Dolmê Kundiran

The place I spent my childhood was the East of this country with its spotless blue skies and cotton clouds. After a storm hitsor three feet of snow falls, the sky shimmers like a jewel. I saw neither smog nor haze nor gray clouds till I moved to Istanbul.

I have been closely following Istanbul’s forecast for a week now, hoping for at least one sunny day so that I could take a decent video of me making the next recipe on the list while the sun illuminated the inside of our apartment with good lighting. I thought I had at long last found my sunny day this Friday. I got up at 6 and set to work. I made all the necessary preparations for both the dish and the shoot, but I was not happy at all with the resulting footage (still too dark). So for now, I’m making do with photos.

Ingredients (serves 6 people)

• 2 lbs (1 kg.) pumpkin peeled and cleaned (with seeds and rind, it would be 3 or 4lbs)
• 1 cup bulgur wheat (200g)
• 2 tablespoon sugar (30 g)
• 3 cups water (600ml)
• 1 teaspoon salt

For the sauce

• 1 cup yogurt (200g)
• 1 cup water (200ml)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 tablespoons butter (50g)

1. Cut pumpkin into cubes. Place about half the pumpkin into a   wide, deep pot and spread around the bottom. Spread half the bulgur wheat over the top. Put the rest of the pumpkin into the pot, and again spread the remaining bulgur wheat on top.

2. Add the sugar and salt. Add the water and cover.

3. Cook on high heat for 15 minutes, then on a medium heat for 15 minutes more. Let sit for 5 minutes.

4. Mash the bulgur and pumpkin as you would potatoes. Pour into a wide, deep serving dish. Shape the pumpkin mixture into a small hill with a peak.

The sauce

 1. Crush the garlic and salt together in a mortar and pestle. Add the water and yoghurt and whip together.

2. Melt the butter

First, spread the melted butter over the top of the pumpkin and then the garlic yoghurt sauce. If you like, leave the middle part plain. Enjoy!