Acılı Ezme (Spicy Turkish Tomato & Pepper Dip)
آجلی ایزمے (تیز ترکی ٹماٹر اور مرچ کی چٹنی)
Sit down at any kebab restaurant in Turkey and a small bowl of acılı ezme ("spicy crushed") arrives before you've ordered. It's a bright red, very finely chopped mix of tomatoes, peppers, onion and parsley, bound with pepper paste, pomegranate molasses and olive oil, and sharpened with sumac and chilli. It sits somewhere between a salsa and a chutney, and it's addictive with bread, kebabs and grilled vegetables.
- ⏱ Total: 20 min
- Prep: 20 min
- Easy
- Serves 6
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
On a large board, chop the tomatoes, peppers, onion and garlic as finely as you can, almost to a paste. Turkish cooks use a big double-handled knife (zırh) and keep chopping everything together.
Add the parsley and mint and keep chopping until everything is very fine. Tip into a sieve for a few minutes to drain off excess juice.
Put into a bowl and stir in the pepper paste, pomegranate molasses, olive oil, sumac, pul biber, lemon juice and salt.
Rest for 15 minutes so the flavours mingle, then serve with bread and kebabs.
Kitchen notes
Chop by hand rather than using a food processor, which makes it watery and pulpy.
Seed the tomatoes and drain the mixture; ezme should be thick enough to scoop, not soupy.
It keeps for a day in the fridge, but it's best fresh.
The kebab-house starter
Acılı ezme comes from southeastern Turkey, around Adana and Gaziantep, where hot peppers grow and kebabs rule. It’s now served across the country as part of the free starters that come with a kebab meal, along with flatbread, a sumac onion salad and grilled peppers.
Chopping is everything
The texture matters as much as the taste. Ezme is chopped by hand until it’s almost a paste, but every piece is still distinct, so it holds together on bread without becoming watery. A food processor turns it into a juicy pulp. Take your time with a sharp knife, and drain off the tomato juice before mixing.
Pantry ingredients
Pepper paste and pomegranate molasses give ezme its deep red colour and its sweet-sour depth. Both are sold in Turkish and Middle Eastern shops around the world. Sumac, a tart, lemony red spice, is the final touch.
Serving
Serve with Adana kebab, beyti or tavuk şiş, or as part of a spread with cacık, piyaz and warm bread.
Questions people ask
How hot is it?
As hot as you make it. Use mild peppers and sweet pepper paste for a gentle version, or hot ones for the real kebab-house kick.
What can I use instead of pomegranate molasses?
A little lemon juice with a pinch of sugar, or a teaspoon of tamarind paste.
Is it a salad or a dip?
Both. It's served as a meze, eaten with a fork or scooped up with bread, and spooned onto kebabs.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 90
- Protein
- 1 g
- Fat
- 7 g
- Carbs
- 7 g
