Pumpkin Dolma

The Ottoman Cuisine

PUMPKIN DOLMA (Balkabağı Dolması)

A sweet gourd of size to enter into your saucepan is peeled and a round cut, large enough for a hand to enter will be made at the topside. It will then be washed thoroughly after everything in it is removed. A sufficient amount of rice is turned a few times in hot butter and a slightly hard pilaf should be prepared by gradually adding hot water. Pine nuts, black currants and spices to taste will be added to it and stuffed into the pumpkin which will be put into the saucepan upside down after putting the lid back on the opening. With the addition of some water and a little sugar, it will be cooked to the softness just enough to stand without being deformed.