Lalengi Recipe
Lalengi in Tire cuisine, lalanga in Kars cuisine, tempura in Japanese cuisine is the name of the dish, or rather the name of this method, obtained by dipping various ingredients in a mixture of eggs, water and flour and deep frying them.
Although it is mostly made with eggplant in Turkish cuisine, it can also be prepared with different vegetables such as zucchini and potatoes. In Japanese cuisine, this method can be made with very different ingredients in categories such as meat, fish, seafood and vegetables (see zucchini tempura). The eggplant version of lalengi is also known and referred to as patlıcan balığı in some regions, but in fact, patlıcan balığı is patlıcan balığı. There are different opinions on this type of name confusions. Some people start using it when they learn the name of the dish in the culinary literature, which they have been making with a different name for years, while others insist on the name used in their own regions.
It seems to me that this should depend on whether the name used is incorrect or different. For example, where I was born and grew up, lilac is called judas tree. This is an obvious misuse. Because there is already another tree called Judas tree. Therefore, it is necessary to correct this mistake when it is noticed. But the fried dough, which is generally known as pişi, is called kolac in our country. Since there is no such thing as kolac, there is no harm in continuing to be referred to as kolac.
Coming back to our recipe... Lalengi is served in Tire with grated tulum cheese and watermelon. Although I love tulum cheese, I add white cheese (Turkish type of feta cheese) as it's my favorite.
Eggplants for lalengi are not pre-boiled as in patlıcan balığı, they are used raw. Therefore, they need to be sliced thinly to cook well. This is the most important point of the recipe. Another thing you should pay attention to is not to use a very high heat so that the inside is cooked well. If you use very high heat while frying, the outside will be cooked in a short time, but the inside will remain raw. For this reason, the oil should be hot enough to cook, but not so hot that the coating dough changes color within seconds.
Enjoy the recipe...
Ingredients
- 2 eggplants,
- 1 egg,
- 2 cups of flour,
- 1.5 cups of water,
- 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda,
- 1 teaspoon of lemon juice,
- Salt,
- Oil for frying,
- Grated cheese for serving.
Preparation
- Peel the eggplants and slice them in very thin rounds,
- Whisk flour and water in a deep bowl,
- Add the egg and beat,
- Add baking soda, lemon juice and salt and whisk,
- Heat plenty of oil in a deep and large pan,
- Dip the eggplant slices into the batter and remove the excess, place them into the hot oil and fry on medium-high setting until golden,
- Take the fried lalengis first into a strainer, after the excess oil is drained, take them into a tray lined with paper towel,
- Fry all the eggplant slices in the same way and serve them with grated cheese on top.
Bon Appetit...