Imam bayildi

Ingredients

Aubergines

• 4long aubergines
• salt
• olive oil, for frying

Filling

• 3onions, thinly sliced
• 6 clovesgarlic, sliced
• 3tomatoes, chopped
• 1green sweet pepper, sliced
• 1 bunchparsley
• 1 tspsugar
• 1 tspsalt
• juice of ½ lemon

Braise

• 200 mlolive oil
• 200 mlwater

To serve

• bread

Directions

1. Peel the aubergines in stripes, leaving alternating bands of skin, and leave the stalks on.
2. The striped peel is not decorative. The bands of skin hold the aubergine together through a long braise, while the peeled bands let it collapse and drink up the oil.
3. Salt them and leave them 30 minutes, then rinse and dry them.
4. Fry them whole in olive oil, turning, until softened and browned all over, then set them aside.
5. In the same oil, cook the onions very slowly for 20 minutes until sweet and collapsing, then add the garlic, pepper and tomatoes and cook 10 minutes more.
6. Cook the onions long and slow. There is no meat and no stock in this dish, and that slow-cooked onion is the entire body of it.
7. Stir in the parsley, sugar, salt and lemon juice.
8. Cut a deep slit down the length of each aubergine, from below the stalk almost to the tip, and open it out like a boat.
9. Push the onion mixture into the cavity, filling it generously and letting it mound over the top.
10. Sit them side by side in a wide pan and pour over the water and a good quantity more olive oil.
11. Use more olive oil than feels reasonable. This belongs to the zeytinyağlı family, dishes cooked in olive oil and eaten cold, and the oil is a principal ingredient rather than a cooking medium.
12. Cover and cook on a very low heat for 45 minutes to an hour, until completely soft.
13. Let it cool in the pan and serve at room temperature or cold, never hot.
14. Cold is not a compromise here. Zeytinyağlı dishes are eaten cool, and the flavours only come together once it has stood for a few hours.
15. Serve with bread and a spoonful of the oil from the pan.
16. The name means the imam fainted, and the stories disagree over whether it was from pleasure or at the cost of all that olive oil.

Technique

• Long thin aubergines rather than the fat round ones, which hold too much water.
• It is better on the second day, which makes it useful food to cook ahead.
• There is no meat in it at all; karnıyarık is the minced-meat version and a different dish.

Substitutions

• Any aubergine, salted and drained for longer.
• Tinned tomatoes out of season.

Variations

• Karnıyarık, the same shape filled with minced meat and served hot.
• With pine nuts and currants in the filling.
• Made with baby aubergines, as a meze.

History

The name means the imam fainted; an Ottoman dish of aubergine stewed in olive oil and eaten cold.

Frequently asked questions

What is Imam bayildi?

Imam bayildi is a main from Turkey: whole eggplant braised in olive oil with onion, tomato and garlic. The name means the imam fainted; an Ottoman dish of aubergine stewed in olive oil and eaten cold.

How long does Imam bayildi take to make?

Imam bayildi takes 30 min plus cooling of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Imam bayildi?

Yes, within limits. Any aubergine, salted and drained for longer. Tinned tomatoes out of season.

What is the most important thing to get right in Imam bayildi?

Cook the onions long and slow. There is no meat and no stock in this dish, and that slow-cooked onion is the entire body of it.