Going to the Market/Pazar

After I moved out from the dorm and stayed in a house, I realized that I don't really eat healthily - I would buy nuggets, sausages, instant mee..and if I bought fresh chicken I would most probably deep fry them and eat with rice. I knew that I needed fruits and veggies but as I have a limited budget, I ended up not buying them. That is, until I discovered the pazar.

So this is another survival tip for students who live in houses and not dorms - go to the market/pazar! This market in Cebeci is open every Thursday from 10am to about 8pm and you can really find cheap fruits and veggies - sometimes way way cheaper than the supermarket.

Early in the morning.. they were still setting the place up

Dry goods

At one point during spring I managed to buy 5 avocados for 3TL - and they were really tasty avocados. The normal price for avocados are between 3TL to 6TL per piece. We bought so many that we didn't know what else to eat them with haha

More than 5 - because my roommate also bought some

Before they turned into guacamole *yum*

This was also in spring - apples and pears between 1.50TL to 2TL per kg

Usually I would go to the pazar to get some tomatoes, zucchini, eggplants, spinach, tangerines, bell peppers, cauliflowers, carrots....of course not all at one go, because there was this one time when I got too excited at the pazar and bought so many things and end up not eating them and they turned rotten. It feels really bad to throw food. I learnt my lesson :p

There is also another pazar nearby, the Mamak pazari - also on Thursdays. Their fruits and veggies are not that cheap, but you can find really cheap fish there. About half the price that you see at other fish stalls and supermarket. 

the Mamak pazari at night

It's more crowded

So yeah! Even if you stay in the dorm, if you feel like having some fresh fruits you can buy from the pazar :)

İçli Pide (Turkish Pita) / Turkish Pizza

İçli Pide (Turkish Pita)- in a boat like crust

One of the many survival tips that I have learned from an experienced frugal grad student is that I can have İçli pide for a much cheaper price if I prepare my own topping and bring it to the nearby pide shop (Pide Salonu) to be baked in a stone oven with wood fire. (Well, it should be a neighborhood pide shop and not a fancy schmancy restaurant). 

You can first go and ask them if it is okay for you to bring your own toppings by saying "iç getirirsek pide yapar mısınız?" - which roughly means "if I bring toppings can you do pide please?"

At the pide salonu - preparing the pide crust

This is a pide that I ordered from a restaurant, the normal price for it is around 9 to 15 lira - depending on the toppings and the place. About 70 cm.

So if they say yes, you can go ahead and and prepare your own toppings at home, and ask them to make as many pide as they can with that much toppings. You can say "pide yaptıracağım, çıktığı kadar". Usually I can get about 6 pide with these ingredients :-

• 200 grams of beyaz peynir (white cheese) 

  

  this is the white cheese - made of cow and not goat

• 2 whole onion
• 4 green chillies
• 2 tomatoes 
• 1 egg
• salt, pepper, cayenne pepper
• some oil
• chilli flakes

- Dice the onions, green chillies and tomatoes. Mix them with the white cheese and (raw) egg, add some oil, salt, pepper, chilli flakes and cayenne pepper. If you like parsley you may also add chopped parsley. 

the ingredients

mix the chopped green chillies with the cheese

add the chopped tomatoes, onions and egg

mix them well, add a bit of oil, salt, pepper, chilli flakes

-Put them in a container, and bring a big plate or plastic tray with you so it will be easy for you to carry those pide back home. The guy charges me around 1.25 lira per pide. Even if you add up the costs of the beyaz peynir, onion, oil etc it is still so so much cheaper.

My own peynirli pide

You can also put kasar peyniri (cheddar cheese), mushroom, pepperoni and whatever your heart desires.

This was the time I put mushroom, sucuk (turkish pepperoni-like), and kasar peyniri

Afiyet olsun :)