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Hünkar Beğendi (Sultan's Delight)

Asia › Turkey
serves 6 1 hr 40 min Hard 8 versions
Dinner For Guests Baked Stovetop Grilled
Meat Dishes

Hünkar Kebabı

One of 8 versions of Hünkar Beğendi (Sultan's Delight). The table below shows how their ingredients differ.

Ingredients

Servings 6 people
  • 1 kilogram diced lamb
  • 2 tablespoon margarine
  • 1 head onion · large, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon paste
  • 1 dessert spoon flour
  • 1 dessert spoon salt
  • 1 litre water
  • 2 piece tomato · medium, peeled and finely chopped
  • 2 dessert spoon garlic sauce
  • 150 gram kaşar cheese
  • 3 tablespoon butter · for the top
  • For the spice bag
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon basil
  • 1 piece bay leaf
  • 5 piece peppercorns
  • 3 sprig parsley stalks
  • For the beğendi (aubergine purée)
  • 6 piece aubergine · large seedless kemer variety
  • 2 tablespoon oil · heaped
  • 5 coffee cup (70 ml) flour · 150 g
  • 1.5 water glass (200 ml) milk
  • half dessert spoon salt
  • 1 piece lemon

How to make it

Open in kitchen mode
  1. Put the fat in a pan, heat it and add the meat.
  2. Fry it for 10 minutes, until it has absorbed the liquid it releases and turned pink.
    10 min
  3. Put in the onion and fry for 2 minutes.
    2 min
  4. Put in the tomato paste and fry for 1 minute more.
    1 min
  5. Add the flour to the mixture and stir it in well.
  6. Cook over a low heat for 15-20 minutes with the spice bag, the salt and the water.
    20 min
  7. For the beğendi, wash the aubergines and pierce them lightly with the point of a knife.
  8. Cook them over a charcoal grill or on the hob, turning them, until they are soft as dough.
  9. Peel them in water with lemon.
  10. Melt the fat in a pan, add the flour and stir with a whisk.
  11. Cook over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes.
    4 min
  12. After 5 minutes, once it has cooled a little, add the boiling milk over a low heat and stir well for 3 minutes.
    5 min
  13. Squeeze the aubergines and add them.
  14. Put in the salt and cook for 5-6 minutes.
    6 min
  15. Tip the meat into an oval earthenware dish and pour in its sauce to halfway up the meat.
  16. Arrange the thinly sliced kaşar cheese over it.
  17. Then pour the beğendi over the top and put it in the oven.
  18. Leave it in the oven for 5-6 minutes without letting it boil, then take it out.
    6 min
  19. Pour 2-3 spoonfuls of browned butter over it and serve.
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Hünkar Beğendi (Sultan's Delight) versions

They are all the same dish; the table below lists only the ingredients that set them apart. Ingredients common to every version (flour, salt, oil) are left out — they make no difference.

Classic base Baked Beğendi only Marinated meat With lamb chops With minced meat With spice bag With tomato
Ingredient Classic Baked Beğendi only Marinated meat With lamb chops With minced meat With spice bag With tomato
flour ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ — ✓ ✓
kaşar cheese ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ — ✓ ✓
milk ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ — ✓ ✓
lemon ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ — — ✓ ✓
onion ✓ ✓ — ✓ — ✓ ✓ ✓
tomato ✓ ✓ — ✓ ✓ ✓ — ✓
butter — ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ — — ✓
lamb ✓ ✓ — ✓ — — — —
margarine ✓ ✓ — — — — ✓ —
paste — ✓ — ✓ — — — ✓
pepper — — — ✓ ✓ — — ✓
water — ✓ — — — — ✓ ✓
black pepper — ✓ — — — ✓ — —
diced lamb — — — — — — ✓ ✓
parsley — ✓ — — ✓ — — —
basil — ✓ — — — — — —
bay leaf — ✓ — — — — — —
coconut — — ✓ — — — — —
garlic sauce — ✓ — — — — — —
lamb chops — — — — ✓ — — —
lettuce — — — — — ✓ — —
minced meat — — — — — ✓ — —
oil — ✓ — — — — — —
olive oil — — — — — ✓ — —
oregano — ✓ — — — — — —
processed cheese — — — — — ✓ — —
spice bag — — — — — — ✓ —
spices — — — — — — — ✓
tomato paste — — — — — — ✓ —

Classic

serves 6 1 hr 25 min

The classic recipe, in which meat cooked with tomatoes is served with a hot beğendi puree made at the moment of serving.

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Beğendi only

serves 4 35 min

No meat, just the beğendi: a puree in which charred aubergine is worked into a bechamel made with milk.

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Marinated meat

serves 4 6 hr 10 min

A kebab in which meat marinated for 5-6 hours in onion juice is served with a puree of charred aubergines.

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With lamb chops

serves 2 35 min

A single serving: grilled lamb chops on a bed of beğendi.

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With minced meat

serves 4 40 min

A quick beğendi in which the puree of charred aubergines is mixed with minced meat and processed cheese.

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With spice bag

serves 6 1 hr 40 min

Diced lamb cooked slowly with a bag of spices; the classic method, in which the beğendi is built on a roux.

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With tomato

serves 6 1 hr 20 min

Diced lamb cooked with tomatoes and tomato paste, on a beğendi built with cold milk.

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