this is a nice dish and typically turkish
its called karnıyarık for two people..use more for more
half two large aubergines lengthwise brush with oil and cook for about half hour..maybe more in hot oven.
while they are cooking make the filling
brown some good mince, fry a well chopped onion, two garlic cloves, two toms, teaspoon of cummin pinch of black pepper, salt, little chilli paste little tomatoa paste and glassof water..cook until nice and soft.
when aubergines are soft scope out flesh and add to sauce mix.
flatten the shells out a little and fill with the mix. return to the oven for about 15 mins.
serve with a nice salad

Thanks for that Shirleyannetr, I,ll try that out after I've been shopping for ingredients it sounds delicious,Mel.

oooh i'm going to try that, i often make imam biyaldi after eating it in hisaronu this year i really liked it and got the recipe, however i often end up serving it with bacon or chicken but the mince recipe above sounds lovely

I have been to Icmeler many times and the free bread which is offered before a restaurant meal, is delicious. Is this called naan bread, and has anybody on the forum attempted to make it, with success?
If so could we share the recipe,........... thanks.

Wensley

It's usually called pide or, in some places, lahmacun. Not sure which is really correct. It's basically the same leavened dough that they use as the base for "turkish pizza".

Try Googling for recipes - there are plenty out there. I've tried a few, but have never achieved the proper result. I think I was missing:

a. a proper high temperature wood fired oven
b. months, if not years of experience making hundreds a day
c. a vine covered terrace overlooking the Med
d. an endless supply of cold Efes

Regards

- Tony -

I understood it to be called lavas or pronounced lavash its the one that comes with sesame seeds on the top and the mezes dips,thats one of the things i look forward to when going out for meal oh and of course the efes.

Chris.

I think the one you mean is lavash. It is an unleavened bread and I think quite difficult to make as it needs to be very thinly rolled out and baked flat. Try your local asian supermarket, if you have one, as they sell it at ours - along with Turkish cheese, honeyand yogurt.

Sorry, a bit of confusion there. It is indeed lavas (with little squiggly thing on the bottom of the "s"). Lavas, unlike pide, is unleavened, i.e. no yeast. It tends to be thinner, and it becomes crisp very quickly. Whether you get pide or lavas as a starter seems to depend on which lokanta you're in.

Lavas is made from just flour, water and salt, often with sesame on the top. Sometimes, it comes smeared with garlic and butter, as does pide. When I made it at home, you could have used it in a game of hockey!

- Tony -

Got back from Alanya yesterday (was brilliant!!! :D). We became addicted to the complimentary naan bread they served along with the sauce that came with it. Does anyone know what is in the sauce and if we can buy it anywhere. We think it may have had garlic and yoghurt in it but really aren't sure. Here's a pic we took because we couldn't believe how big this one was


http://i16.tinypic.com/6fff243.jpg

Meant to ask about the dip before we came back but forgot!!

Cheers

Glad to hear the holiday went well! The dip looks like what they sell here in the supermarket's chilled cabinets as 'tzatziki', which is the Greek equivalent. Yoghurt, garlic and cucumber I think. Love it!

I was hoping for something a little different than naan bread this year

Hi Laura,

The yogurt dip you're referring to is called cacik (pronounced 'chachik'). It's very easy to make, and is far superior to any of the stuff you'll find in a supermarket.

All you need to do is buy some natural yogurt (preferably Turkish - but Greek will do) and crush a few cloves of garlic, grate some cucumber, then stir them into the yogurt. Drizzle a few small drops of virgin olive oil on top, along with a sprinkle of thyme - and a sprinkling of chilli flakes (optional).

Incidentally, the bread isn't actually Naan; it's called Lavas and is much thinner and crispier - usually cooked with poppy seeds on top. Lavas is hard to find in the UK, but any crusty bread works just as well with cacik.

Just back from marmaris and i loved the nan bread they served with the garlic butter does anyone know how to make it .
cant wait to go back next year.

Maria