Armenian · main

Ghapama (Pumpkin Baked with Rice and Dried Fruit)

Name: Ghapama (Pumpkin Baked with Rice and Dried Fruit)
Prep time: 2 h 27 min
Total time: 2 h 42 min
Cuisine: Armenian
Ingredients: pumpkin — 2500 g; short-grain rice — 300 g; dried apricots — 80 g; prunes — 80 g; raisins — 60 g; walnut halves — 60 g; blanched almonds — 60 g; unsalted butter — 80 g; honey — 60 g; ground cinnamon — 5 g; salt — 3 g; water — 150 g

Ghapama (Pumpkin Baked with Rice and Dried Fruit) reads sweetness 7.8, fruity 5.8 and nutty 4.8 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Armenian main, about 2 hr 42 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 3.3 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 9.6 / 10
Sour & Bright — 1.7 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 3.0 / 10
Rich & Fat — 6.1 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 4.0 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sweetness 7.8 · Fruity 5.8 · Nutty 4.8 · Richness 4.3 · Floral 3.8 · Salinity 3.2 · Earthy 2.7 · Warm Spice 1.9 · Sourness 1.7 · Bitterness 1.7 · Umami 1.1

What's in it (12)

pumpkin — 2500 g
short-grain rice — 300 g
dried apricots — 80 g
prunes — 80 g
raisins — 60 g
walnut halves — 60 g
blanched almonds — 60 g
unsalted butter — 80 g
honey — 60 g
ground cinnamon — 5 g
salt — 3 g
water — 150 g

Time & effort: about 2 hr 42 min (2 hr 27 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 95.6 kcal, 2 g protein, 4.2 g fat, 18.1 g carbs

Dietary: Vegetarian · Contains dairy — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (6 steps)

Cut a lid from the pumpkin at a slight angle so it will sit back in place, scrape out the seeds and fibres, and scrape the inner wall smooth. Choose a squat, thick-walled pumpkin; a thin-walled one collapses.
Drain the soaked rice, boil it in the 150 ml of water for 5 minutes only, and drain again. Raw rice gives you a crunchy centre and a pumpkin that has fallen in around it, which is the usual failure.
Mix the parboiled rice with the apricots, prunes, raisins, walnuts, almonds, melted butter, honey, cinnamon and salt.
Fill the pumpkin no more than three quarters full; the rice still has swelling to do. Put the lid back on.
Bake at 180C for 1 hour 50 minutes, until a skewer slides through the wall of the pumpkin without resistance and the kitchen smells of butter and dried apricot.
Rest 15 minutes, then carry the whole pumpkin to the table and open it there. It is cut into wedges through the wall, so that everyone gets pumpkin flesh with their filling. Ghapama belongs to Armenian Christmas and to weddings, and there is a well-known folk song sung about carrying it in.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Mango Sticky Rice (Khao Niao Mamuang) — Thai
Szilvás Gombóc (Plum Dumplings) — Hungarian
Habichuelas con Dulce — Dominican
Hummingbird Cake — Southern
Sweet Potato Pudding (Hell a Top, Hell a Bottom) — Jamaican

Keep reading: what sweetness, fruity, nutty mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

See how this dish fits your palate — take the short taste test →

Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.