İmam Bayıldı — Turkish Stuffed Aubergine
Turkish aubergines braised in olive oil with onion, garlic and tomato, served at room temperature — "the imam fainted".
Method
- Peel the aubergines in stripes, leaving alternating bands of skin, which helps them hold their shape. Soak in salted water for 20 minutes to draw out bitterness, then drain and pat dry.
- Heat half the olive oil in a wide pan and fry the aubergines whole over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, turning, until softened and lightly browned all over. Remove and set aside.
- In the same pan, add the remaining oil and cook the onions gently for 15 to 20 minutes until completely soft and sweet but not browned. This slow cooking is the heart of the filling.
- Add the garlic and green pepper and cook for 5 minutes, then the chopped tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes until thick.
- Stir the parsley through the filling and take it off the heat.
- Cut a deep slit lengthways in each aubergine without cutting through the ends or the base, and gently open it into a pocket with a spoon.
- Stuff each one generously with the onion filling, mounding it up, and lay a tomato slice on top.
- Arrange them snugly in a pan, pour round the hot water and lemon juice, cover and cook over very low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until completely tender and the oil has risen to the surface.
- Cool in the pan and serve at room temperature, never hot, with bread and the pan juices spooned over.
How to make İmam Bayıldı — Turkish Stuffed Aubergine
The name means “the imam fainted”, and the stories differ on why: at the deliciousness, or at the amount of olive oil the dish required. Either way it belongs to the zeytinyağlı tradition of vegetables cooked in generous olive oil and served cool, never straight from the heat.
Do not cut the oil
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The olive oil is the sauce here, not a cooking medium to be minimised. As the dish cools, the oil, tomato and aubergine juices combine into the liquid that is spooned over at the table. Using a few tablespoons instead of a cupful produces a dry, disappointing result.
Cook the onions properly
Twenty slow minutes until the onions are silky and sweet, with no colour, is what gives the filling its character. Browning them changes the flavour towards something more caramelised than the dish intends.
Serve at room temperature
This is not a dish to serve hot. Resting lets the flavours settle and the oil emulsify with the juices. Many cooks make it a day ahead and bring it back to room temperature before serving.
Choosing aubergines
Small, slim aubergines work best: they soften evenly, hold their shape, and are easier to stuff. Larger ones can be halved lengthways and treated the same way.
Traditional Turkish cookery, part of the zeytinyağlı family of olive-oil dishes served cool. Editorially researched from widely documented preparations, and not kitchen-tested by Axadle.
Naturally free from gluten, dairy, egg and nuts.
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