Food and Travel in Turkey  
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A recent trip to Gaziantep took place during the tail end of harvest season, when local households are preoccupied with transforming the luscious red peppers of the region into flavorful pastes and ground mixtures.  Both the paste and the ground mixture often appear together in many of the notable home-cooked dishes as illustrated in the recipe below.

MALHITALI AS 

red lentils and bulgur with onions, red pepper paste and olive oil 
This is one of the specialties of Gaziantep province - a hearty red lentil dish imbued with the flavor of the region's trademark red pepper paste.  The final flourish of onions and ground red pepper sautéed in olive oil adds yet another dimension to the earthy lentils.

Serves 4

 

 

1 ½ cups red split lentils (300 gr.)

¾ cup bulgur, medium grain (150 gr.)

2 T tomato paste

2 T red pepper paste (combination of hot and sweet)*

½ cup olive oil

1 large onion, medium diced

1 tsp sweet ground red pepper

1 tsp hot ground red pepper

salt to taste

  
Sort through the lentils removing any stones or foreign matter, rinse them and place in a pot along with 5 cups water.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer, occasionally stirring and skimming off any foam.  Top off with hot water if necessary.  Cook until the lentils are creamy, approximately 20 minutes.  Add both pastes to the lentil mixture, stirring until incorporated.  Slowly add the bulgur, stirring occasionally, topping off with hot water if necessary, and cook for approximately 10 minutes.

While the lentil-bulgur mixture is cooking, heat the olive oil over a medium flame in a separate small sauté pan, and sauté the onions until golden.  When the onions are ready quickly add the ground peppers to the onions and stir briefly.  Immediately add the onion along with the olive oil to the lentils, stir well, salt to taste and serve immediately.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:  Lentils often demand to be accompanied by sharp, tart flavors.  In Antep,  crisp pickles made from baby Armenian cucumbers (acur) are served on the side, along with cool creamy yogurt and flat bread.  In place of pickles, try an arugula salad, simply dressed with olive oil and lemon.

*RED PEPPER PASTE:   The paste prepared by local households is made with a combination of hot and sweet peppers, thus the level of heat is controlled by personal taste.  Unfortunately commercial pastes are available in either hot or sweet form, and manufacturers vary so you will have to purchase both and play with the flavors to create a paste to your own liking.  The 2 T paste in the recipe was a combination of 1 T hot pepper paste and 1 T sweet.  Please see FOOD NOTES below.

Special thanks to Gulay Ozdem for introducing me to one of her favorite dishes, which has quickly become one of mine!

 

FOOD NOTES: Red pepper paste (kirmizi biber salcasi) is easily found throughout Turkey, with canned varieties available in the supermarket and home-made versions sold at the weekly fruit and vegetable markets. Use of the paste is more prevalent in the southeast regions of the country where I find the homemade versions superb. 

After the crop is harvested in the fall, the fresh peppers, both hot and sweet varieties, are coarsely chopped, tossed with salt and placed in large shallow round trays which are then placed out in the sun for several days. When the peppers are sufficiently dry they are then packed with olive oil to preserve them. At this point individual cooks may add spices to their mixture, such as a little cinnamon and black pepper, but I prefer the simple additions of oil and salt. Households usually prepare amounts to last an entire year until the next harvest. The degree of heat in the mixture is to individual taste; my favorite mixture is roughly 80% sweet and 20% hot. If I want more of a bite, I just add some hot red chili flakes.   Red pepper paste, along with bulgur wheat and pomegranate molasses, can usually be found in Middle Eastern food shops. If the paste is not available, you can easily make your own provided you have access to flavorful red peppers. See recipes for the paste in Paula Wolfert's THE COOKING OF THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN.