Hünkar Beğendi

Ingredients

• 600 g lamb shoulder
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 tbsp butter, for the stew
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 500 ml hot lamb or chicken stock
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 4 large aubergines, about 1.2 kg
• ½ lemon
• 50 g butter, for the purée
• 50 g plain flour
• 500 ml warm whole milk
• 80 g kaşar cheese
• Pinch of grated nutmeg

Before you cook

• Cut the lamb into two-centimetre cubes and pat them dry.
• Finely chop the onion and garlic.
• Grate the tomatoes on the coarse side of a box grater and discard the skins.
• Prick the aubergines all over with a fork.
• Squeeze the lemon half into a bowl of cold water.
• Grate the kaşar cheese.

Steps

1. Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in a heavy pan over a high heat.
2. Brown the lamb in two batches, four minutes a batch, so the pan stays fiercely hot.
3. Return all the lamb to the pan, add the onion and garlic, and cook for four minutes.
4. Stir in the tomato paste and grated tomato and cook for three minutes.
5. Pour in the hot stock, season with the salt and black pepper, and bring it to the boil.
6. Turn the heat low, cover the pan, and simmer for fifty minutes, until the lamb is tender and the sauce has reduced and thickened.
7. Set the aubergines over a gas flame and char them for fifteen minutes, turning, until the skins are black and the flesh sags.
8. Peel the aubergines and drop the flesh straight into the lemon water, so it stays pale rather than browning.
9. Lift the flesh out, squeeze it dry between your hands, and chop it roughly.
10. Melt the 50 g of butter in a saucepan over a medium heat and stir in the flour.
11. Cook the roux for two minutes, stirring, without letting it take on colour.
12. Add the chopped aubergine and beat it into the roux for two minutes.
13. Pour in the warm milk in three additions, beating hard after each, until the purée is thick and smooth.
14. Stir in the grated kaşar and the nutmeg until the cheese melts, and season to taste.
15. Spread the aubergine purée across warm plates and press a well into the centre of each.
16. Spoon the lamb and its sauce into the wells and serve at once.