Name: Sultan’s Moussaka (Patlıcan musakkası)
Yield: Serves 4-5
Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients: 6 cloves garlic, chopped; 1 tablespoon butter; 2 tablespoons clarified butter, or olive oil with a little butter; sunflower oil for frying; 4 aubergines, sliced crossways and soaked in salted water for 1 hour; salt and freshly ground black pepper; 2 tablespoons keçup, or 2 tablespoons currants, soaked in water; 1-2 tablespoons ground cinnamon; 1 lb/450 g lean minced lamb; 2 onions, chopped; 10-12 fl oz/300-350 ml milk; 2-3 tablespoons plain flour; 1-2 teaspoons dried basil or oregano; pinch of salt and freshly grated or ground nutmeg

Preparation info

Serves
4-5

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Classic Turkish Cooking

By Ghillie Basan

Published 1995

About

Moussaka tends to be associated with Greece, yet it is as much part of Turkish cuisine as it is of Greek. In Turkish the word musakka simply denotes a dish of fried vegetables with minced meat. Although the cuisines of the two countries share a history of imaginative dishes using aubergines and minced lamb, the white sauce was probably invented by the chefs of the Palace kitchens in Istanbul, who would have devised milk-based sauces to lend an air of sophistication to certain dishes.