Green garlic is the star of this dish; it's such a seasonal food that anything made with it practically shouts "Spring!" Although it's only recently become better known in the US, in the Mediterranean and other areas it's a seasonal favorite, with it's fresh flavor that's very distinct from garlic in its normal bulb form. Chinese garlic / garlic chives are sometimes also referred to as "green garlic," but this is simply normal garlic harvested green at the "scallion" stage. If you can't get it in your area and have a garden, it's well worth breaking up a few heads of garlic and planting them in the fall so that you can enjoy this delicious vegetable come March or April.
Siveydis (Shi-vey-dis - OS won't let me use a Turkish "S-with-a-cedilla" character in the headers or body text) is a dish Turkey's Mediterranean coast, especially the area around Adana. It's normally made based on lamb but I decided to do it a little differently for vegetarian friends and like this every bit as well as the original. It's cheaper this way too. It's like a soup in consistency but has so many solid ingredientsthat it's not considered a main dish rather than a soup.
Ingredients:
1 c cooked chick peas
2 lt vegetable stock
20 scallions or thin early leeks if available
20 "garlic scallions" (green garlic)
1 lb fresh spinach, chopped
1 1/2 c yogurt (use whole milk yogurt if you can get it)
1 egg
1/4 c olive oil
2 t dry mint
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
All of these amounts are approximate; if you like it richer, add more yogurt; if you really like chickpeas add a bit more.
Soak chickpeas the night before and cook in a pressure cooker till done, about 15-20 minutes. Or don't use a pressure cooker, it just takes longer.
Clean scallions and garlic, chop into 1" pieces, including greens. As you move toward the end of the garlic greens they can get a little tough; discard about half the ends. Chop the spinach, set aside.
Place the vegetable stock in a large pot and bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, whisk the egg and yogurt together, set aside.
Add the chickpeas to the broth, bring back to a boil and if they need any more cooking (i.e. if you misgauged your pressure cooking time), let them finish cooking now, because the rest of the .
When you're sure the chickpeas are fully cooked, add the garlic and onions/leeks, and simmer for around 5 minutes max, just till they're tender and have lost their bite. They'll also flavor the broth at this point. No need to overcook them, they become tender very quickly.
Add the spinach, cook for another few minutes until the spinach reaches the doneness you like - I prefer fully cooked but with some color left.
Take a cup o the boiling broth and whisk it into the yogurt-egg mixture. Remove the pot from the heat and pour the yogurt mixture into the pot in a stream, whisking constantly.
To serve, ladle into shallow bowls, then prepare the topping:
Heat the olive oil and mint in a small pan (I use a Turkish coffee pot for this). Heat till you start smelling the mint; don't burn it. Pour a bit of this into the middle of each dish and serve with a good hearty bread!
[Note: If you want to do it with lamb, omit the spinach and cook a pound or so of lamb with bones in 2 qts of water with the chickpeas until the chickpeas are tender and the lamb is falling off the bone. Then proceed with the garlic and onions, yogurt etc.]
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
mypsyche
Razzle Dazzle
Safe_Bet's Amy
Terry Wilmarth
Linda Shiue
Scarlett Sumac
Salon.com
Comments
Rated and recommended.
Stellaa - go for it! In Kefallonia they also made a wonderful spring dish that was composed almost entirely of equal parts green garlic and tender spring fennel leaves, along with baby favas or peas, new potatoes and obscene (well, not really) amounts of olive oil. Boil the potatoes, and dip the fennel in to blanch it. When the potatoes are almost done, done add the favas or peas, then the garlic, cut up into inch-long pieces. When the garlic has become tender, dump the whole thing into a colander. Chop the blanched fennel, then put everything together into a big frying pan add more olive oil than your doctor would approve of, salt and pepper and sautee. Eat with lots of dense bread. To die for. Or die from, you'll go happy. :)
Füsun - I almost never look on the cover, thanks for letting me know! Reyting için de sağol! :) I'm a bit erratic in my posting but I'll put it up if it inspires me. I'll almost certainly post a recipe for batırık when the weather gets hot.
Jeanette: Do it! There are so many ways to use it, you won't regret it. If you don't use all of it, it will just mature into regular garlic and you can use it that way too.