Etsis Turlu - Rich Summer Vegetable Stew

I've been cooking quite a lot of Middle Eastern recipes recently.  It started with the  Iranian Pearl Barley Soup known as Ash-e Jo or Ash-e-Jow  early this year when we had freakish snow and with the unusual hot weather continuing, now I have Etsis Turlu.   

According to the cookbook author this Etsis Turlu comes from Turkey.

With the rain over the weekend, it was the perfect excuse to make a stew more suited for autumnal days and colder evenings, but i have lots of summer vegetables including courgettes, marrows and green beans coming from the garden that I wanted  to make the most of it, even if it is the height of summer.

This stew will last us good three days of the working week and we intend to eat it with couscous, bulgar wheat, rice or crusty bread.  

I am sharing this  Etsis Turlu Stew with Souper Sundays hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. 

Adapted from Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East Arto Der Haroutunion
Etsis Turlu
Serves 4 - 6
Ingredients
2 large aubergines, cut into small chunk
Good drizzle of oil
Method
Coat the aubergine in oil and roast in oven, until tender, tossing a couple of times to ensure even colouring. 
Remove from the oven and set aside. 

Further ingredients
100g butter
2 tablespoons oil
4 medium onions, peeled and sliced
2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped into bit size chunks
1 pepper, cored and stalk removed and sliced into 8 pieces
200g french beans, topped and tailed, then halved
2 courgettes, sliced into half moons
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large beef tomato, sliced into 8
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dillweed
1/2 taspoon sumac
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepepr
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
In a large or wide pan, melt the butter and olive oil, then stir in all the ingredients (except for the aubergine).
Pour in 900ml water.
Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.  
Then stir in the aubergines and cook for 10 minutes.
Serve with couscous, bulgar wheat, rice or crusty bread.