Imam Bayildi
Turkish Stuffed Eggplant
*serves 4

At a local Greek restaurant in Astoria, Queens, sitting in their hot steam table, prepared and ready to order, they had an eggplant dish called “Imam.” I would often order the stuffed eggplant when I went to the restaurant and on days where I was too tired to cook and, so, I’d pick it up as take-out fare.

Imam is bathed in onions, tomatoes and herbs and, best of all, slick with oil. I’d often approach the steam table at the restaurant intent on ordering something different - the stewed lamb that sat on top of a mountain of soft potatoes and peas, or the moussaka, waiting to be devoured as it sat and waited patiently, slathered in bechamel sauce and hot to order. But every time, every time, I would say “Can I please have an order of Imam?” Ok, sometimes, too, the stuffed peppers and tomatoes would catch my eye and my appetite, but my heart belonged to the Imam and it’s lovely story.

You see, the name Imam Bayildi supposedly means the Imam has fainted. An Imam could be likened to be a priest and is one, who can be married, who leads a group in prayer. Now, from researching Tales of Turkish meal history there are two variations to the story behind the name of this eggplant dish.

The first tale states that this meal was prepared by a young woman who made this dish for her husband and he loved the dish so much that he fainted because of overwhelming joy as meant to express how delicious the meals was.
The other story I’ve read notes that this woman who prepared the eggplant dish happened to be the daughter of an olive oil maker. So, the young woman prepared the eggplant dish for her husband and he loved it so much that he asked her to make it every night for him. But, eventually, the couple ran out of olive oil, the oil they were so rich in. The Imam reflected on what they had in bounty and what they lost and the story holds that he fainted to his death.

I love this story. A story of love, food, gluttony and too much of a good thing. How many of us can relate to that with food? Well, with life? And I love that I write this blog because every meal has a story. And, every meal throughout history has always had a story.

I made this dish by taste memory for my aunt and uncle. My aunt, and uncle are both huge fans of eggplant, and I couldn’t imagine sharing it with anyone else aside from my mom and dad who would equally enjoy it. Having done some research, there are various preparations for imam, but I went ahead and winged this based off of a recipe I wrote 15 years ago, when I first fell in love with the dish.

Before I get started with any prep for this dish, I cut and salt the eggplant. I suggest you do the same for timing purposes, since you will want the salted eggplant to sit for at least 15 minutes to a half hour to drain out some of the water. Eggplants contain a lot of water and absorb oil very quickly, they sop it up like a sponge, so salting is an essential part of eggplant prep prior to frying. Say that 5 times fast!

While the eggplant is resting in its salt bath, you can begin preparing all of the stuffing ingredients and herbs. Start by mincing the garlic and slicing the eggplant, then gather your oregano and chopped parsley. Put all of this aside once its prepped. Mise en place is an essential part of cooking prep and organizing ingredients and your cooking space before the actual artistry begins.

The final bit of prep: gather all ye tomatoes and slice!

Now that all of the prep is done, pat the eggplant dry with a paper towel, fire up a large, heavy bottomed frying pan and coat it with 1/4 cup of olive oil. The pan should be set over a medium low flame as you place the eggplant skin side in the hot pan. Allow to fry for 6-8 minutes, flesh side down and then flip the eggplant so the skin side can be fried and charred. Salt the eggplant as needed and feel free to cover the eggplant so they steam a bit as they fry up for another 8 minutes or so. Watch the eggplant so they do not burn. You may want to turn them a few times and score the flesh, as seen above in the photo on the right, to allow for juices to flow and cooking to happen a bit faster.

Once the eggplant is fried, set it aside in a baking dish while the stuffing is prepared. Here you can further score and shred the flesh of the eggplant so it’s prepared for stuffing in a bit.

To make the stuffing, you will need a large saute pan, to which you will add the olive oil and garlic first. Then, ingredient by ingredient, herbs and spices are layered in for flavor.

Once the stuffing is complete, it will look something like this. I like to finish it off with a few heaps of tomato paste, some chicken stock and a final addition of fresh herbs once the pan has been removed from the heat.

The eggplant flesh, having scored and shredded, has been prepared to be stuffed. Layer on, don’t be shy, the stuffing mixture and finish by drizzling with olive oil before it goes in the oven for it’s final roasting where it will continue to bake and brown.

Upon completion, the imam will be sitting in a delicious pool of olive oil, for which you will need some delicious bread or lemon potatoes to soak up. Do not, under any circumstances, waste that flavorful olive oil sitting in the bottom of the casserole dish. Enjoy!

Imam Bayildi (Turkish Stuffed Eggplant)
*serves 4

Ingredients

2 medium eggplants sliced length wise in half
4 medium onions, thinly sliced
6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 cups of ripe cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
3 tablespoons of dried oregano
1/2 cup of fresh parsley, minced and divided
1 tablespoon of of salt, adjust as needed
Freshly ground black pepper
Zest + juice of 1 large lemon
1 tablespoon of white sugar
1/4 cup of tomato paste
1/4-1/2 cup of chicken stock or water
1 cup of extra virgin olive oil, divided

Instructions

—Preheat oven to 400 degrees
—Sprinkle the eggplant halves with salt and set aside on a plate, flesh side up
—Heat 1/2 cup of olive oil in a large saute pan, over a medium low flame, and add the eggplant, flesh side down, to fry
—Fry the flesh side for 8-10 minutes, watching not to burn the flesh, the aim is a deep brown
—Turn the eggplant to fry the skin side, scoring the flesh of the eggplant, cover the pan and allow to steam fry for another 8-10 minutes
—The skin of the eggplant should be fried and deep purple, not burned, flip one more time to brown the flesh, 3 minutes
—Remove the fried eggplant halves from the pan and put aside in a casserole baking dish
—Add an additional 1/4 cup of olive oil to the pan and begin to saute the onions for 10 minutes, add garlic and sprinkle with salt and oregano
—Continue to cook the onions for 20-25 more minutes until caramelized
—Lower the flame and add lemon juice, sugar, 1/4 cup of the parsley and tomatoes
—Cook for another 20 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and well incorporated with the onions
—Add tomato paste and water or chicken stock to the pan and continue to cook for an additional 15-20 minutes until the liquid is mostly absorbed
—Taste to adjust salt and add a few more sprinkles of parsley, reserving some for the final garnish
—Once the stuffing mixture is through cooking, proceed to stuff the shell/cavity of the eggplant
—Drizzle the eggplants with the remaining olive oil and allow it to cook in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour to onions are browned and the juices are running from the eggplant
—Garnish with remaining parsley and serve hot with bread or lemon potatoes
—Dare to make your own bread or try these lemon potatoes as a side

Imam Bayildi, Turkish Stuffed Eggplant