İmam Bayıldı

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The name supposedly derives from a tale of a Turkish imam, who swooned with pleasure at the flavor when presented with this dish by his wife. The eggplants are gently poached in this dish with a generous mixture of onions, tomatoes and garlic. It is delicious and refreshing for hot summer days, just melts in the mouth. If desired use a little less olive oil and added dried mint to the filling; the result will be a light and delicious, a refreshing vegetarian course.

İmam bayıldı

Ingredients

• 3 large Japanese eggplants

• 1 large onion, halved and finely sliced

• 3 tomatoes, finely chopped

• 3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 1 bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

• 4 tablespoons olive oil

• Juice of ½ lemon

• 2 teaspoons sugar

• 1 teaspoon dried mint

• Salt and black ground pepper to taste

• Light olive oil (or canola oil) to shallow fry the eggplants/aubergines

• Extra wedges of lemon to serve

Directions

1. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the eggplants length ways, then cut the eggplants / aubergines in half lengthways. In each half of eggplant, cut a deep split length ways without cutting through to the skin on the opposite side and leaving 1/2″-13 mm- uncut at either end. Sprinkle salt over the eggplants (to dehydrate) and let the salt sit for about 10-15 minutes to remove the moisture and bitter juices of eggplants. After that, thoroughly remove the liquid and pat dry the eggplants with paper towel, otherwise the eggplant will be soggy.

2. Heat about ½ inch light olive oil or canola oil in a deep sided pan. Place the eggplants in the oil and shallow fry quickly on both sides until they are softened and have a light brown color, for about 3-5 minutes. Place paper towel on a tray and transfer these eggplants there; the paper towel will absorb the excess olive oil.

 

For the filling:

1. Stir in the sliced onions and garlic in a bowl, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, dried mint, salt and ground black pepper to taste. Knead this mixture with your hands for the dried mint and seasoning to blend well (this will also help the onions to soften). Stir in the tomatoes and parsley to the mixture and combine well.

2. Place the whole eggplants to a chopping board and open up by splitting down the middle and create pockets by removing the middle. Place the extra chopped eggplant into the filling mixture. Spoon the mixture into the pockets, packing it in tightly so that all of the filling is used up (if you have any left-over filling, simply cook them in the same pan next to these eggplant pockets).

3. Place the stuffed eggplants side by side in a wide, heavy pan. Mix the remaining olive oil with ½ cup water, lemon juice and sugar and pour it over the eggplants.

4. Cover the pan with a lid and place over a medium heat to get the oil hot and create steam. Once the cooking liquid is hot, cook the eggplants for about 45-50 minutes. Once cooked, they should be soft and tender, with a little of cooking liquid left in the bottom of the pan.

5. Leave Imam Bayildi, stuffed eggplants, in olive oil to cool and rest in the pan after cooking. This will allow for the flavors to settle, then carefully transfer the eggplants to a serving dish and spoon the oil from the pan over the eggplants. Serve at room temperature or cold, with a wedge of lemon aside and extra garnish of parsley over them.

Imam Bayildi a delicious vegetarian course that just melts in one’s mouth.

1. Tips for buying eggplants: Smaller eggplants have fewer seeds, thinner skin, and tend to be sweeter, tenderer and less bitter.

 

 

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Gavurdagi Salad Variation with watercress, pomegranates, walnuts

 

Named after the Gavur mountain in Turkey, this delicious salad originates from the Gaziantep region. This variation of this salad has watercress walnuts and pomegranate seeds for extra freshness and texture.
 

 

Ingredients

• 3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped

• 8 oz watercress

• ¼ onion, finely chopped

• Handful of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

• 2 oz walnuts, crushed – about pea size each –

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

• 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses

• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 1 teaspoon sumac – optional-

• Salt and ground black pepper to taste

• 3 oz pomegranate seeds to serve
   

Directions

1. In a large bowl, rub the chopped onions with the spices and

2. seasoning; salt, sumac, red pepper flakes and ground

3. black pepper –that will soften the onion and enable the spices to blend in well.

4. Add the tomatoes, parsley and walnuts to the onions.

5. Then stir in the pomegranate molasses and the extra virgin olive oil and give them a good (but gentle) mix.

6. Stir in the watercress and combine well.

7. Sprinkle pomegranate seeds over the salad and serve.