VEGETARIAN

Stuffed Eggplants Imam Bayildi

⏳ Time

1 hour 30 minutes

🥕 Ingredients

🍽️ Servings

Description

In Turkey, eggplants are adored, and even more so, they love preparing a masterpiece of Ottoman cuisine — Imam Bayildi. These stuffed eggplants are also found in Greek, Macedonian, and Bulgarian cuisines, but under different names.

Ingredients

Eggplants - 3 pieces
Onion - 7.1 oz
Tomatoes - 10.6 oz
Parsley - 4 stalks
Garlic - 0.7 oz
Dried Rosemary - 1 tablespoon
Vegetable Oil - 3 fl oz
Olive Oil - 2 fl oz
Lemon - 1 piece
Sugar - 2 spoons
Salt - to taste
Ground Black Pepper - to taste

Step by Step guide

Step 1

Prepare the necessary ingredients.

Step 2

Peel some strips of skin from the eggplants, leaving alternating strips of skin intact.

Step 3

Then, cut each eggplant in half, make several deep lengthwise cuts in the flesh, generously salt them, and let them sit for 15 minutes.

Step 4

Then rinse the eggplants to remove the salt, squeeze them out, and thoroughly pat them dry with paper towels.

Step 5

In a skillet, heat vegetable oil and fry the eggplants over high heat, turning them until they are evenly coated with a golden-brown crust.

Step 6

Transfer them to paper towels to remove excess grease.

Step 7

Combine the sliced onion, minced garlic, 30 ml of olive oil, dried mint, salt, and pepper, and mix with your hands. This will help the onion release its juices and soften the mint a bit.

Step 8

Then add diced tomatoes and chopped parsley, and mix well.

Step 9

Make indentations in the eggplants and tightly pack them with the vegetable filling. Transfer the stuffed eggplants to a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Mix 125 ml of water, the remaining oil, the juice of half a lemon, and sugar, then pour this mixture over the eggplants. Place on medium heat, cover with a lid, and cook for 40–50 minutes.