Alinazik kebab

A bed of smoky aubergine, charred over coals and beaten with garlic yoghurt, under a layer of lamb that has been minced or cubed and cooked with butter and pepper: alinazik is the Gaziantep kebab that is half meze and half main, and the only famous kebab in Türkiye in which the meat is not the point. The name is explained in two ways, as ali nazik, gentle or refined, or from a story about a sultan praising the dish with the phrase eline nazik, blessed be the hand that made it; neither is documented, and both are repeated. It is close to Hünkar beğendi from Istanbul, which puts a similar aubergine purée under lamb stew, but the Antep version is sharper, with yoghurt and garlic in the purée and butter red with pepper on top, and it is eaten with lavash rather than a fork.