Eggplant and Beef Stew - Bulgarian Yakhniya Recipe

Step-by-step recipe

1. This eggplant and meat stew is ideal for cooking in a cauldron for a big group, for a picnic for example. It is hearty and tasty, moderately spicy. It also cooks quickly and is not difficult.
   
2. In the Caucasus there are very similar dishes: yakhne and yakhni. An unusual meat stew with walnuts and herbs, often resembling satsivi. Something between a stew and a vegetable saute. The amount of meat is often almost equal to the amount of vegetables and sauce, and the dish is quite hot and spicy.
3. As I said, in this stew the meat is the main ingredient, and the accompanying vegetables are usually seasonal.
4. The meat is beef or lamb. Tenderloin, hind leg, shoulder. Moderately fatty. Remove bones, tendons and membranes. Mince the meat. It is best to use a meat grinder, but you can also chop it quite finely with a knife.
5. Prepare all the accompanying vegetables.
6. It is best to take thin, long eggplants. Without peeling, cut them into rounds 5-6 mm thick. No thicker. The eggplants must be fried in vegetable oil, simply in a frying pan, in several batches. It is important that they brown. Put the fried eggplants in a separate bowl and set aside.
   
7. Remove the stems and seeds from the red bell pepper and cut it into large pieces, 3-4 cm across. Remove the seeds from the hot pepper and cut it coarsely.
8. Cut the onion into large cubes. I've always liked this “large cubes” instruction. How do you cut an onion into cubes? It's a mystery, since the onion falls into layers almost immediately.
9. Peel the carrots and, again, cut them into large cubes. Don't grate the carrots, or you won't find them in the stew.
10. Chop the parsley and cilantro quite finely and mix them together.
11. Scald the tomatoes with boiling water and remove the seeds and skin. Cut the flesh into wedges of any size. I also recommend using tomatoes that are slightly “brown” rather than ripe. That way they stay whole during cooking.
12. Separate the garlic head into cloves without peeling them. Peel and chop just 1-2 cloves.
13. Next, pour a little vegetable oil into a saute pan. 2 tbsp is enough.
14. Fry the onion, carrots, red bell pepper, hot pepper and whole garlic cloves together over high heat, stirring constantly, for 5 mins.
    
15. Add the minced meat right away. Add salt and spices.
    
16. A couple of tips on spices. Eggplant with meat is a fragrant, spicy dish, so the spices make the taste. Salt, coriander and black pepper are a must. But the most important spice is savory. In Bulgaria it is called “chubritsa”. You can use quite a lot of savory, up to 1 tsp.
    
18. Add the tomato flesh and the chopped garlic to the eggplant and meat. Stir and pour in a full glass of dry white wine.
    
19. Reduce the heat to medium, cover the saute pan with a lid and simmer for 10 mins.
    
20. Add the fried eggplants. Without stirring, continue to simmer the eggplant with meat for about 20 mins.
    
21. Stir very carefully, trying not to damage the vegetables too much, and simmer for another 5 mins over the lowest heat.
    
22. If everything is done right, the moisture in the stew will boil off or be absorbed. The total cooking time is about 30 mins. If there is still liquid left, you can simmer the yakhniya a bit longer with the lid off.
23. People often recommend thickening the eggplant and meat with flour. Something tells me you shouldn't. Otherwise the yakhniya will turn from a stew into a “floury soup”.
24. Spread the meat with eggplants and vegetables on plates or one big dish. Sprinkle the yakhniya with chopped parsley and cilantro.
    
25. An amazing dish. The aroma tickles your nose. This eggplant and meat stew, the priest's yakhniya, cooked over a fire in a big cauldron, can feed a large group outdoors. I recommend eating it with fresh bread.