Hunkar Begendi

Turkish lamb stew with creamy eggplant sauce, from claudia roden. Cheddar or parmesan may be substituted for the kasseri cheese.

Stew: fry the onion in the oil till soft.

Add meat and brown.

Add garlic and cook for a few seconds longer.

Add tomatoes , sugar , and salt and pepper to taste.

Add water to cover and simmer with the lid on for about 1 or 1 1 / 2 hours , till meat is very tender.

If necessary , add more water or let the sauce reduce a bit to get a good saucy consistency.

Eggplant sauce: prick eggplants all over and roast in a very hot oven for 30 minutes , until eggplants soften and skin chars.

Cool and peel carefully.

Put lemon juice in a bowl of water and put peelec eggplants in acidified water to keep them white.

Melt butter in saucepan , add flour and stiur over very low heat for 2 minutes or until well-blended.

Remove from the heat and add milk gradually , beating vigorously.

Season with nutmeg , salt and pepper to taste.

Cook ove rlow heat for 15 minutes , until sauce thickens.

Drain the eggplants in a colander and squeeze out as much water and juice as possible.

Chop in the colan.

onion, vegetable oil, lamb, garlic cloves, tomatoes, sugar, eggplant, lemon juice, butter, all-purpose flour, milk, nutmeg, kasseri cheese