IMAMBAYILDI
Here is
another one of my mother’s recipes. It’s easy to fix, and absolutely
delicious. Especially if you have the
pirinç
pilavı (rice pilaf) to go with it!
Ingredients:
3 medium
sized eggplants
3-5 medium
sized tomatoes- very thinly sliced or diced.
1-2 large
onions
2 cloves of
garlic
green
peppers (Large ones are best.)
pepper paste
(You cannot find this here, so go with a little tomato paste, unless,
of course, you make some out of your red peppers.)
sunflower
(or plain vegetable oil) –enough to cover at least half of your cut
eggplants in a pan.
salt
Preparation:
You don’t
need to peel your eggplants for this. I sometimes “zebra-peel” them.
Cut each eggplant into 4-8 (long) pieces. (The thicker they are the
more the cooking time, obviously.) Rub salt on eggplants. Fry them in
oil. (Heat oil before you throw in the eggplants.) Set them aside once
they are really soft. Drain on paper towels.
Fry the
green peppers (whole, slightly cut in the middle) with stems in the
same oil. Once they are soft, remove and drain. Set them on top of your
cooked eggplants.
Add onions
to the same oil. (You might need to add some more oil at this point;
make sure you heat it again before you throw in the onions.)
Once onions
are soft, remove and drain with the others. Cook tomatoes in the same
oil (not much oil needed for this). Make sure tomatoes are softened.
Add pepper (or tomato) paste and mix well. Add garlic and salt.
Add
everything together and stir a few times. Now, I hope your table is
set, ‘cause your feast is ready!