Recipe review: Imam bayildi – Aubergines with pinenuts; Indian cookbook

[Lellyj]

Well I don't know if I did something wrong, but I'm not a fan of this recipe.  I weighed the eggplant, so I had the right amount according to the recipe, but I ended up with heaps extra filling than required to stuff that many eggplant.  I love garlic and onion, but found 5 garlic cloves and 450 g onion wayyyy too much, the garlic taste was overwhelming (I used 3 fat cloves, rather than 5).   The filling was still very watery after cooking for the required time, so when it came to putting the tomato topping on top, I didnt' ad the water and I'm glad because the dish was very watery.  The one thing we did like was the texture of the nuts on top, although I used flaked almonds because I couldn't get pine nuts.  I dont' think this would make a big difference.  All in all, it was pretty disappointing and quite a bit of fiddling around. 2/5

[andiesenji]

There is generally a lot of stuffing, compared to the amount of eggplant because it is piled generously on top as well as pushed into the slits in the eggplant.
There should not be any thin liquid at all.  If any, there should only be a thick gravy-like sauce in which the stuffing is suspended. 

I don't use a recipe because it is one of those things I have been preparing for many years and just "wing-it" so to speak.

This recipe is very close to my preparation and there are some good photos, just to give you an idea of how I do it.  Draining the eggplant well after frying is most important, otherwise it will be very oily and not all that appealing.  I often grill it after brushing with olive oil to get the flavor without it soaking up all that oil. 
In this context, "medium" eggplants refer to the Turkish variety that are about 8 inches long and about 4 inches in diameter.
If using the larger Italian varieties one is usually enough and if using the Japanese varieties you may need a dozen. 

You can't always go by weight because some eggplants have denser flesh than others and the corresponding weight can be significantly different.  In this type of recipe it is size rather than weight that is more important. 

[Lellyj]

Thanks for this info, Andie. I used 4 what I think must be "Turkish" eggplant, (called Lebanese here!) and the total weight was 750 g, although I take on board your comment about the density of the eggplant.  I did slather the filling on top, as well as in the slits, but the Indian TMX cookbook also has a sauce of 800 extra g of tomato plus 400 g of water.  As the filling was already quite wet, I didn't add the water, but still thought all those tomatoes made the dish too sloppy.   I checked out your link and that doesn't have the pureed tomatoes on top, and I think the lemon and mint might give it a bit more of an interesting taste.  Will try again with this new instructions as we love eggplant,  but found the cookbook version quite uninspiring (only flop I've had so far with Indian cookbook).  Thanks for your help.

[Moo2]

Thanks for posting that Lellyj as I have been meaning to make this. Have loved every other recipe in the Inian book that I have made so assumed this would be good too. Not sure whether to give it a go using your comments  andiesenji or give it a miss now.

[Lellyj]

Hi Moo . . . whenever I have a flop (not too often these days, luckily), I'm never sure if it was something I did, or if it's the recipe.  I just can't see how that much tomato and water could end up anything but watery, though as it isn't reduced, just blended and put on top.  I didn't like the stuffing--so much onion and garlic (and I like onion and garlic!)  It was edible, but nobody has finished off the leftovers and I'm going to give them to the chooks.  I'm going to try Andi's link next time I can get some nice eggplant. We did like the flaked almonds (or pinenuts on top though). I agree about the Indian cookbook--have loved all the recipes I've tried.