I'm still posting eggplant recipes, and I still have more, because eggplants and zucchinis are the main things we've been getting from farmers market every week for over a month now. And I took the opportunity to show how Turks are crazy about eggplant! Cive is a great summer dish from the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, Antalya. Cive is good warm or cold, with yogurt or bread. The main point is to make it with green tomatoes that give cive the desired sour taste.
1 lb eggplant, peeled partially leaving lengthwise stripes and diced
2 medium onions, cut in thin half moons
10-12 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
3 green chilies, chopped
3 tomatoes (preferably green tomatoes for a sour taste), peeled and petite diced
3 tbsp rice
1/4 cup olive
1 tsp black pepper
salt
2 or 3 tbsp chopped fresh basil or mint OR t tbsp dry mint or basil
-Heat oil in a pot. Add onion and garlic. Stir for 3-4 minutes.
-Add chopped chilies. Stir for a couple of minutes.
-Add tomato, eggplant, black pepper, salt. Stir one and do not stir again; otherwise eggplant will get mushy.
-Cover and cook on low-medium until vegetables will get juicy in the pot. Stir in rice nice and polite.
-Cover and cook on low for 30-40 minutes.
-Before you serve, sprinkle chopped basil or mint.
Wow does that ever sound delicious. I also love it that there is a good recipe to use green tomatoes, because I have quite a few! I think I'll have to buy some eggplant though. My one plant only produced three eggplants. Next year it needs to be in a sunnier spot!
ReplyDeleteLovely recipe! I would love to have it for dinner!
ReplyDeleteThis dish sounds delicious and the photos are really nice.
ReplyDeleteMmmm yum... hard to go past a dish containing many of the worlds best ingredients... garlic, chilli, eggplant, tomatoes. And this sounds wonderfully easy and tasty.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this yummy sounding recipe!
It is SO GOOD!!! I think I should go live in Turkey, or next to you!
ReplyDeleteI'll havre to see if anyone at the farmer's market can get me some green tomatoes. That's the one thing I miss about my gardens. What a wonderful and comforting eggplant stew recipe! I'm with Gattina. I should live in Turkey with all their wonderful dishes!!!
ReplyDeleteThis looks wonderful! I will have to try it. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMy intention was karniyarik at the beginning, but having checked out other eggplant recipes, we decided to try "cive". even though we used regular tomatoes, the taste was great!
ReplyDeletethanks,
kursat.
I made this tonight and it was so very good! Did not have fresh tomatoes so used canned. Also, was not too sure what kind of chiles, but with the amount in the recipe, I thought probably not hot or maybe mild heat, so I used a can of chiles that I had and one small serrano. The serrano gave it a bit of a kick that I thought was great. I did the rice in the rice cooker as it turns out perfect brown rice. Almost forgot the mint, after dishing some out, remembered it and added it. I know this is one of those dishes that will be great warm or at room temperature, but it was so good after one bite, I ate it all hot.
ReplyDeleteThis recipe looks wonderful. Question -- should the rice be cooked or uncooked before it is put in the pot?
ReplyDeleterice should be uncooked. It will cook with the juices.
ReplyDeleteThis recipe reminded me of an Arab dish called "mesa-aa" I made it using peeled roma tomatoes (I didnt have green ones)It turned out so wonderful that even my husband who hates eggplants loved it. I used it as a topping for my grilled tilapia filets.We also ate it with fresh pita bread as a dip. Thank you for this great recipe, and thanks for all the time you put into keeping up with this blog.
ReplyDeleteOh, that looks yummy. I have a big eggplant in my garden and now I know what to do with it.
ReplyDelete