From Istanbul to Boston: Gizem Bhambhani Shares her Exciting Journey, and her Favorite Turkish Recipes
Today’s woman dreamer, Gizem Bhambhani, shares her exciting journey from Turkey to Boston. Following her studies in Turkey, England, and Germany, she worked for Turkish Airlines for seven years. In 2018, she moved to Boston, marrying her life-long friend Sam Bhambhani. In this article, she shares the similarities she observes between Turkish and Indian culture, her passion for Turkey’s rich and vast cuisine, and two classic Turkish recipes and the stories behind them (Shakshuka and Hünkar Beğendi (The Sultan's Delight), Enjoy her story and scrumptious recipes below!
Gizem’s Story
Gizem Bhambhani is from Istanbul, Turkey and has recently moved to Boston area after marrying her lifelong friend. Gizem grew up in a typical Turkish household with a strong culture that revolved around family and food. Gizem's husband is an Indian-American and she sees many similarities between Turkish and Indian cultures. Family gatherings, close network of friends, family-like relationships with neighbors, respect of elders, full involvement with your parents and your children's lives...all very similar to the Indian value system.
Turkish cuisine is rich and vast - from mouthwatering Kebabs and vegetarian dishes to extensive offerings of Mezzes (appetizers) and desserts! Turkish influence can be seen in other Middle Eastern and North Indian cuisines as well. Historically Turks were nomads and conquerors and they spread their culture and cuisine throughout Middle East ,Europe, North Africa, and Asia.
Gizem has a degree in business from a prestigious university in Istanbul and has experienced multiple cultures while she did part of her coursework in England and in Germany. She speaks Turkish, English and some German. After graduating college, Gizem worked for Turkish Airlines for 7 years as an international flight attendant and later moved to the United States following her wedding in 2018.
Eggplant in tomato sauce (Aegean Turkey style shakshuka)
This is a recipe that transcend generations, make their way through the family tree, and give you comfort with each passing year. It’s no secret that we Turkish people love eggplant, so when I tried this beautiful Turkish eggplant. Tender, fried eggplant cubes tossed in a lightly spiced tomato sauce seemed simple enough, but there are definitely techniques.
Ingredients:
700 grams eggplant (I use baby eggplant that are long and thin, preferring seedless ones)
2 cloves garlic
3 tomatoes (about 300 grams)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon sugar
3 teaspoons salt (2 teaspoons to salt the water, 1 teaspoon for the tomato sauce, plus more to taste)
1 long green “banana” pepper
Canola oil or sunflower seed oil for frying eggplant
Olive oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Notes:
We use Turkish tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20ml; 1 cup equals 200 ml.
Directions:
Wash the eggplant and trim both ends. Peel a strip of skin off lengthwise every inch or so. You want to peel half the skin off the eggplant. Cut the eggplant lengthwise in half, then cut the halves into quarters. Chop each quarter into 1-inch pieces.
Cut the pepper into roughly the same size as the eggplant and set aside.
Cover eggplant in a bowl of cold water with 2 teaspoons of salt. Allow to soak for ten minutes. In the meantime, get on with your tomato sauce…
Cut your tomatoes in half. Grate each tomato on a box grater over a large bowl. This will allow you to get the flesh and juice out of your tomato while easily discarding the skin.
Mash your garlic in a mortar and pestle with ¼ teaspoon salt.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a sauté pan. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste and sugar, let simmer uncovered over medium heat until sauce thickens, about twenty minutes. Check for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Before take it away from the stove add vinegar and boil one more minute.
Drain your eggplant in a colander. Grab fistfuls of eggplant and squeeze the excess water out with your hands – you want your eggplant very dry to ensure that it browns properly!
Heat canola oil 1/3 of the way up the sides of a large frying pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot (!) carefully add half the eggplant. Let fry, stirring occasionally. Once the eggplant turns from greyish white to a beautiful deep brown, carefully remove it from the oil using a slotted spoon. Place on a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat the frying process with the remaining eggplant.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive OR canola oil in a small frying pan. Fry the pepper, stirring occasionally. Cook until the pepper is very caramelized, it can almost be black. Remove from heat and set aside.
To Assemble:
Spoon the eggplant into a bowl,put the peppers on top of the eggplant, then pour the tomato sauce. Serve hot, cold, or at room temperature.
Hünkar Beğendi (The Sultan's Delight) recipe.
Hünkar Beğendi or Sultan's Delight, is an old Turkish recipe going back a few hundred years to the Ottoman Empire.
There are a number of stories that explain the beginnings of this magnificently named Ottoman dish, one of them includes Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III who was apparently visiting in the 19th century.
Whether the dish was created for a 17th, 18th or 19th century sultan, suffice it to say, said sultan was so ecstatic over it, they personified his euphoria in the name!
And how can you blame him? The contrast between the meltingly tender lamb, cooked in a simple but richly flavoured stew, and the smoky aubergine cheese sauce is simply exquisite!
Over the years, it has come in many guises: a very red tomato based stew, meatballs over the beğendi and a couple of times, even with chicken, which isn’t uncommon.
Hünkar Beğendi is a very easy recipe to put together. There are 2 main parts to the recipe:
the lamb stew
the beğendi, the smoky aubergine cheese sauce
Ingredients
1 kg/2.2lbs trimmed, boneless lamb leg meat, diced into 1-inch pieces
2 tbsp tomato paste
3garlic cloves, crushed
2onions, finely chopped
3bay leaves
3 tbspolive oil
2banana pepper, finely chopped
4ripe tomatoes, diced
2-3 tbspbutter
1.5 cuphot water
½ cupparsley, finely chopped
Salt and black pepper
Eggplant puree
4-5 large eggplants
50 gbutter
¼ cup(50 g) plain flour
1¼ cups(250 ml) milk
½ cup 100g grated Turkish hard mature cheese (kasar) or kashkaval cheese
Salt and black pepper
Red chili pepper flakes
Notes
I have used a few different cheeses and cheese mixes with this hunkar begendi recipe and prefer a mild cheddar. The more traditional Turkish cheeses to use would be a kaşkaval or kasseri cheese. But I recommend shredded mozzarella or a mild cheddar.
Banana pepper is mild light color green pepper. If you can’t find, you can use capsicum instead of that.
Try to prefer seedless eggplants.
You easily find the red pepper flakes or cheeses in Turkish/Mediterranean stores or even in Patel Brothers.
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Turkish tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20ml; 1 cup equals 200 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified.
Instructions
You will need to begin this recipe 1 day ahead.
Marinating time 6–12 hours
Place the lamb in a large bowl. Add the tomatoes, garlic and half the onion and bay leaves. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for 6–12 hours to marinate.
Place a saucepan over medium heat, add olive oil, and saute the lamb, banana pepper and tomato until golden and tender. Add butter and hot water. Increase heat to high, bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and sinner gently for 45 minutes, or until the lamb is tender, season to taste.
To make the eggplant puree, place the eggplant on open fire such as a charcoal barbecue, or gas stove. If using a gas stove, line the stove with foil to protect from dripping juice. Place the eggplant on a heavy metal rack and cook on high heat, turning occasionally until the skin of the eggplant is burnt and the flesh very tender (approx. 30 mins). Set the eggplant aside to cool, then cut in half lengthways, scoop out all flesh and mash.
In a separate saucepan over medium heat, melt 50 g butter, add flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk until smooth, then add mashed eggplant. Cook, stirring often for 6–7 minutes, or until thickened, adding kasar cheese in the final two minutes. To serve, divide the eggplant puree among plates, top with the lamb and scatter with parsley or (my secret touch) put 4 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp chili red pepper flakes (called Maras pepper in Turkey) in a small pan, melt and mix it and spread 1 spoon of the sauce on each plate.
Bon appetite!