Stuffed vegetables and leaf rolls
Loquats, known locally in Antep as yeni dünya, are available for a few weeks in early May, and that is when this dish is made. The pits are removed and the fruit is filled with a mixture of ground lamb and rice; as it cooks, the fruit’s own tartness seasons the filling. No sugar is added—the fruit provides all the sweetness.
Trim the stem and blossom ends of the loquats. Use a small spoon or fruit corer to remove the pits, taking care not to pierce the skin; a hole will let the filling escape into the cooking liquid. Place the pitted fruit in lightly salted water.
Combine the ground lamb, soaked and rinsed rice, finely chopped onion, tomato paste, dried mint, black pepper, and salt in a bowl. Do not brown the filling; it goes into the fruit raw and cooks inside.
Spoon the filling into the fruit, leaving about one finger’s width of space at the top.
Line the bottom of the pot with a few hollowed fruit skins or thin tomato slices. Arrange the stuffed loquats snugly with their openings facing up. Place an inverted plate on top.
Melt the butter and combine it with the pomegranate molasses and water. Pour the mixture down the side of the pot; the liquid should cover three-quarters of the stuffed fruit. Cover and cook over low heat for 22–25 minutes. They are ready when the rice can be crushed and the loquat skins turn dull and soften.
Before adding the rice to the filling, soak it in warm salted water for 20 minutes, then rinse. Do not fill the fruit to the brim; the rice expands as it cooks and can split tightly packed fruit.
Meyveleri oyarken çok inceltmeyin, kabuk yırtılıyor. Mevsimi de kısa, mayıs dışında bulmak zor. İç harçtaki pirinci az koymak da gerekiyor, bol pirinçle doldurunca meyveler pişerken çatladı.
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