TURLITAVA (TRADITIONAL VEGETABLE DISH)

Turlitava is a common traditional dish in Macedonia. It's made of mix of vegetables and meat baked in an oven in a traditional pottery dish. Turlitava arrives from Turkish words 'turli' meaning 'mixed' and 'tava' meaning 'a pottery dish'. This Macedonian dish is easy to prepare, if you don't have some of the ingredients at the moment, don't worry, you can skip some of the vegetables and replace them with other vegetables.




Ingredients:

• 500 g mixed meat (pork and veal cut into cubes)
• 200 g green beans
• 20 pieces of okra
• 1 eggplant
• 1 zucchini
• 1-2 green peppers
• 1-2 tomatoes
• 1/2 kg potatoes
• 1/2 kg carrots 
• 1 onion
• 5-6 cloves of garlic
• 200 g oil 
• 1/2  cup of water
• salt
• black pepper, red pepper, bay leaves, vegeta

Preparation:

1. The whole vegetables are cleaned and cut into pieces and placed in a pan (preferably earthenware). 
2. Mix and salt to taste. 
3. Line up pieces of meat (previously fried with a little oil and water) over the vegetables.
4. Add spices, salt and pepper, add some oil on top, pour water and place in oven on 200 ° C to bake for about 2 hours. 
5. When done, leave to rest for 20 minutes before serving.

Good appetite!