Stuffed dried vegetables, Gaziantep style
With two different fillings, one vegetarian and one with meat.
Stuffed dried vegetables, a type of dolma, is a signature dish of Southeastern Turkey. The filling may differ slightly from city to city (and household to household!), but the significance is the same. I don’t know anyone whose heart doesn’t skip a beat or two in excitement when they realise they’re about to eat dolma :)
Why make dolma from dried vegetables?
You may ask yourself, why make dolma from dried vegetables now that fresh ones are so abundant year round? The answer is simple: It’s delicious. The flavour is different, as is the texture. With a thinner casing, the filling comes more to the front than when using fresh vegetables.
After making it myself for the first time, I realised another point. Once you get hold of the dried vegetables, it’s actually easier, too. The job of removing the top, seeds, core and whatnot has already been done. All you need to do is reconstitute them, a job as easy as boiling them for a few minutes.
Unfortunately, dried vegetables for dolma aren’t that easy to come by everywhere in the world. If you have a supplier where you live, I recommend trying it. Check online as well. For everyone else, rest assured you can use the same filling for fresh vegetables. I’ve included a few tips for this in the notes. You can also look at this recipe for fresh vegetable dolma for reference.
What makes Gaziantep dolma so special?
If you’ve followed the traveller’s letters over the past few weeks, you may already know the answer to this one. It’s all about the abundant use of tomato paste, red pepper paste and pomegranate molasses, combined with a few spices. The quintessential ingredients of Southeastern Turkish (and much of Syrian) cuisine.
The dolmas can be enjoyed in both meat and meat free versions. The ones with meat are usually served warm, as an intermediate dish between cold mezes and the main course, or indeed as a main course in itself. Vegetarian dolmas are usually served cold, as a starter. I see nothing wrong with serving them warm or as a main dish, if you like, however.
A few tips for the home cook
Making dolma is a daunting task, but the biggest obstacle is most likely your own mind. Dolmas are actually quite easy to make, if a little time consuming.
Apart from getting all those flavour punches in, the key is getting the amount of filling and liquid right. Luckily, dolmas are quite forgiving even in this department, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it. If your dolmas come out a little dry or not fully cooked when they should’ve been done, just add some more liquid and leave them for a little longer.
I like using a combination of dried aubergines (eggplants) and red peppers, though you can use either or even any other dried vegetable, such as courgettes (zucchinis).
For dried dolmas, it’s common to press them quite tightly in the pan. This helps keep the filling in place, and means you don’t need to worry too much about which direction the opening of each dolma is facing. You may also find that some of the dried vegetables have holes here and there, or that the bottom has fallen out or opened. Just make the best of it. The pressing down during cooking means all of the dolma will keep in place.
If you’re using fresh vegetables, don’t press them down. Instead, make sure they’re a snuggly enough fit to remain upright up during cooking.
As for the filling, the world’s your oyster. I’ve suggested two types below – one meaty and one vegetarian. These are based on recipes from Gaziantep and the surrounding areas, though as mentioned earlier everyone will have their own version.
In the photos, I’ve used basmati rice. You can use any white rice for this dish, but it’s actually best to use a short-grain rice (do as I say, not as I do…). Turks usually use a local rice called baldo. Short-grain rice is slightly more sticky and will help your filling stay intact (basmati rice will make your filling more crumbly, especially the vegetarian one).
If you like, you can make a half quantity of each filling and cook them in the same pan, as I’ve done in the photo below. (This, of course, assumes you’re not serving vegetarians who’d take issue with their food being cooked in the same pan as meat).
Meze or main course | Turkish | 40–50 dolma, enough for 6–10 as a main