SUMMER VEGETABLES STEW

SUMMER
VEGETABLES STEW-TURKISH STYLE

 

 

 





 Stew is a very common cooking style in the world of cooking. It is a combination of vegetables and meat that have been cooked in liquid. Stews are cooked at a low temperature allowing to flavor to mix.
Turkish stew -turlu /guvec- is not very different from the other examples in the world. Ingredients change depending on the seasons. Lamb are used rather than beef in Turkish stew. As I sad before I am not a lamb eater, because of that I prefer beef. Traditional way to cooking  this dish is  used   a earth ware pot/ guvec  or earth ware jug/testi( Testi kebab) which is generally found in Central Anatolia.
I have a childhood story about Testi kebab. My fathers family is originally from Central Anatolia. When he was a kid he saw how they prepared Testi Kebab . Ingredients are similar vegetable stew prepared in a earth ware jug and cook in a hole filled with charcoal fire and cover with earth.  My farther was an adventurous and highly skilled person and he thought he can make it easily. He organized a picnic for his family friends and promised to cook Testi kebab. Everything was fine until the earth ware jug   cracked. And then rescue operation began. I will never forget the panic , no one did not want to lose this delicious dish and they succeeded. It was yummy.
I used casserole pot and cooked on stove very low heat, can be cooked in a earth casserole in the oven .



 

 

 

 

500kg/ 1lb beef or lamb chunks

2 medium onion, roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic

3 medium rape tomatoes, chopped

3 tbsp. olive oil

2 medium eggplant  /aubergine, roughly diced

2 medium zucchini/courgette, roughly diced

250g/1/2lb okra

250g 1/2 lb green beans

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 red bell pepper,diced

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 cup hot water

 

 

Peel the skin of eggplant/aubergine lengthwise, make stripes, soak into water, added 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp flour  for 15 minutes. Cut top and tail of green beans and cut into 1inc /2,5cm length. Diced peppers.

Heat oil in pan add meat, stir and fry until turn brown and no juice left. Add chopped onion and garlic  stir 2-3 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes, green and red peppers and water. Season with salt, pepper and cumin . Cover, boil and simmer 30-40 minutes until meat is  soft . Add  green beans. Cook further 20 minutes. Add chopped eggplant/aubergine and zucchini/courgette  and okra. Cook 20 minutes more or all ingredients tender. If needs add more hot water. Serve with rice pilaf and green salad.