AI-generated image
Ghapama
Rice and fruit stuffed pumpkin
Ghapama: Armenian pumpkin stuffed with rice, dried fruit and nuts
Ghapama is the dish Armenians carry to the table at New Year and on Christmas Day (6 January), with a folk song, "Hey jan ghapama", sung while the pumpkin is cut. A whole pumpkin is hollowed out, packed with half-cooked rice, dried apricots, prunes, raisins, walnuts and honey, and baked until the flesh is soft enough to scoop. At the table it is sliced from top to bottom like a flower opening, so each wedge comes with its own share of filling. Serve it as a festive main with a herb and cucumber salad, or as a sweet course after a lighter meal. Chef's tip: choose a squat, thick-walled pumpkin with a hard shell; thin-walled ones collapse in the oven before the rice is cooked.
- Total time
- 120 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the pumpkin
- 5 ½ lb round pumpkinthick-walled, about 25 cm across
- 2 ⅞ oz buttermelted
For the filling
- 7 oz long-grain or medium-grain ricerinsed
- 3 ½ oz dried apricotshalved
- 2 ⅞ oz pitted pruneshalved
- 2 ⅛ oz golden raisins
- 2 ⅛ oz walnutsroughly chopped
- 1 ⅜ oz blanched almondsroughly chopped
- 4 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup water
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (2)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Heat the oven to 350°F (fan 325°F). Cut a lid off the top of 5 ½ lb round pumpkin about 10 cm across, keeping the stalk as a handle. Scrape out the seeds and fibres with a spoon, then thin the inner walls slightly so they are about 2–3 cm thick.
Step 2: Bring a pan of water with ½ tsp salt to the boil, add 7 oz long-grain or medium-grain rice and boil for 6–7 minutes, until the grains are softened outside but still have a firm white core. Drain well. A common mistake is cooking the rice through at this stage: it turns to mush inside the pumpkin, so stop early.
7 minStep 3: Toss the rice with 3 ½ oz dried apricots, 2 ⅞ oz pitted prunes, 2 ⅛ oz golden raisins, 2 ⅛ oz walnuts, 1 ⅜ oz blanched almonds, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tbsp sugar, half of 2 tbsp honey and half of 1 ⅜ oz butter.
Step 4: Brush the inside of the pumpkin with a little of the remaining butter. Spoon in the filling, pressing lightly; leave 2 cm free at the top for the rice to swell.
Step 6: Set the pumpkin on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 1 hour 15–30 minutes. It is done when the skin has darkened, a skewer slides through the side with no resistance and the kitchen smells of caramelised honey.
90 minStep 7: Leave to stand for 10 minutes. Lift onto a serving board, then cut down from the top into wedges with a sharp knife so each opens out with its filling. Serve hot or warm.
10 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 430 kcal
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 72 g
- Fat
- 16 g
- Fibre
- 7 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does ghapama take?
- About 120 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 90 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
- What can I use instead of long-grain or medium-grain rice?
- Any long-grain rice, same amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Paneer biryaniRice and moong dal in coconut milk
A mild, creamy biryani: rice and husked green gram roasted in ghee, then cooked in coconut milk with peas, carrots, potatoes, peanuts and cashews, and finished with soft fried paneer and a fresh coriander yogurt. Serve hot, garnished with more fried cashews and paneer.
Indian
Khao kluk kapiShrimp paste rice
Everything on this central Thai plate is arranged in little heaps around a mound of rice tossed with garlic and fermented shrimp paste: sticky caramelised pork (moo wan), threads of sour green mango, shallots, chillies, sliced long beans, crisp dried shrimp and ribbons of thin omelette. You mix a bit of each into every spoonful, so salty, sweet, sour and hot arrive together. It's a favourite at Bangkok's curry-and-rice shops and a clever way to use up yesterday's rice at home; lime wedges and cucumber cool it down. Chef's tip: use day-old jasmine rice straight from the fridge, because freshly cooked rice clumps and smears the shrimp paste instead of coating each grain.
Thai
Hyderabadi chicken dum biryani
Hyderabad's biryani grew up in the kitchens of the Nizams, and the kacchi style is its proudest form: the chicken goes into the pot raw, in a thick yogurt, mint and fried-onion marinade, and cooks only in the steam trapped under part-cooked basmati. In the old city it is wedding and Eid food, ordered in huge copper deghs, and at home it's the Sunday showpiece, served with mirchi ka salan and a cooling raita. Because the meat cooks without being stirred, small bone-in thigh and drumstick pieces work best. Chef's tip: marinate overnight in the fridge — the yogurt tenderises the chicken and the flavours go right to the bone.
Perfect for:Christmas