Vegetables: Imam Bayildi (VEGAN) by Recipe Cottage

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	Imam Bayildi (VEGAN)

		4 Eggplants 4 Large Onions 12 Cloves Garlic 2 Cups Water 1 Cup Olive Oil 4 Tomatoes (skinned) 12 Sprigs Parsley 1 Tsp. Sugar Salt to taste Cut the onion into thin half-moon slices. Chop the tomatoes and parsley and mix with the onion slices. Add the garlic and salt and leave aside. Leave the stalk on the eggplants but peel the dark outer skin in 1/2-inch wide strips lengthwise, then make a deep incision in the center lengthwise. Sprinkle generously with rock salt and leave aside for 30 minutes to extract the vegetable's bitter juices. Was well and pat dry. Take the onion mixture and fill the eggplants with this then lay them side by side in a wide-bottomed saucepan. Add water, olive oil, salt, and a sprinkling of sugar. Put a plate on them and then cover the saucepan. Cook until the eggplants are soft and tender and the liquid reduced to almost nothing (less than 1 tablespoon should remain in the saucepan) -- about 1-1/2 hours on medium heat. Allow to cool in own saucepan and serve very cold. [From _Turkish Cooking_, by Irfan Orga] Notes: This the traditional way to do this. It preserves the shape of the eggplant and looks very nice. However, we just cut the eggplant up into slices, salt it and let stand to extract the bitterness, then cook it in the onion mixture without stuffing the eggplants. Tastes the same! This is delicious served on bread or crackers. The name of the dish means "The Imam fainted." The story is that the Imam's wife made this for him, and it was so delicious that he...well he didn't faint, but he asked his wife to make it for him every day. And every day she made it for him, and every day he ate it, and it was so delicious that...well, he didn't faint until he saw the bill for the olive oil that came at the end of the month! Bill Jefferys URL: http://quasar.as.utexas.edu/ E-mail: bill@astro.as.utexas.edu