Recipe: Dolmey Felfel

Dolmey Felfel is one of those ‘labour of love’ dishes which take up a lot of your time and energy but are so worth it as at the end, you have tiny little meal packages — which smell divine and taste even better — ready to be eaten.

‘Dolmey’ means stuffing so you can use many other vegetables as the outer ‘shells’ but my personal favourite are bell peppers because of their tangy taste and bright colours. If you want some chatkhaara in your life, try out this recipe for stuffed bell peppers. I promise you will love it.

Ingredients:

Minced mutton 250 grams

Capsicums (any colour) 5

Coriander (chopped) 50 grams

Salt and pepper to taste

Green chillies 3-4

Onion (chopped) 1

Oil

Tomatoes 3

Lemon juice 2 tsp

Turmeric powder ¼ tsp

Method

•  Cut a circle on top of the bell peppers and remove the seeds.

•  In a large pot, add some water and ½ tsp salt. Boil the bell peppers in the water for 3-4 minutes until they become slightly soft. Once they are boiled, drain the water and allow the bell peppers to cool. (Make sure they are not overcooked lest they fall apart later.)

•  Heat 2 tbsp of oil at medium heat and sauté the onions in the pan, until they become golden-brown.

•  Add the turmeric powder and mutton to the pan and cook until the meat is no longer pink in colour, stirring occasionally.

•  Add 2 tbsp of crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper to the mixture, cover it and allow it to cook at medium-low heat, until the liquid is absorbed.

•  In a separate bowl, mix 2 cups of hot water, salt, tomato paste, lemon juice and 1 tbsp oil to prepare the sauce.

•  Mix the cooked mutton with the rice and coriander and fill the bell peppers with the stuffing.

•  Pour a little sauce over each stuffed bell pepper and cover it with the piece cut off in step 1.

•           Place the stuffed bell peppers in a large pot and pour the remaining sauce over and around them and cover. Cook these at medium-low heat until the bell peppers are soft.

Gulnaz Mondegarian is an expert in Iranian cuisine who has co-hosted Food Diaries alongside Zarnak Sidhwa to celebrate Community Food Week.

Published in The Express Tribune, Ms T, September 15^th, 2013.