We ate this Turkish dish for lunch in Khiva, Uzbekistan.  It is a layered dish with the base being an eggplant puree similar to baba ghanoush, then a layer of lamb cooked with cumin, then yogurt, then butter, and last the garnishes of sumac and parsley.  The only time-consuming part is charring and cooking the eggplant, which can be done in advance.

This recipe will make 4 servings with bread, such as Uzbeki non or pita.  It is adapted from a recipe in the New Zealand website stuff.co.nz from the NZ cooking magazine Cuisine.

2 medium eggplants

Juice of 1 lemon

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

2 Tbs. tahini paste

2 Tbs. olive oil, divided

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1.25 tsp. cumin (preferably whole seeds, lightly crushed, but I used ground)

1 lb. ground lamb

250 g. whole milk yogurt

40 g. melted butter

¼ cup chopped Italian parsley

½ tsp. sumac

Char the eggplants on a grill or under a broiler until the skin is charred and the flesh is cooked through.  Place in a plastic bag for 15 minutes to steam.  Remove the flesh from the skin and drain in a colander.  (This can be done in advance.)

Put the eggplant flesh, lemon juice, garlic, tahini, and 1 Tbs. of olive oil in a food processor and blitz it into a puree.  Put the puree in a saucepan or small skillet over low heat to keep warm. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (I used 1/2 tsp. of salt.)

In a large skillet, heat the remaining 1 Tbs. of olive oil over medium heat.  Fry the cumin for about 1 minute until fragrant.  Add the lamb and brown it, breaking it into small pieces. Season with 1 tsp. of salt.

Serve either in one platter or on individual plates.  Make a base layer of the eggplant.  Next spread the cooked lamb.  Then add the yogurt.  Then the melted butter.  Last sprinkle with the parsley and sumac.  Serve with bread.