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Midye dolma
Midye dolma: mussels stuffed with currant, pine nut and spiced rice, served with lemon
Late at night along Istanbul's Beşiktaş and Kadıköy streets, vendors walk with trays of shiny black mussels stuffed with fragrant rice, cracking one open, squeezing lemon on it and handing it over until you say stop. The rice is cooked with onion, tomato paste, cinnamon, allspice, currants and pine nuts, then steamed back inside the shells. Make them at home for a meze table and they are safer and fresher than any street tray. Chef's tip: soak the closed mussels in cold salted water first; the shells relax slightly and are much easier to prise open with a small knife.
- Total time
- 105 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the mussels
For the rice
To serve
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Scrub 36 large live mussels and pull off the beards. Tap any open ones on the worktop: discard any that don't close, and any with cracked shells. Soak the rest in cold salted water for 20 minutes.
20 minStep 2: Warm ¼ cup olive oil in a wide pan over a medium heat and cook 3 onions for 10 minutes, until soft and pale gold. Add 1 oz pine nuts and stir for 2 minutes, until golden.
12 minStep 3: Add 7 oz short-grain rice and stir for 2 minutes, then add 1 tbsp tomato paste, 1 oz currants, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground allspice, 1 tsp ground black pepper, 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp salt. Pour in 200 ml of the 1 cup hot water, cover and cook on a low heat for 8 minutes, until absorbed but the rice is still firm. Stir in 1 tsp dried mint and cool.
10 minStep 4: Slide a small knife in at the pointed side of each mussel and open it like a book without separating the halves. Loosen the mussel from the top shell so it stays in the bottom.
Step 5: Fill each with a teaspoon of rice and close the shell. Common mistake: overfilling; the rice swells and pushes the shells open.
Step 6: Pack the mussels tightly in a pan, hinge side down, set a heatproof plate on top and pour in the rest of the ½ cup hot water. Cover and simmer gently for 25–30 minutes, until the rice is fully tender and the mussel meat is firm and cooked through.
30 minStep 7: Discard any mussels whose shells have cracked or stayed gaping. Cool to room temperature and serve the same day with 2 lemons.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 14 g
- Carbs
- 38 g
- Fat
- 13 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does midye dolma take?
- About 105 minutes in total: 60 minutes to prepare and 45 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of short-grain rice?
- Any long-grain rice, same amount.
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