This is a much-loved dish in Istanbul and across Turkey: steaming bowls appear on the lunch counters of esnaf lokantasi – cafés serving home-style food all over the city. Some say that the clay pot it is sometimes cooked in influences the flavour, others that it’s all about the chef manning the stove. You’ll find it made with meat – slow-cooked nuggets of lamb, chunks of chicken, slices of rich beef sucuk sausage – stewed with vegetables or served plain: the sauce almost a tomato broth. Traditionally it is eaten with fluffy rice and, maybe, some pickled vegetables. Try adding meat to this basic recipe, or cubes of fried aubergine. If you prefer to use dried beans, rather than canned, soak 115g in plenty of water overnight, then boil rapidly in plenty of water (without salt), for 10 minutes, then simmer until tender but not mushy, about 1 hour.