Ali Nazik Kebabı

Ingredients

• 4 large aubergines, about 1.2 kg
• 400 g thick strained yoghurt (süzme)
• 3 garlic cloves
• 500 g lamb shoulder
• 50 g butter
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp Aleppo pepper flakes (pul biber)
• Flatbread, to serve

Before you cook

• Take the yoghurt out of the fridge an hour early so it comes to room temperature and will not split.
• Crush the garlic cloves to a paste with half a teaspoon of the salt and stir them into the yoghurt.
• Cut the lamb into small dice, about a centimetre across.
• Prick the aubergines all over with a fork.

Steps

1. Set the aubergines directly on a gas flame or over very hot charcoal.
2. Turn them every few minutes for fifteen to twenty minutes, until the skins are black and blistered and the flesh has collapsed.
3. Put the aubergines in a bowl, cover it, and leave them to steam for ten minutes.
4. Peel away the burnt skin with your fingers and lift out the soft flesh, discarding the stalks.
5. Chop the warm flesh on a board with a knife until it is rough and stringy, never in a blender.
6. Fold the warm aubergine into the garlic yoghurt and season it with salt.
7. Spread the mixture over a wide warm platter in a thick, uneven layer.
8. Heat 30 g of the butter in a frying pan over a high heat until it foams.
9. Add the diced lamb in a single layer and leave it undisturbed for three minutes so it browns properly.
10. Stir the lamb and cook it for five minutes more, then add the tomato paste, the remaining salt and the black pepper.
11. Cook for two minutes more, until the paste coats the meat and turns glossy.
12. Spoon the hot lamb over the middle of the aubergine yoghurt.
13. Melt the remaining butter with the Aleppo pepper flakes and drizzle it over the whole platter.
14. Serve immediately with flatbread, before the yoghurt cools.