Turkish stuffed peppers

Turkish stuffed peppers (biber dolması) are the perfect vegetarian addition to any feast! These sweet and tender small bell peppers are filled with the most flavorful lemony and tomatoey rice filling.

this recipe

I’ve been told many times that my Turkish stuffed peppers rival the ones made by my husband’s grandma. I can’t take a lot of credit since a) his family shared the recipe with me and b) Turkish stuffed peppers are really easy to make. But no matter, it’s always a nice thing to hear. And believe you me, if I can make delicious traditional Turkish stuffed peppers, so can you! My friends always ask me for the recipe once they’ve tried biber dolması at my place.

DOLMA & SARMA

There is a whole category of dishes in Turkey called dolma that consists of things being stuffed with a rice filling (but other grains can be used like bulgur) and then cooked. The most common dolmas are: enginar dolması (stuffed artichokes), kabak dolması (stuffed zucchinis), çiçek dolması (stuffed zucchinis flowers) and midye dolması (stuffed mussels). Sarmas are a type of dolmas where leaves are wrapped around the rice filling. Typically vine leaves (yaprak sarması) or cabbage leaves (lahana sarması) are used to make sarmas.

You will always find a huge platter of dolmas at the center of the table at any family gathering. There is just something so convivial about dolmas! If you know that making dolmas takes time and effort, you can’t help but feel welcome and cared for at the sight of it. Turkish stuffed peppers easily are in my top 3 stuffed meals, just behind stuffed mussels and stuffed vine leaves. Nothing can beat warm stuffed mussels served on the beach! But Turkish stuffed peppers are really really good and way less time-consuming than stuffed vine leaves. If I spot the right kind of peppers at the Turkish store, it’s a no-brainer, I am going to make some biber dolması!

TURKISH INGREDIENTS

To make proper Turkish stuffed peppers you definitely need to use very small green bell peppers. They have the same shape as normal green peppers but they are only 7.5cm (3 in) high. They can generally stand upright without tipping over. I can only find them at the Turkish store where they are usually sold in bags with 6 or 8 inside. These small green peppers are only used to make dolmas so I’m not sure you could find them anywhere else.

I suppose you could try to make Turkish stuffed peppers with regular-sized green bell peppers. It won’t taste quite the same and I have never tried it but I would venture to say you can probably fill up to 5 green bell peppers with the filling in this recipe. You might also need to add more water to the pan because the water needs to arrive halfway up the sides of the green peppers.

If you can’t get your hands on Turkish baldo rice, jasmine rice (also called aromatic rice, fragrant rice, or thai rice) is in my opinion the best substitute. Jasmine rice cooks in a similar fashion but it won’t be as plump and chewy as baldo rice.

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP #1: MAKE THE RICE FILLING

1. Grate 1 tomato on the largest holes of a box grater into a deep plate and discard the skin.
2. Cook the onion until softened over medium-low heat in a non-stick frying pan.
3. Add the paste and spread it all over the onion using a wooden spoon and cook for 2 min.
4. Stir in the grated tomato, caster sugar, wash and drained rice, and 2 tsp of salt. Cook for 7 min, stirring from time to time, and remove from the heat. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and your filling is ready!

STEP #2: STUFF THE GREEN PEPPERS

1. Cut around the stems deep enough to cut the cores free. Pull the stems to remove the core. Shake the peppers to remove some of the seeds that have fallen at the bottom.
2. Divide the filling among the green peppers making sure it fills each vegetable three-quarters full.
3. Cut 2 tomatoes into pieces that’ll be just big enough to fit inside the top of the green peppers. Push the tomato lids on top of the filling, smooth side up.

STEP #3: COOK THE DOLMAS

1. Make the cooking liquid by mixing the paste in 475ml (2 cups) of water using a whisk.
2. Pour the liquid around the stuffed green peppers. Drizzle the olive oil on top.
3. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover with the lid and reduce the heat to medium-low. It takes around 50 min for Turkish stuffed peppers to cook on the stovetop.

LET THE DOLMAS REST

I find Turkish stuffed peppers to be much tastier if, like for every type of dolmas, you let them rest a bit before serving. The flavors will shine through if it’s not burning hot. Eating them with cold yogurt will help cool down but it’s not the same thing as actually waiting for the Turkish stuffed peppers to be just warm or at room temperature. I actually prefer them fridge-cold. The flavors really have time to develop and the dolmas get a bit firmer. But to get them fridge-cold by dinner time I would need to start pretty early and I usually don’t plan sufficiently ahead. Thank goodness for leftovers though!

The acidity and creaminess of yogurt really bring this dish together so do try it even if it seems weird to you to have yogurt in a more savory context.

VARIATIONS

You can also make a meaty version of Turkish stuffed peppers. It’s called etli biber dolması (stuffed peppers with meat) or kıymalı biber dolması (stuffed peppers with ground beef). For this version, follow the recipe as written but stir 225g (½ pound) of ground beef in the filling at the end of step 2. Mix with the wooden spoon until thoroughly combined. The meat will cook alongside the rice inside the green peppers once stuffed. You’ll probably end up with more filling than needed so buy a couple more green peppers if possible.

There is a variation of this recipe called kuru biber dolması. It’s made with dried peppers that have been rehydrated before being stuffed. It’s far less common, at least if you’re not from the South.

Looking for other Turkish vegetarian meal ideas? Here are some of my favorite recipes:

• Kisir (bulgur salad)
• Turkish red lentil soup
• Mucver (zucchini fritters)

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