Acili Ezme (Spicy Tomato & Pepper Dip)
The fiery, finely chopped tomato and pepper salad from the kebab shops of Gaziantep, sharpened with pomegranate molasses and hot pepper paste. Dangerously good with warm bread.
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Ingredients
4 ripe tomatoes (about 500g), deseeded
2 green sivri peppers (or 1 small green pepper)
1 medium onion, very finely chopped
2 garlic cloves
1/2 bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
1 tbsp hot pepper paste
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
1 tsp hot red pepper flakes, or more to taste
1 tsp sumac
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- 1
Halve the tomatoes, scoop out and discard the watery seeds, and chop the flesh as finely as you possibly can.
- 2
Finely chop the peppers, onion, garlic and parsley, then combine everything on a large board and keep chopping, folding the pile over itself, until the mixture is almost a coarse paste.
- 3
Transfer to a bowl and stir in the hot pepper paste, tomato paste, pomegranate molasses, pepper flakes, sumac and salt.
- 4
Add the lemon juice and olive oil and mix thoroughly; the ezme should be glossy and juicy but not swimming in liquid.
- 5
Taste and fine-tune: more pepper flakes for heat, more pomegranate molasses for sour-sweetness, more salt if it tastes flat.
- 6
Cover and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes so the flavours mellow and combine.
- 7
Give it a final stir, drizzle with a little extra olive oil and serve cold with warm pita, lavash or alongside anything from the grill.
Walk into any good ocakbasi and a little plate of acili ezme lands on the table before you have even ordered. This is Gaziantep's answer to salsa: ripe tomatoes, green peppers, onion and parsley chopped so fine they almost melt together, bound with pepper paste and brightened with pomegranate molasses and lemon. It is a salad, a dip and a sauce for grilled meat all at once.
The name means literally spicy crushed, and the chopping is the whole craft. Traditionally it is worked with a zirh, the curved kebab knife, until everything reaches a coarse paste. At home, keep chopping with your biggest knife and resist the food processor; a few quick pulses are acceptable in a hurry, but a full blitz turns the ezme watery and pale instead of glistening and jammy.
Balance is the second secret. The heat from hot pepper paste and chilli flakes should be rounded out by the sour-sweet depth of pomegranate molasses, a squeeze of lemon and a good pour of olive oil. Taste as you go: some tomatoes are sweeter than others, and the ezme should make your lips tingle without punishing you. Everything from the Oncu pepper paste to the pomegranate molasses is a Turkish larder staple you can order from Turkish Online Market in one basket.
Let the finished ezme rest for half an hour in the fridge so the flavours knit together, then serve it with warm pita or lavash, grilled chicken wings or lamb chops, and a cold glass of ayran to put out the fire.
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