This is a truly legendary dish of Turkish cuisine, and its name can be literally translated as "the priest in a swoon" or "the imam was delighted." Of course, we will talk about the dish imam bayaldi in Turkish. And we will try to cook it with you today.

A bit of history

The dish imam bayaldi in Turkish has its own mythology. Of course, why these blue stuffed and cooked in the form of a boat, coupled with vegetables and tomato, got such an authentic name, nobody knows for certain. Legends tell: the reason for this was the excellent taste and aroma, from which you will lick your fingers and lose your head.

Other stories tell how a certain imam married the daughter of an olive oil merchant (which was a very expensive commodity in those years). And the girl received as a dowry as many as twelve cans of the product. And after the wedding, she delighted her husband for twelve days, serving her favorite food for a meal - stuffed eggplant boats. He was delighted with the delicious food. And when on the 13th day he did not receive the adored dish, he asked his wife about what, in fact, was the matter. She admitted that she cooked all the time delicious eggplant on precious oil, which went as a dowry and has already ended. Then the imam lost consciousness. Either from the fact that he realized how expensive this pleasure was, or because he decided that he would no longer be able to buy expensive oil and enjoy this delicious dish again.

This is how the name of the dish appeared - "Imam bayaldi". In Turkish, given the simple recipe, it is easy and simple to prepare. Fortunately, the ingredients are always at hand - especially during the harvest season.

How to cook imam bayaldi in Turkish: recipe

But you and I can afford such a pleasure - to cook a legendary dish oriental cuisine? Turkish dish imam bayaldi has quite a few cooking variations.

It can be made with minced meat, it can be done with nuts, and various cutting of the ingredients themselves is also practiced. There is also clean vegetable recipe this appetizer is simply delicious! Moreover, imam bayaldi can be eaten hot, as an independent dish, or it can be served cold as an appetizer. And in both cases, it will be delicious.

Ingredients

To prepare an authentic dish, we need:

• a kilo of blue ones;
• a couple of medium-sized carrots;
• a pair of onions;
• a pound of tomatoes.

And also: a few cloves of garlic (if you like it sharper, you can add more), 3-4 large tablespoons of olive oil, hot pepper, a spoonful of natural tomato paste.

How to cook

Let's start cooking:

1. Wash eggplants, peel the stalks. Remove the skin in strips along the way (so that each vegetable looks like a striped one) and soak it for some time in salted water at room temperature - this way they will give off their excess bitterness.
2. At this time, peel and grate the carrots coarsely. And peel the onion with garlic and chop finely. Cut the tomatoes into cubes (whether or not to remove the skin from them - decide for yourself, by the way, it is not removed in the Turkish recipe).
3. V olive oil simmer prepared vegetables over low heat: first, onion and garlic until transparent, then add carrots and after a couple of minutes - tomatoes. Salt and add hot pepper.
4. Stuff the eggplants with the prepared mixture of vegetables. To do this, we take them out of the salted water and make a longitudinal cut, taking out the excess pulp and replacing it with stewed vegetables (but we also leave a little "minced meat" in the pan - just a couple of spoons).

1. We dilute the tomato paste in half a glass of water and pour it into a frying pan, where we have the rest of the vegetables. Simmer for five minutes (for lovers of sweet and sour effect, add a spoonful of sugar).
2. Put the blue ones with minced meat inside in a greased baking sheet. Pour in the sauce and send it to the oven preheated to 180 ° C. We bake our eggplants for about one hour. Serve eggplants in Turkish - imam bayaldi, sprinkled with herbs.

Some subtleties of cooking

There are some differences in the performance of the dish by different chefs. For example, you can cut the eggplants in half after soaking them in salted water and then dry them on a towel (which will be useful later to remove excess oil).

You can pre-fry the blue ones in oil (when they are further cooked in the oven, they already have a characteristic crust and do not dry out when baked).

Some housewives also use not chili, but green peppers, not so hot (the seeds need to be removed to reduce its severity). And in the east, when preparing imam bayaldi in Turkish, a little sugar is usually added to the filling to make the sauce open, become tastier and brighter. Also, blue ones can be stuffed with walnuts.

Imam bayaldi in turkish for the winter

So delicious and healthy dish can be prepared for the winter. There is nothing complicated in this. The ingredients are the same as in the main recipe, except, perhaps, parsley. Also, in each jar of the blank, you can add a spoonful of sugar and a spoonful of vinegar - so to speak, for fidelity, so as not to swell. But you don't have to add - everything will depend on the location chosen for storage. If you store the dish at the bottom of the refrigerator, then additional sterilization is not even required.

1. Wash the eggplants and peel them. We remove the strips with a knife along the entire vegetable: the eggplant should look like a zebra: white stripe, black stripe. The stalk may not be removed, but only slightly shortened. And then we cut the blue ones along the fruit in half.
2. Pour cool water into a deep container, add a pinch of salt, put the halves of the vegetable there (so that excess bitterness comes out). We leave for 20 minutes.
3. We prepare the rest of the vegetables. Cut the onion into half rings. Finely chop the garlic with green pepper.
4. Peel the tomatoes and cut them into cubes.
5. Cover the baking sheet with foil, turn on the oven and heat it up to 200 ° C. If there is a grill function, it will be even better.
6. The eggplant halves (it is better to take small ones so that they fit into the jars) blot with a paper towel and put on a baking sheet in the oven. Grease each piece with olive oil.
7. We bake in the oven until the blue ones become ruddy, not solid on the inside.
8. Prepare the fill as in the previous recipe.
9. Put the eggplants in prepared jars and top up with sauce. Further - according to your choice - you can additionally sterilize along with the contents. Or you can simply twist and remove (allowing to cool) to the bottom of the refrigerator.

Bon appetit, everyone!

Have you heard the blackbirds sing? - Nat, I was eating then imam-bayaldy! ...

It so happened that on my table, quietly, the great "eggplant troika" with strange oriental names - babaganush, ajapsandali, imam bayaldy, took root. If the first one on the list is easy enough to prepare, its only drawback is that without one key ingredient - tahini paste, it turns into a banal and tasteless eggplant puree. The second one is luxurious both in taste and in a rich multicomponent composition - but not always convenient in that it has a multi-stage, troublesome technology. And, finally, the third one is not complicated in composition, quite simple to prepare and at the same time has undoubted taste advantages!
Literally not so long ago, the above-mentioned imam bayaldi surfaced in a conversation in connection with the canned food of the past. Somehow earlier it was deposited in the memory that it was something Turkish. The answer to the question was not so straightforward. Firstly, the assortment of the "Gifts of Armenia" store includes canned vegetables with this name, secondly, the book "Armenian cookery" of 1984 edition contains a recipe, but it is located in the general section "oriental dishes". Therefore, it is not possible to determine exactly whose it is.
"Armenian Cooking" does not provide a decoding of the name, only a comment that it is eggplant in oil. There are funny interpretations of "imam bayaldi" on the net as "imam was stunned", etc., it seems that this is nothing more than home philology)
It is clear that reproducing factory canned food at home is still from the field of curioses, only if you amuse yourself with memories. The factory version, in my opinion, will be known to be simpler in taste and content than its everyday prototype.
In this case, the cooking technology is simple, but it requires care only in one moment. It is possible that they are clear relatives from ajapsandali. But the fact that Imam Bayaldy is a direct relative or progenitor of eggplant caviar is obvious. At least, there is a great similarity with the recipe that was used from year to year in our family *.
The eggplant season is far from over, all the ingredients are available, purchased without problems - still fresh, young and healthy. And the recipe in the piggy bank.

Imam bayaldi (eggplant in oil).

Onions - 400 g.
Tomatoes (fleshy) - 800 g.
Eggplant - 1 kg.
Vegetable oil - about 200 g.
Parsley
Garlic
Hot red pepper
Salt

A simple enough proportion to remember: 1: 2: 2.5; or even simpler: 1: 2: 3 - let the eggplant be a little larger!

First of all, bachelors. Peel, cut into thick circles, at least 1-1.5 cm thick, so that later, when stewing, they do not creep into porridge.

To give the eggplants their bitterness, it is recommended to salt them, let them stand. I act more radically, I crush the steeply salted eggplants with a small load, pour cold water... I leave it for an hour. Drain the water, squeeze the eggplants by hand. After that, they do not so barbarously absorb oil when frying. In this case, of course, this is not so critical - there should be a lot of oil!

While the eggplants are soaking, there is time to do the rest of the vegetables. Tomatoes, the perennial problem of shaving or not shaving, skinning or not. Eggplants are then without a skin, so that the inner "imam" is completely "stunned" by the delicate structure of the dish - skin is removed! Hot peppers if used fresh, cut into half rings. Onion small cubes, chop parsley and garlic.

Eggplants have reached a condition, wrung out. Preheat a massive skillet well. Fry them quickly until golden crust but do not bring to full readiness... Therefore, do not spare the oil - let them swim, spit and squirt in it.

On the rest of the vegetable oil, if it still remains, if not, then pour it into the pan without regretting, remembering that the "imam" should be stunned - fry the onion until soft and light golden hue. Add tomatoes and hot peppers, mix, lightly salt. When the tomatoes begin to give juice, add herbs with garlic. Simmer for another 5 minutes, straighten with salt. If there is not enough pungency, add ground red pepper.

In a pan greased with vegetable oil, I specially took a glass pan for clarity, lay out eggplants and tomatoes in layers. The top layer should be finished with tomatoes.

Add about a quarter glass of boiling water to start. If the tomatoes were very juicy and there is a lot of liquid in them, let the saucepan stand in a warm place for 10-15 minutes, the liquid will go to the bottom, and the oil will float. Put on a low heat, let it boil. Simmer until the liquid has completely evaporated, so that only oil remains.

Extinguishing is the most crucial moment. The main thing is not to miss, not to let the eggplants burn too much.
The photo shows, but not very clearly, unfortunately, how the liquid evaporated and the oil remained.

In the process, this bayaldy spits all over the kitchen. It is advisable to take the pan with high sides or cover it with a net, otherwise you will definitely have to clean up the stove.

Serve cold. It goes very well under a glass of red - with pickled cheese, olives. Or under the stack))

_______________________
* Eggplant caviar, the recipe of which was shared with her mother by her native Baku girl friend, has a similar technology.
Baked eggplants are skinned, diced and stewed with tomatoes and onions. Since the caviar went into the blank under long-term storage if I remember correctly, vinegar was added. I must say that as a child, this eggplant caviar somehow not impressive. I don’t know, but I remember it insipid, without a special "zest", sometimes, apparently from an overabundance of tomatoes or vinegar - sourish. I think it was not about the recipe, somewhere the process technology was not followed.

"Delighted Imam" is a traditional oriental dish, which is eggplant boats with vegetable filling. The "Imam bayaldy" recipe was invented by representatives of the Turkic peoples. However, the eggplant appetizer has also taken root in the Armenian folk cuisine. How to cook Imam Bayaldi in Armenian? And is it possible to roll up eggplant boats with vegetables for the winter?

How to cook "Imam bayaldi" in Armenian: recipes in a multicooker and for the winter

Ingredients

Eggplant 4 pieces)

• Servings: 6
• Cooking time: 50 minutes

Imam bayaldi with eggplant in a slow cooker

Necessary:

1. Cut 4 eggplants into 2 pieces (boat-like).
2. Make cross-shaped cuts in the pulp of the vegetables. Do not touch the skin of the eggplant, otherwise the filling will flow out later.
3. Brush the cuts with salt and place them on the wire rack with the pulp facing down (this helps to get rid of the bitterness). Leave for 30 minutes.
4. It is more convenient to cook "Imam bayaldi" in a multicooker, therefore it is worth preheating the kitchen appliance in advance by setting the "Frying" mode.
5. Chop 3 onions finely and fry in olive oil.
6. Add 5 cloves of chopped garlic. Fry the mixture, unload it in a separate bowl.
7. Scald 3 tomatoes with boiling water and peel them off. Chop finely and load into a multicooker.
8. Chop 3 bell peppers and fry with the tomatoes.
9. Unload the prepared vegetable mass and mix it with the onion. Season with salt and pepper.
10. Fry the eggplants in a slow cooker on 2 sides until golden brown. Peel off the pulp. Stir the vegetable mass "Imam bayaldi" with eggplants (fruit pulp).
11. Fill the eggplant boats with the vegetable filling. Place in a fireproof dish, cover with foil and load into oven for 20 minutes.
12. Serve the dish with fresh herbs.

"Imam bayaldi" for the winter in banks

Cut 6 kg of eggplants into rings or "tongues" and immerse in salted water for 40 minutes, then:

1. Remove the slices from the water, fry in oil until a crust appears.
2. Remove the eggplants from the pan. Fry in the same oil until golden brown onion rings (1.5 kg).
3. Peel 3 kg of tomatoes and roll through a meat grinder. Add the tomatoes to the onion and sauté until the volume is reduced.
4. Add 150 g of chopped garlic and chopped herbs to the tomatoes.
5. Put the cooked vegetables in layers in sterilized jars: first "blue", then vegetable mix, a few cloves of garlic and again eggplant. Roll up the cans after filling. The winter reserves of Imam Bayaldy are ready!

Recipes with photos oriental dishes may come across different, since there is also a Turkish and Greek versions of this appetizer. The Armenian "Imam bayaldi" will be more to the taste of people who follow their figure, because it contains only vegetables.

Imam is cooked all over the world and with different variations. In Turkey, which is considered the birthplace of the recipe, imam bayaldi is only vegetable, vegetarian. Eggplants are stuffed there whole to make “boats” with filling. Or they cook it in the form of a stew: cut all the vegetables into large cubes, fry everything separately, lay out in layers with the addition of mint, cumin, tomato sauce and then stewed or baked.

Imam bayaldi in Turkish is prepared from simple recruitment products: eggplant, onion, tomato, chili and garlic. Turks do not add carrots or, say, celery. And this dish is also seasonal, summer, so it is customary to cook it with fresh tomatoes, not with tomato paste... You also need to be careful with spices so as not to interrupt the natural taste of vegetables, a lot of garlic, black pepper and salt, herbs are used, sometimes they are added nutmeg and some cumin. An eggplant appetizer is always eaten cold, so the taste is fully revealed.

Total cooking time: 60 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients

• eggplant - 5 pcs. small or 2 large
• tomatoes - 3-4 pcs.
• spicy Green pepper- 1 PC. or to taste
• large onions - 1 pc.
• garlic - 4-6 teeth.
• parsley - 1/2 bunch.
• salt and black pepper to taste
• sugar - 1/2 tsp
• olive oil - for frying
• lemon juice - 1-2 tsp

Preparation

Choose eggplants as even as possible, of approximately the same size. Rinse and pat dry. Tear off the sepals, but leave the tail - it is convenient to grasp it when you eat the imam, so you do not need to trim it, just peel it off the top green skin with a knife. Use a sharp knife to walk along the eggplant, peeling off the skin in thin strips. This partial zebra peel will keep the eggplants from losing their shape when roasted.



Preheat 100 ml in a wide-bottomed skillet vegetable oil and brown the eggplant on all sides. They should be soft and almost cooked, so the fire should be strong at first and then moderate. Place the fried eggplants on a napkin to remove excess fat.



Peel the onion, cut into thin half rings. Peel hot peppers from seeds and chop finely with a knife. Chop the garlic too with a knife or cut into thin slices (garlic press does not work). Saute everything together in olive oil until soft. The filling will turn out to be spicy. If you do not like too spicy dishes, then use sweet and not chili bell pepper, and for piquancy, add just a little ground red pepper, adjusting the amount to your liking.



While the onions are fried, scald the tomatoes with boiling water and peel them. Remove the seeds along with the juice to prevent the filling from becoming too watery. Cut the pulp into small cubes.



Add tomatoes, salt, pepper and sugar to the skillet (it will balance the flavor). Simmer for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.



Add chopped parsley. Sauté for a minute and remove from heat. The filling is ready.



Fried eggplant by this time they will have time to cool down a little. Transfer them to an ovenproof baking dish. On each eggplant, make one deep cut lengthwise - in the middle (best in the part where the skin was cut). The cut should be deep, but not through! Open the blue ones and make a depression with a spoon. If there are seeds, gently scrub most of them with a teaspoon.



The result is eggplant "boats". Salt to keep the vegetables fresh.



Fill with filling, drizzle lemon juice... Pour a couple of tablespoons of water on the bottom of the mold and send it to the oven, preheated to 180-190 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes until the eggplant is cooked through.



Imam bayaldi in Turkish is ready! Serve chilled. Bon Appetit!

Turkish cuisine is striking in the variety and richness of dishes. One of these is the unique dish of imam bayaldi. Most often, this delicacy from vegetables, among which the main one is eggplant, is made in the Middle East. However, this dish is especially popular in Turkey. The taste of Imam Bayaldi is striking in its fullness and richness, and the aroma can delight even the most sophisticated gourmets. The eggplant-based appetizer can be served hot or cold. It is good both as an independent dish and as a side dish.

Cooking time - 1 hour.

Servings Per Container - 5.

Ingredients

To prepare imam bayaldi, you must prepare the following products:

• tomato - 750 g;
• eggplant - 1 kg;
• garlic - 6 cloves;
• sugar - 1 tsp;
• turnip (onion) - 700 g;
• olive oil - 150 ml;
• pepper - on the tip of a knife;
• parsley - 1 bunch;
• salt to taste.

How to cook imam bayaldi

Via step by step recipe cook with photo oriental snack from eggplant is easy.

1. It's worth starting with the main vegetable. Eggplants need to be washed and cut off the stalks. Each fruit must be cut in half lengthwise. The flesh should be cut open. Each part is generously oiled with olive oil.

1. Vegetable preparations must be transferred to a baking sheet. The eggplant form is sent to the oven, preheated to 180 degrees.

1. Next, you need to do the onion. It should be peeled and cut coarsely enough. Then pour about 3 large tablespoons of olive oil into a frying pan with high sides. Onion slices are laid out in it. It should be sautéed over medium heat. It should become transparent. It will take about 6 minutes.

1. You need to put tomatoes on the onion. Granulated sugar is also poured here. Pepper the vegetable mass and add salt. After that, the mixture is stewed for about 10 minutes. The liquid should evaporate.

1. Now you should wash the parsley and dry it. The greens need to be coarsely chopped and transferred to the vegetable mass. Then everything is removed from the stove. The mixture must be cooled.

1. Then put the eggplants in a baking dish. The container must be deep. In vegetables, cuts should be made: peeled cloves of garlic should be inserted into them. The stew of vegetables is spread on top in an even layer. Then everything is poured over with the remaining olive oil.

1. The dish should be baked in the oven for 40 minutes. The stove should be heated to 180 degrees.

It remains only to serve the imam bayaldi to the table. As a supplement, you should use feta cheese or feta, cut into pieces.

Video recipes for cooking imam bayaldy

Making an oriental snack is a snap. By the way, there is also a recipe for imam bayaldi for the winter. The following rollers will help you make eggplant treats: