Hunkar Begendi (Turkish Eggplant (Aubergine) Cream)
"This literally translates as 'the Sultan's Delight', and it is that! The first time I had it, I fell in love. Mild, rich, buttery - it perfectly complemented the braised beef (in tomato sauce) that it was meant to accompany. This is a very subtle dish. If you want FLAVOUR, look elsewhere. This is flavourful in a more refined way, and also a lesson to our overly-spiced palates."
- Ready In:
- 50mins
- Ingredients:
- 8
- Serves:
-
4-6
ingredients
- 3 medium eggplants
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 6 tablespoons flour
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1⁄2 cup hot milk (more may be necessary)
- 1⁄8 teaspoon nutmeg
- kefalotiri or parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper
directions
- Grill eggplants whole without peeling them by holding over a flame and turning slowly, or prick skin in several places and set in hot oven.
- When the skin begins to break and the inside pulp feels soft, slip off the skin; discard sacs containing seeds and chop up pulp; put pulp in a saucepan.
- Mix lemon juice with pulp and simmer until very soft, stirring often (10-15 minutes).
- Meanwhile, melt butter, add flour to it and allow flour to brown.
- Beat the butter and flour mixture into the eggplant.
- Slowly add several tablespoons of hot milk and the nutmeg and continue beating until mixture resembles mashed potatoes.
- Lastly add several tablespoons of grated cheese and cook several minutes more.
- Serve immediately.
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Reviews
-
I loved this. I'm not real experienced with eggplant and had a diffcult time getting the seeds out so half the seeds stayed which changed the texture of the dish a little but I didn't mind. Thanks for the great recipe. -
Wow. This is one of those 10 star recipes that I wonder how I ever lived without before tasting it for the first time this evening. I halved the recipe to serve with evelyn's Das Kebap recipe and I wish I had made the entire amount because it was SUBLIME indeed! I roasted my eggplant in the oven for 40 minutes at 350 degrees and let it cool before peeling. After I seeded the eggplant I whirred it in the blender for a few seconds before cooking it on the stovetop. The end result was buttery, creamy, slightly smoky, and just a beautiful clean eggplant flavor. Thank you for sharing such a fantastic recipe, that I had never tried or heard of before this week, but I know we will absolutely be making again. -
This is absolutely fabulous. I've just finished making it and had to stop myself from eating it before I served dinner. I absolutely understand why the sultan was delighted. The only thing I did was to use my immersion blender to make the mixture totally smooth. I am so excited--because I am thinking about not just how good this will be as an accompniament to my dinner, but how this wonderful sort of eggplant custard can be used in other things--like choux puffs flavored with kasseri cheese and filled with this eggplant. What a great recipe! Thank you. -
COMFORT FOOD!!!!! I had a little trouble figuring out how to best grill the eggplants over my gascooktop - the third and last one was best ;-) Your description is perfect, it is creamy, buttery. Finally a dish where the eggplant is nothing but a filling ingredient, but the subtlety of its own flavor come through.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
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OK, here goes. I live in Athens, Greece. I moved out here many, many years ago from Ottawa, Canada - so I am blessed in having two wonderful heritages!
I suffer from compulsive obsessive behaviour with regard to food and my psychiatrist thought it would be a good idea to find a 'society' where many have the same problem and try to find a cure.
So far, I've copied a couple of thousand recipes from this site and my psychiatrist has thrown the towel in and refuses to answer the phone when I call.
What did I do wrong?
Got 3 kids that keep me on the go - 10 and under at this point (2008) - I may not get round to updating this for a few years, so you'll have to do your own maths.
I teach English full-time and Greek Cookery part-time. I would like to make the cooking part of it full-time and the English Grammar part of it part-time.
That's all for now.
