Main dish
Diyarbakır kaburga dolması
Origin: Diyarbakır, Southeastern Anatolia
Lamb rib rack stuffed with rice, diced lamb and almonds, simmered for about four hours and browned with butter.
Diyarbakır kaburga dolması is a lamb rib rack stuffed with rice, lamb and almonds. A pocket is cut between the meat and the bones, and the rack is rubbed inside and out with tomato paste, butter, parsley, salt, allspice and black pepper. The filling is rice fried in oil, small cubes of seared lamb and blanched almonds browned in butter. The pocket is sewn shut and the rack is browned in oil. It then simmers in a covered pot for about 4 hours. After one more hour with butter it is browned, and the pot juices go over it at the table.
The Diyarbakır Chamber of Commerce and Industry registered the name as a geographical indication in 2021. Locally the dish is also called kelek. Families cook it for important guests and on holidays. Restaurants sell more of it for the Ramadan iftar.
Dietary notes: lamb, butter (dairy) and almonds (tree nuts). The registered recipe uses rice and no wheat.