Armenian Dish Ghapama Recipe

From my favorite Armenian cuisine : a truly delicious and quite festive dish called Xapama. In other words : stuffed pumpkin, and Khapama pumpkin is stuffed with rice, dried fruits, apples , spiced with cinnamon, melted butter and honey.Simple dish ,yet so flavorful ,delicious, worth to be added to your “Holiday dishes” menu.

In Armenia, Xapama was served on special occasions or on New Year’s Day. It was made with different variations in various Armenian regions, some would make it with crushed nuts, meat, with different dried fruits. My version is a little bit of everything. Feel free to improvise by adding your favorite dry fruits or nuts. I can guarantee this will be your next favorite meal.

Enjoy!

Ingredients











One pumpkin ( about 7 lbs/ 3 kg)

3 cups of rice ( preferably long grain)

1 cup of raisins

8-10 tbs melted butter ( or clarified butter)

7-9 tbs honey

1/2 cup of dried plums ( or prunes)

1/2 cup of dried apricots

1 medium apple

1/2 tsp cinnamon ( or more to your taste)

Walnuts or almonds to your taste ( chopped or crushed)

Salt to taste

Water to cook the rice ( amount doesn’t matter,as much as it needs to cover the rice fully)











Directions



Start by prepping the rice

Wash and drain the rice, pour as much water as it needs to cover the rice and may be a bit more

Bring to a boil, cover with lid and let it sit

Clean the pumpkin and prepare the rest of stuffing

Wash the pumpkin, cut the top and clean the inside from seeds











Pour 2-3 tbs of melted butter,

2-3 tbs of honey inside the pumpkin and cover the inner part with honey and butter mixture, use a brush or do it with hands

In a large bowl combine ingredients for the filling:dried fruits, finely chopped apples,raisins,

Add the drained rice, salt and cinnamon to taste,

2-3 tbs of melted butter

2-3 tbs of honey, mix well

Place the ready filling inside,

cover firmly with lid

Put the pumpkin in a lightly greased baking pan



Bake at 350° F /180°C preheated oven 45-60 minutes

To check if it’s ready, simply stick a wooden skewer or a sharp knife into pumpkin, if it goes in smoothly ,means it’s done

Serve with extra butter and honey

Bon Appetite!

Բարի Ախորժակ!



Հայերեն Բաղադրատոմսը

3+ կգ դդում

3 բ երկար բրինձ (կարող եք բրինձը սառը աղաջրի մեջ թողնել 5-6 ժամ, որ եփելիս հատիկ-հատիկ մնա )

1 բ չամիչ, բաժակի չափը 250 մլ

0.5 բ սալորաչիր, կարող եք ավել

0.5 բ ծիրանի չիր

0.5 բ կտրատած ընկույզ կամ նուշ, ըստ ցանկության

աղ, դարչին, մեղր, հալած յուղ ըստ համի

Եփել 180°C , 45-60 րոպե, կամ մինչև դդումը դանակով հանգիստ ծակվի





