easy Middle Eastern eggplant, with sweet peppers

This simple eggplant recipe is a variation of Imam Bayildi claimed by both Turks and Greeks, with sweet peppers added in by Isgouhi and Ani. Yummy. The Armenians also go for this in a big way. If only they could have all lived together but it was not to be. The Ottoman Empire is the food connection, although some Greeks claim to have invented this before the Ottoman times.

This is quick and simple, a no fuss recipe, adjustable to the number of guests. But getting the cook to dictate the steps was like pulling teeth. Use your imagination. Check out web alternatives if you must, but try something like this. It is delicious.

ingredients

3 medium eggplants

4 small peppers or one large one, chopped

1 onion, sliced

6 garlic cloves (or to taste)

3 vine ripened tomatoes, chopped

1 heaping T tomato paste, diluted in a bit of water

1/4 t allspice

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 t Aleppo red pepper

lemon juice from a half lemon

instruction

1. Prepare the peppers, onion, tomatoes and alternate stripe partially peel the eggplant, then cut in half lengthwise (since not very thick).
2. Put a garlic clove in a slit in each half and salt and pepper them. Then fry in olive oil on both sides. Remove from pan.
3. Add some more olive oil and saute' the onion. Add the peppers and continue.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and continue cooking.
5. Add the tomato paste and a bit of water, more salt and pepper, Aleppo red pepper, allspice, and return the eggplants to the pan.
6. Cook 15-20 minutes, adding water if necessary to prevent burning.

notes

1. Armenian recipe with peppers: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/274390/armenian-stuffed-eggplant-imam-bayildi/
2. Greek recipe: https://mysweetgreek.com/greek-food/easy-imam-bayildi-recipe/
3. Web search: https://www.google.com/search?q=imam+bayildi
4. Illustrations available.

2026 update

This was one of the original dictated recipes from aunt mary/isgouhi in the 1990s when bob started writing down their family recipes in a sprial bound notebook but then forgotten until another version of this was recorded many years later. The original recipe had lengthwise sliced 1/2 inch slices of eggplant, sautteed in olive oil after salting them and leaving them sit for a while, then paper toweling away the moisture. The garlic implant was also described in that early recipe but it is much easier to just press the garlic into the sauteed veggies, and then layer that into the eggplant slices in a baking dish and then bake it. Not sure what the adding water instruction means in this context.