Piyaz
The name means "onion", though the main ingredient is beans — because the onion is what gives the dish its character. It is treated unusually here: rubbed with salt and sumac and left for a quarter of an hour. The salt draws out water and softens the fibres, while the sumac stains the onion pink and takes off its edge. The Antalya version adds tahini, which makes the dressing creamy.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Onion with sumac 15 min
- Tahini dressing 10 min
- Combining 15 min
Step by step
0 / 5 doneRub the onion with salt and sumac
Slice the onions into thin slivers, add the salt and sumac and rub with your hands for a minute, squeezing. The onion releases juice, softens and turns pink. Leave 15 minutes — this removes the harshness more effectively than rinsing and without washing away flavour.
Ingredients: 2 pcs red onions · 1 tbsp sumac · 1 tsp salt
Rubbed with salt and sumac, turning pink and soft.Loosen the tahini through the seizing stage
Crush the garlic with salt, stir in the tahini and lemon juice. The mixture thickens and looks split — this is normal. Add ice-cold water a spoonful at a time, stirring, until the dressing turns smooth and creamy.
Ingredients: 60 g tahini · 1 pcs lemon · 60 ml water · 60 ml olive oil · 1 tbsp red wine vinegar · 1 clove garlic · ½ tsp salt
It thickens and looks wrong first — keep stirring.Add oil and vinegar
Stir in the oil and vinegar. The dressing should be as thick as pouring yogurt — if it runs off a spoon like water, add another spoonful of tahini. Beans are mild and need a dressing that clings rather than sinking to the bottom of the bowl.
Ingredients: 60 g tahini · 1 pcs lemon · 60 ml water · 60 ml olive oil · 1 tbsp red wine vinegar · 1 clove garlic · ½ tsp salt
Toss with warm beans
Fold the dressing into the still-warm beans. Warm beans take on the flavour of the dressing far better; cold ones are merely coated — the same principle as potato salad, and the difference is clear.
Ingredients: 600 g white beans · 1 bunch parsley · 3 pcs eggs · 2 pcs tomatoes · 80 g black olives
Warm beans absorb the dressing, cold ones are merely coated.Rest a quarter of an hour, then plate
Leave for 15 minutes at room temperature. Spread on a flat plate, top with the sumac onion and a great deal of chopped parsley — a whole bunch for four portions is not a mistake. Arrange the quartered eggs, tomato wedges and olives around the edge.
Ingredients: 600 g white beans · 1 bunch parsley · 3 pcs eggs · 2 pcs tomatoes · 80 g black olives
Before you start
Starting from dried beans
Soak 250 g of dried beans overnight and cook with a bay leaf until tender. The difference from tinned is clear here, since beans are the main ingredient — tinned ones are often overcooked and break up when folded into a thick dressing.
The version without tahini
Classic piyaz from other parts of Turkey is beans, onion, parsley, oil and vinegar — no tahini. It is lighter and sharper. The Antalya version with tahini is more filling and is often served with grilled köfte.
Serve at room temperature
Straight from the fridge the tahini stiffens and the oil clouds. Piyaz is made an hour before eating and left on the worktop. If you must chill it, take it out forty minutes before serving.
