After having so many wonderful food at Istanbul, I started learning and trying to cook Turkish food. Like most of Mediterranean food, Turkish cuisine is very healthy and delicious. It often uses olive oil, olive, nuts, beans, yogurt and all kinds of fresh vegetables. One thing I really like is, it cleverly utilizes yogurt to make various sauce and integrate it with dishes, to make them taste good and healthier.
Today, I want to introduce Turkish potato casserole, one dish I learnt from Classic Turkish Cooking. The potato tastes very flavorful with tomato sauce, olive and nuts. The tzatziki sauce is very important in this dish, which added depth of sourness and creaminess. This one is a side dish which is good to go with poultry or fish, but I also like to enjoy itself as a main dish.
What is your favorite Turkish dish?
Turkish Potato Casserole (Patates Bastısı)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 small potatoes peeled and chopped
- 1 small onion sliced
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
- 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 5 black olives stoned and halved
- 2 small tomatoes chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
- 3/4 teaspoon paprika powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 almonds chopped
Tzatziki sauce
- 1 cup Greek yogurt or drained plain yogurt
- 1 small cucumber peeled and diced (6-8mm square)
- 1 teaspoon tried dill
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (400F).
- Heat olive oil in a non-sticky skillet on medium heat till hot. Add onion and potato, stir constantly till onion turns yellow, in 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cumin and stir for another 2 to 3 minutes, till garlic fragrant well and cumin is mixed well with potato. Add in white wine vinegar, sugar and black olive, give it a stir. Then add in tomato, cayenne powder, paprika powder, oregano, parsley and salt. Keep stir until everything is mixed well.
- Spread the mixture in a baking dish by spoon, place almond on top, bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until potato turns golden brown and most liquid has been absorbed.
- Mix all the ingredients for the Tzatziki and set aside.
- Serve the baked potato when chilled down a bit or cold, with Tzatziki sauce.
This dish was very delicious. Sauteeing the veg, spices, and potatoes before putting into the oven and adding sliced almonds made this recipe better than other similar ones I’ve tried. To make as a main dish for my large family, I used 3-4 times the potatoes called for, added sliced red romano pepper (thinner skinned than bell), and doubled the spices called for. I also used canned pureed tomato and prepared tzatziki sauce to save prep time but needed an extra 15 minutes or so of cooking time because of the extra veg.
Delicious dish. I pretty much doubled all the casserole ingredients as it was so popular. My favourite Turkish dish is a lamb and vege goulash from Cappadocia. One of the things I love best about Turkish cuisine is that vegetables are featured so deliciously. Your dish is a great example of this.