🍆 Imam bayildi (classic Turkish)

Name: Imam bayildi (classic Turkish)
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Turkey · Ottoman cuisine
Ingredients: 4 medium eggplants; 3 onions, thinly sliced; 4 garlic cloves, sliced; 3 ripe tomatoes, chopped; 80 ml olive oil; 1 tsp sugar, salt and pepper

Origin: Turkey · Ottoman cuisine

160kcal

per serving · 200 g

80kcal

per 100 g

3 gProtein1.5 g / 100 g

10 gFat5 g / 100 g

14 gCarbs7 g / 100 g

The classic Turkish imam bayildi keeps to the essentials: eggplant, onion, garlic, tomato and generous olive oil. Slow braising makes the eggplant silky and the onions jammy and sweet. It is served cold as part of a meze spread or as a side dish.

Diets

✓

Vegetarianno meat or fish in a typical recipe

✓

Veganno meat, fish or animal products in a typical recipe

✓

No pork

✓

Gluten-freeno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

✓

Low-carb7 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

None of the 14 major allergens in a typical recipe.

What it is made of

eggplanttomatooniongarlicolive oil

Recipe

4 servings70 min

Ingredients

4 medium eggplants
3 onions, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, sliced
3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
80 ml olive oil
1 tsp sugar, salt and pepper

Method

Peel the eggplants in stripes, slit each lengthwise without cutting through, salt and leave for 20 minutes; rinse and pat dry.
Fry the eggplants briefly in 2 tbsp of the oil until lightly golden, then set them in a baking dish.
Soften the onions in the remaining oil for 10 minutes, add the garlic, tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes.
Open the slits and pack the filling inside. Add 150 ml water to the dish.
Cover and bake at 180 °C for 40–45 minutes until very soft. Cool and serve at room temperature or cold.

How to make it lighter

Most calories come from olive oil: 1 tbsp ≈ 120 kcal, so roast the eggplants instead of frying them.
Cut the oil in the filling to 2–3 tbsp and add a splash more water.
Serve one eggplant with a large salad as a light main course.

History

The Turkish name means 'the imam fainted'; the story goes that an imam swooned either at the taste of the dish or at how much olive oil it used. It belongs to the Ottoman tradition of zeytinyağlı — vegetables cooked in olive oil and eaten at room temperature.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →