Recipes

Turkish Stuffed Peppers Recipe: Biber Dolması with Rice and Pine Nuts

Biber dolması are small green peppers filled with rice that has been cooked with onions, pine nuts, currants, dried mint and a little cinnamon, then simmered gently in olive oil and water until soft. This is the zeytinyağlı version, the olive oil style that is served warm or at room temperature with a squeeze of lemon. Many cooks make it a day ahead, and plenty of people think it tastes better that way. This Turkish stuffed peppers recipe makes 10 to 12 peppers, enough for a family dinner or a meze spread for six. Most of the work goes into the filling. Once the peppers are in the pot, they look after themselves. Recipe at a Glance Preparation Time 30 minutes Cooking Time 40 minutes Resting Time 30 minutes Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes Servings 4 to 6 (10 to 12 peppers) Cuisine Turkish Course Main or meze Preparation time includes cooking the filling on the hob. The size of your peppers and your pot can change the cooking time a little. Ingredients 10 to 12 small green bell peppers (dolmalık biber), about 1 kg 300 g osmancık or baldo rice, about 1½ cups 120 ml olive oil, about ½ cup, divided 2 medium onions, finely chopped 2 tablespoons pine nuts 2 tablespoons currants 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 medium tomato, grated ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon sugar 1½ teaspoons salt 250 ml hot water, for the filling ½ bunch parsley, finely chopped 1 teaspoon dried mint About 400 ml hot water, for the pot 1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve Which Peppers and Rice to Use Look for the small, squat green peppers sold as dolmalık biber in the fruits and vegetables section. They stand upright in the pot and hold their shape as they soften. For the rice, osmancık and baldo both work well: they are Turkish medium-grain rices that soak up the olive oil and stay tender. You will find both in the dry goods section, and our Turkish rice pilaf recipe explains how the two differ. Long-grain rice gives a looser, drier filling. Step-by-Step Instructions Prepare the peppers. Slice the tops off the peppers and keep them as lids. Scoop out the seeds and the white ribs, then rinse the peppers and leave them upside down to drain. The ribs taste bitter, so it is worth getting them all out. Rinse the rice. Hold it in a sieve under the cold tap until the water runs almost clear, then leave it to drain. Washing off the loose starch keeps the filling from turning gluey. Toast the pine nuts. Warm 4 tablespoons of the olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat, add the pine nuts and stir until light golden. Pine nuts go from golden to burnt quickly, so stay with the pan. Soften the onions. Add the onions and cook, stirring now and then, until soft and translucent. Soft onions melt into the filling instead of staying crunchy. Add the rice and seasonings. Stir in the rice and cook for a couple of minutes until the grains look glossy. Add the tomato paste, grated tomato, currants, cinnamon, black pepper, sugar and salt, and stir well. Coating the rice in oil helps the grains stay separate. Part-cook the filling. Pour in the 250 ml of hot water, cover and cook on low heat until the water is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Stir in the parsley and dried mint. The rice should still have some bite, because it finishes cooking inside the peppers. Fill the peppers. Spoon in the filling and put the lids back on. Stand them upright in a wide pot, packed snugly so they hold each other up. Simmer gently. Pour the hot water around the peppers until it comes about a third of the way up, and drizzle the rest of the olive oil over the top. Cover, bring to a gentle simmer, then cook on low heat for about 40 minutes, until the peppers are soft and the rice at the top is tender. Taste a little from one pepper to check. Rest, then serve. Turn off the heat and leave the pot covered for 30 minutes. The rice absorbs the last of the liquid as it rests. Serve warm or at room temperature, with lemon wedges. Chef Tips Season the filling boldly. Rice and peppers both soak up salt as they cook, so a filling that tastes a little over-seasoned before stuffing tastes right at the end. Weigh them down with a plate. A small heatproof plate set on top of the peppers keeps them upright and under the steam, so the tops cook as evenly as the bottoms. Pick peppers of a similar size. They cook at the same pace and fit together snugly in the pot. Tuck lemon slices into the pot. A few thin slices between the peppers give the cooking liquid a gentle sourness that suits the olive oil. A Few Things to Avoid Filling the peppers to the brim. The rice swells as it cooks. Leave a finger's width of space at the top, or the lids pop off and the rice near the top stays hard. Lifting the lid again and again. The steam does much of the cooking here, and every look lets it escape. Using fresh mint instead of dried. Fresh mint darkens and loses its flavour over a long cook. Dried mint is the traditional choice for dolma fillings. Serving them straight from the fridge. Cold olive oil turns waxy and the flavours go flat. Take them out about 20 minutes before serving. Two Easy Variations Dried peppers (kuru biber dolması). Sun-dried peppers give a deeper, slightly sweet flavour, and because they keep in the cupboard, they are handy when the fresh ones look tired. Soften them in hot water according to the pack instructions, fill them loosely with the same mixture and start checking them earlier, as they are small. A mixed pot. Hollow out a few tomatoes or sakız kabak, the pale courgettes sold locally as kousa, and fill them alongside the peppers. Chop the tomato flesh into the filling. Courgettes cook in about the same time as the peppers, while tomatoes soften faster, so set them on top. Storage and Make-Ahead Once the peppers have cooled, move them to a covered container with a few spoonfuls of the cooking liquid and refrigerate. The liquid keeps the rice moist, and the flavours settle overnight, which is why many cooks make dolma a day ahead for guests. Freezing tends to make the peppers watery, so it is better to cook a batch you will finish than to freeze leftovers. What to Serve With Biber Dolması As a main course, serve the peppers with a bowl of plain yoghurt and warm bread; our guide to Turkish bread types has ideas. For a bigger meal, start with mercimek soup or put a plate of köfte alongside. On a Turkish meze platter, cut each pepper in half and add white cheese, olives and a drizzle of olive oil; our olive oil and olives guide covers what to buy. On days with no time to cook, ready-made stuffed vine leaves and rice-stuffed dried aubergines are handy to keep in stock for a quick meze. FAQs About Turkish Stuffed Peppers Are Turkish stuffed peppers served hot or cold? The olive oil version in this recipe is served warm or at room temperature, usually with lemon. Stuffed peppers made with minced meat are a different dish, etli dolma, which is served hot, often with garlic yoghurt. Is this stuffed pepper recipe vegan? Yes. The filling is rice, vegetables, pine nuts, currants, herbs and olive oil, with no meat or dairy. Serve it with lemon rather than yoghurt to keep the whole plate plant-based. Can I use red or large bell peppers? You can. Large peppers hold more filling, so you will fill fewer of them, and they may need a little longer in the pot. Check that the rice in the middle is tender before you turn off the heat. What is the difference between dolma and sarma? Dolma means stuffed, and it covers vegetables with a filling inside, such as peppers, tomatoes and courgettes. Sarma means wrapped, and it refers to leaves rolled around a filling, like vine leaves. This rice filling works for both. Can I make biber dolması without pine nuts or currants? Yes. They add crunch and small bursts of sweetness, but the dish still works without them. If you leave them out, add a little extra dried mint and black pepper to keep the filling lively. Here are the main ingredients for this Turkish stuffed peppers recipe, plus dried peppers for the kuru dolma variation. Ingredients Needed for This Recipe