[galya]

Roland asked in my log so I am posting the story and recipe of a dish that is said to have made the imam (muslim high priest) faint with delight when he first tried it. In the Ottoman empire most cooks were Armenian so where this dish comes from is still a topic of dispute. The vegetable part of this dish is probably of indian origin, while the meat part is clearly of armenian or turkish origin. In 90% of the cases this dish has no meat and meat is served on the side. I like to combine things and think of this as the closest easy dish to chili that Bulgaria has.

here it is
you need

2 aubergines (egg plants)
2 tomatoes
2 carrots
1 zucchini (optional)
2 onions
3-4 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups lean ground beef (or lamb)
5 tbsp tomato sauce

spices:
you can go crazy here, but the essentials are: cinnamon, cumin, mint, black pepper and sweet red pepper. Put it as much as you like.

Wrap the aubergines and zucchini in aluminum foil and cook in the oven for 30 minutes. When they cool off, dice them and set aside.
Dice all other vegetables and quickly stir fry them in a pan using 1 tbsp olive oil. When slightly cooked, set aside. Cook the beef in a pan, adding all the spices. Mix all the precooked ingredients in a baking pan or pot, add 1/2 cup water, tbps olive oil and the tomato sauce and bake for 30-40 minutes stirring occasionally. It tastes great cold and hot. You can serve it with yogurt or feta cheese on the side, as well as wrapped in a tortilla (I bet!). One thing about this dish is the more oil you put in, the better it tastes. Originally, all vegetable ingredients are fried so you can imagine how much oil it has before you modify the recipe.

Enjoy!