milligram
Phosphorus, P
753.1 milligram
Potassium, K
3323.3 milligram
Selenium, Se
28.1 microgram
Sodium, Na
2540.8 milligram
Zinc, Zn
4.3 milligram
ALA (Alpha-Linolenic Acid, Omega-3)
1.1 gram
Alcohol, Ethyl
0.0 gram
Arginine
0.7 gram
Ash
13.4 gram
Aspartic Acid
1.8 gram
Caffeine
0.0 milligram
Cholesterol
40.4 milligram
Cryptoxanthin, Beta
77.7 microgram
Cystine
0.1 gram
Fluoride, F
0.1 microgram
Folic Acid
0.0 microgram
Glutamic Acid
2.1 gram
Glycine
0.5 gram
Histidine
0.3 gram
Isoleucine
0.5 gram
Leucine
0.7 gram
Lutein + Zeaxanthin
1238.1 microgram
Lycopene
0.0 microgram
Lysine
0.5 gram
Methionine
0.1 gram
Phytosterols
76.7 milligram
Proline
0.5 gram
Serine
0.5 gram
Theobromine
0.0 milligram
Threonine
0.4 gram
Tryptophan
0.1 gram
Tyrosine
0.3 gram
Valine
0.6 gram
Water
1336.0 gram
0
Split your eggplants lengthwise and score the flesh in a crosshatch — firm strokes, not too deep, you want the heat to find its way in without splitting the skin open. Rub the cut faces with olive oil, a good pinch of salt, and red pepper flakes. Leave them alone for ten minutes while you coax the grill to screaming. This resting time matters — the salt begins drawing out moisture and the flesh opens up.
1
Lay the eggplants skin-side down on a properly hot grill — medium-high at minimum, no compromises. Walk away. Six, seven minutes. You will hear them hissing and smell something deep and almost caramel-bitter coming off the skin. That smell is the whole point. The skin should darken, blister, and start pulling away at the edges. Do not touch them before then.
2
Flip them face-down onto the grates. Another six or seven minutes, and now press the top gently with a spatula — when the eggplant feels like something between butter and a sigh, it is ready. The crosshatched flesh will have taken on char at the ridges. A fork should slide through with absolutely no resistance, like there is nothing there at all.
3
While the eggplant finishes on the fire, spoon cold full-fat yogurt into a wide shallow bowl — thin yogurt will not hold the weight of this dish, in any sense. Mince your garlic very fine, stir it in with salt, and taste it directly. It should be tangy, sharp, a little aggressive. This is the cool foundation everything else lands on.
4
Pull the eggplant off the grill and let it breathe for two minutes on a board — just two, no more. Then scoop the flesh out in rough, generous chunks directly onto the yogurt. Keep it irregular, keep it charred. You want the warm smoky flesh melting down into the cold garlic yogurt while the yogurt is still cold. This moment, right here, is the whole dish.
5
Dust heavily with red pepper powder — not a suggestion, a commitment, this is where the color comes from and the heat announces itself. Tear parsley leaves and scatter them without precision. Finish with a slow drizzle of your best olive oil. Serve immediately. The contrast of temperatures is not a detail, it is the reason this plate exists — do not let it sit, do not let it wait.
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