Imam bayildi
The name means "the imam fainted", and legend offers two causes: delight, or horror at the quantity of olive oil. The second captures the dish well — about a cupful goes in, and it is not excess but the essence of the dish. Aubergine is a sponge: it absorbs most of the oil, and that oil, soaking in slowly over almost an hour in the oven, turns firm flesh into something that dissolves on the tongue.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Aubergines 45 min
- Filling 30 min
- Baking 50 min
- Cooling 30 min
Step by step
0 / 8 donePeel the aubergines in stripes
Peel the aubergines in lengthways stripes, leaving every other band of skin. The skin holds the vegetable together through an hour in the oven, while the peeled sections let the oil penetrate the flesh. Salt and leave 20 minutes.
Ingredients: 4 pcs aubergines · 2 tsp salt · 150 ml olive oil
Fry the aubergines whole
Pat them dry and fry in batches of two in hot oil, turning every 3 minutes, until softened and darkened on all sides — about 12 minutes per batch, about 25 minutes in all. Fried whole, not split — a split aubergine would soak up far more oil.
Ingredients: 4 pcs aubergines · 2 tsp salt · 150 ml olive oil
Whole, turned every few minutes on all sides.Cook the onions very slowly
Cook the onions in the filling oil for 20 minutes over low heat, until completely soft and translucent — with no browning. Four onions is not a mistake: they cook down a great deal, and they are the filling.
Ingredients: 4 pcs onions · 8 cloves garlic · 4 pcs tomatoes · 100 ml olive oil · 1 bunch parsley · 1 tsp sugar · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp chilli flakes · ½ tsp allspice
Translucent, unbrowned — four onions cook right down.Add the garlic and tomatoes
Add the garlic, then after a minute the tomatoes, sugar, salt, chilli and allspice, and cook 10 minutes until thickened. Take off the heat and stir in the chopped parsley, keeping a handful for the top. The sugar balances the tomato acidity — in a dish eaten cold, acidity comes through more clearly.
Ingredients: 4 pcs onions · 8 cloves garlic · 4 pcs tomatoes · 100 ml olive oil · 1 bunch parsley · 1 tsp sugar · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp chilli flakes · ½ tsp allspice
Split and open the aubergines
Slit each aubergine lengthways without cutting right through and push the edges apart with a spoon to make a hollow. Set them tightly side by side in a baking dish — they should support one another and not flatten.
Ingredients: 4 pcs aubergines · 2 tsp salt · 150 ml olive oil
Fill generously and top with tomato
Pack the hollows generously, in a mound, and lay a slice of tomato on each. The filling settles as it bakes — level with the rim, it later looks mean.
Ingredients: 150 ml water · 1 pcs lemon · 1 pcs tomato
Mounded — the filling settles as it bakes.Bake covered, then uncovered
Pour the hot water and lemon juice into the dish, cover with foil and bake 35 minutes at 180 °C, then 15 minutes uncovered. The first phase braises, the second evaporates the water and leaves only olive oil and juices in the dish.
Ingredients: 150 ml water · 1 pcs lemon · 1 pcs tomato
Serve at room temperature
Cool for at least 30 minutes — imam bayildi is eaten warm or cold, not hot. As it cools the aubergine absorbs the oil and juices from the dish and the flavours come together. Scatter over the remaining parsley before serving.
Ingredients: 4 pcs onions · 8 cloves garlic · 4 pcs tomatoes · 100 ml olive oil · 1 bunch parsley · 1 tsp sugar · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp chilli flakes · ½ tsp allspice
Before you start
The quantity of oil is the recipe
A quarter of a litre for four aubergines looks alarming, but this dish belongs to the Turkish zeytinyağlı category — foods cooked in olive oil and eaten cold. Reducing the oil simply gives dry, rubbery aubergine.
Karnıyarık is the meat version
A similar aubergine filled with minced meat (beef or lamb) is called karnıyarık and is served hot. A separate dish rather than a variant: imam bayildi is traditionally meatless and served cold.
Three days in the fridge
Keep covered in the fridge for up to 3 days; it is even better the next day. Take it out an hour before serving — cold olive oil thickens and clouds, and the dish loses its aroma.
