Skip to main content

Imam Bayildi Recipe -Turkish Recipe







The imam fainted, imam bayildi, is the name of one of the most famous of Turkish zeytinyağlı dishes (olive oil foods). It may have medieval roots, if we consider that the zeytinyağlı dishes, which are usually eaten cold, fit the prescriptions of the dietetic theory of humors that was the basis for medical theory at that time. It was customary to eat cold and moist foods in the summer during medieval times because that counteracted the hot dry humor of summer that caused an increase in bile.

Imam bayildi is an eggplant slashed down the middle and stuffed with onions, garlic, and tomatoes and then simmered in olive oil to cover. There are several apocryphal stories about the origins of the dish. The imam (Muslim prayer leader) fainted or swooned when he tasted how good it was; that the imam fainted when he saw how much expensive olive oil was used; that the imam was delighted when a shopkeeper's wife was required to quickly prepare a dish for the imam's unexpected visit. A Turkish proverb casts light on another interpretation: Imam evinden ash, olu gozunden yash cikmaz (No food is likely to come out of the imam's house and no tears from a corpse). Perhaps the meaning is that the stingy imam, when presented with a dish so generous, certainly was delighted, or fainted from delight.
Yield: Makes 6 servings
Preparation Time: 1:45 hours
4 to 6 small eggplant (about 1 1/ 2 pounds)
Salt

Materials:

10 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 medium-size onions, cut lengthwise and thinly sliced
6 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 pound ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup water




Preparation:
1. Peel off strips of the eggplant skin at 1-inch intervals to make a stripped effect. Cut off the stem portion, then cut each eggplant in half lengthwise. Make a deep lengthwise slit along the flesh side of the eggplant, making sure you don't puncture the skin. Cut a very small portion of the skin side of the eggplant to make a flat section so the eggplant can sit correctly in the skillet later. Salt the flesh and set aside, flesh side down, on some paper towels for 30 minutes to leach the eggplant of its bitter juices. Dry with paper towels.

2. In a large skillet, heat 1/ 4 cup of the olive oil over high heat and once it's smoking, fry the eggplant, flesh side down, until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Remove from the skillet to drain on some paper towels.

3. In the same skillet you cooked the eggplant, add the remaining oil and heat over medium-high heat, then cook the onion and garlic until soft and yellow, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently so the garlic doesn't burn. Transfer the onions to a medium-size bowl and mix well with the tomatoes, parsley, dill, sugar, salt to taste, and a few tablespoons of the cooking oil.

4. Arrange the eggplant halves in a large skillet or casserole with the slit side up. Gently open the slit so that they can accommodate as much of the stuffing as possible. Season the eggplant with salt, then stuff each one so that the stuffing fills the slits and is spread to cover all the flesh. Sprinkle the lemon juice over the eggplant. Pour any remaining sauce or juices, along with the water, into the skillet, cover, and cook over low heat until the eggplant is soft, about 50 minutes, adding water to the skillet if it is getting too dry. Let the eggplants cool in the skillet and serve whole at room temperature.








 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Easy Vegetable Soup

Materials: 5 cups water 1 green pepper, chopped 1,5 cup lima beans 2/3 cup tomato, petite diced 1 Tbsp tomato paste 2 chopped onion, 4 Tablespoon olive oil 1 cup leek, chopped 3 carrots, sliced round 1-2 potato, cubed 2 cloves of garlic, minced 1 cup orzo/small pasta shells 1 Tbsp salt to taste     Constraction:   Dried mint for top Place chopped onion, garlic and olive oil in a saucepan. Saute over medium heat and add in tomato paste. Saute for additional 3 minutes. After,  in pepper, leek, lima beans, carrot and potatoes respectively. Cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir salt and tomatoes. Then, Add in hot water and bring to a boil. Add orzo/small type pasta and cook for about 25-30 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked. Sprinkle with dried mint on top if desired.  
Post a Comment
Read more

Goulash Recipe

GOULASH It's my mum's food and very delicious.  It is not an easy meal but the taste is great.   Ingredients   1½ lbs Beef - Stewing 8 Onions Garlic powder or fresh to taste 2 Tomatoes ¾ Cup Yoghurt Olive Oil Preparation: Brown in a little Olive Oil and remove from pan Add Onions and cook till softened Stir in Garlic Powder, Paprika + Flour Add Stock and bring to the boil Add Meat and Tomatoes Simmer for 1½ - 2 hours till meat is tender Just before serving stir in most of the yoghurt leaving enough   ½oz Paprika ½oz flour ¾ pint Beef Stock   Cut Beef into 1 inch cubes
Post a Comment
Read more

BENEFİTS OF LEMON ZEST

Today we will talk about the lemon peel and grated One of the easiest ways to infuse a citrus flavor into a baked good of some kind is to add lemon, lime or orange zest to it.  Zest is not the same thing as the peel, or rind, of a lemon, although it is a part of the peel. The zest is the colorful outer layer of the citrus peel. The soft, white part of the peel just underneath the zest is the pith. The reason that the zest is so desireable is that it contains lots of essential oils that make for a strong, pleasant flavor. The pith has a bitter flavor, with very little citrus taste when eaten on its own. The pith can actually give your baked good a bitter or slightly unpleasant taste if you incorporate it into a recipe (there are some recipes that call for using a whole fruit, but those usually compensate with extra sugar), so it is important to remove only the zest from the citrus rind when you are using it. The zest can be removed very carefully with a sharp pairing knife, ...
Post a Comment
Read more