Turlu
Published October 5, 2010
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 2 hours, 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground fenugreek
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
¼ cup chopped parsley
¼ cup chopped mint
¼ cup chopped dill
1 large eggplant, halved lengthwise and sliced about ⅓-inch thick
4 to 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, to taste
Salt
2 medium onions, sliced
4 Italian frying peppers or 2 green bell peppers, cut in 2-inch slices
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, lightly crushed
2 medium zucchinis, sliced about ½-inch thick
Black pepper
1 pound tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped, or a 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, with juice
2 bay leaves
Chopped fresh herbs, for serving
Yogurt, for serving
FOR THE OPTIONAL
3 artichoke hearts, quartered
¼ pound green beans, trimmed
¼ pound small okra, ends trimmed
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
36 grams carbs; 1 milligram cholesterol; 263 calories; 8 grams monosaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 13 grams fat; 13 grams fiber; 1282 milligrams sodium; 8 grams protein; 16 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Stir together the tomato paste, ½ cup water, vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, fenugreek, paprika and half the parsley, mint and dill.
- Step 2
Heat a large, heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Toss the eggplant slices with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and salt to taste. Lightly brown, 3 to 5 minutes, as much eggplant as will fit in one layer in the pan, then turn and lightly brown the other side. Remove to a Dutch oven or earthenware casserole. Repeat with the remaining eggplant. (Alternatively, toss the eggplant with the olive oil in the casserole, cover and roast at 450 degrees for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.)
- Step 3
Turn the heat down slightly and add a tablespoon of oil and the onions to the skillet. Stir often until they soften, about 5 minutes, and add the peppers. Stir until the peppers and onions are limp, 5 to 8 minutes, and stir in a generous pinch of salt, half the garlic and the coriander seeds. Stir until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer to the casserole with the eggplant. Add another tablespoon of oil and the zucchinis to the skillet. Cook, stirring or turning the zucchinis often until lightly colored on both sides and translucent, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, add the remaining garlic, stir for 30 seconds to a minute, and transfer to the casserole.
- Step 4
Add the tomato paste mixture to the skillet and bring to a boil. Deglaze the pan, stirring and scraping with a wooden spoon. Pour into the casserole, and add the tomatoes, bay leaves, 2 more tablespoons olive oil, if desired, and the artichoke hearts, green beans and okra, if using. Season generously with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer (over a flame tamer if using earthenware). Cover, reduce the heat and cook gently, stirring from time to time, until the vegetables are very soft, about one hour. Stir in the remaining herbs and simmer for another 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. If possible, refrigerate overnight before serving warm or at room temperature, with yogurt and chopped herbs.
Private Notes
Comments
Turlu is one of practical and nutrious meal tradional Turkish kitchen .As professional cook ,and also native Turk ,this recipe seems to me fusion cooking . Adding coriander ,cinnamon,fenugreek are different direction of cooking turlu ...Non-Tradional ingredients.
I agree that this particular dish is the author's impression of the Turkish palate, which is actually pretty restrained with the spices.There is summer türlü, which can use the okra, artichoke hearts and green beans, and there is winter türlü which can have some root veg in it. You can make this dish vegetarian, vegan, or with meat, typically chunks of lamb. It is a resourceful dish, and you can make it your own. After all, Türlü means varied, or many different kinds, or if you like, diverse.
Married to a Turk, and have had many versions of türlü (which just refers to any vegetable stew). This one intrigued because of the fenugreek, cinnamon, paprika spice mixture. Cinnamon is more likely to be in Greek stews (e.g. Greek version of moussaka). I've only encountered artichoke hearts in "Europeanized" Turkish recipes. Used the pint of baby okra from my CSA farm. We found this recipe to be a bit sweet. In future, I would not add any sugar or would use a bit more vinegar.
This was fun to make w okra and tomato. Definitely an end of summer treat.
This was delicious and it used up lots of the bounty from my summer garden. I included everything but the artichoke hearts. My only comment/change was to add some water to the pot once everything was combined as it seemed too dry to simmer without some liquid added. I left it covered for about 30 minutes, then took the lid off and let it simmer down to a marvelous, thick stew. No chance this was going into the fridge overnight - we ate it voraciously right away!
A lot of work, but worth it. Excellent, deep complex flavors. I used jarred artichoke hearts instead of fresh, snow peas instead of green beans. Will definitely become one of my go-to recipes.