The famous Armenian Ghapama (Armenian Stuffed Pumpkin) is probably one of the sweetest dishes in Armenian cuisine.
Ghapama is a holiday dish celebration that has a unique way of preparation and delicious taste. In my opinion, my grandmother makes the best Ghapama, but you can hear this from every second Armenian.
In this article, I will talk about the Armenian Ghapama recipe in detail and also describe how to make ghapama in steps.
Introduction to Armenian Ghapama
Ghapama is a baked pumpkin stuffed with rice, nuts, and other ingredients. Just like Armenian BBQ (Khorovats), Ghapama is so popular that it has a song called “Hey Jan Ghapama.”
It’s about a farmer who came home with only one pumpkin after work but could feed hundreds of people waiting for him at home with that one pumpkin by making ghapama as a celebration gathering dish.
Usually, ghapama is an Armenian winter dish served on New Year’s Eve and Christmas, however, the dish is so delicious that you can stuff the pumpkin any time and make ghapama on many occasions.
It may look difficult, but it’s an easy process to make traditional Armenian ghapama by following the steps of the ghapama recipe.
Ingredients for Armenian Ghapama Recipe
- Basmati rice or long-grain: 200 grams / 7 ounces
- One large pumpkin: 2 kg / 4.4 pounds
- Butter: 100g / 3.5 ounces
- Diced dry fruits: Apricots, plums, cherries, cranberries, dates
- Golden raisins: 50 grams / 1.8 ounces
- Ground cinnamon: 1/4 teaspoon / 0.69 grams
- Honey: 4 tablespoons / 17 grams
- Chopped walnuts: 35 grams / 1.24 ounces
- Nuts: optional
- Pine nuts: optional
- Hot water: 2 liters / 8.5 cups
- Salt: 2 teaspoons
How to Make Armenian Ghapama Step-by-Step
Step 1
Put washed rice in the pot with already boiled water, cover the pot, then open it and start to stir after lowering the heat.
Continue doing this for 15 minutes, making sure the rice is half-cooked. Drain the liquid from the pot. Rinse the rice with cold water.
Step 2
Start washing the pumpkin and make it extra clean. With a knife, cut the top in a circle, starburst shape, or box shape to make a hole that will look like a lid.
Then clean the inside of the pumpkin and take out all the seeds and stringy fiber. You can consider not throwing away the seeds. You can dry them and use them in cooking. With a pastry brush, cover the inside of the pumpkin with honey (1 teaspoon).
Melt the butter and pour it into the frying pan. Add to it the cooked rice, honey, all the chopped nuts, and dried fruits, and mix it. Turn on the slow fire and fry it for 5 minutes, and during the frying, add the salt and cinnamon.
Tip: Not always necessary to fry the ingredients. It’s only for giving it an extra crisp and taste. You can just mix all the ingredients in a pot. I prefer to fry it’s tastier in my opinion.
Step 3
Take the rice mixture with walnuts and dried fruits and start to stuff the pumpkin until the last drop. After that, pour half a cup of hot water on top of the rice.
Step 4
Cover the pumpkin hole with its natural top lid. Then place it on the baking sheet. Put the pumpkin in the oven and cook for 2 hours at 162°C (325°F).
Tip: You can use egg yolk or cooking spray to cover the surface of the pumpkin if you wish to give it an extra glossy look.
Step 5
After it’s done, it’s time to correctly cut the pumpkin. Move the cooked pumpkin onto a serving plate, open the lid, and from that part, start to cut the ghapama into wedges.
Your Armenian ghapama is ready. Anush!
Pro Tip: If you don’t have available pumpkins or you simply don’t love pumpkins, then there is a solution to that. You can still cook and serve the rice mixture. Armenians are calling it the “Chamichov Plav,” plov with raisins. This dish is served during the Armenian Easter.
After frying the rice mixture with dry fruits, add more butter and lay it on the bottom of the pan Armenian flat lavash bread or any other type of flatbread. Cook it until the bread is red and crispy and soaked with the butter and honey taste. Then serve like that.
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