Binnur's Turkish Cookbook

TurkishCookbook.com - Delicious, healthy and easy-to-make Ottoman & Turkish recipes

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Turkish Style Tomato Dip

(Acili Ezme)

Turkish Style Tomato Dip
3 tomatoes, discard the seeds, finely chopped
1/2 red or white onion, finely chopped
1 cup parsley, very finely chopped
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp pomegranate paste or Grenadine syrup
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cayenne pepper, crushed
1 tsp sumac
Salt

Crush the onion with sumac and salt with your hand. Then mix all the ingredients in a serving platter. Put aside for at least an hour (tastes better this way), then serve with any kind of Kebab.

*Sumac comes from the berries of a wild bush which grows in the Mediterranean. The berries are dried and crushed to form purple-red powder. The flavor is sour and fruity. It's mostly used with Kebabs, preferred to lemon for sourness.

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20 Comments:

At 8:33 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you for setting up this site.
I am married to a Turk and his mother and he have taught me many of the recipes you have posted. I am so excited to try the ones I do not have since I have been craving Turkish foods!

 
At 5:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Selam Binnur,
Please could you tell me what i could substitute Sumac with. I can find it anywhere and i'd really like to make this dip as i enjoyed it soooooo much on my jollies in Marmaris ;O)
Thanks Cheryl

 
At 7:12 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Cheryl,
Sumac gives sourness like lemon juice. I would suggest that you use lemon juice instead of sumac. But it won't be the same, just to let you know:)

 
At 8:34 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Binnur-

Do you have a recipe for an Antalyan dish called Hibesh?

 
At 7:35 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

There is another meze for eating with pide or kebap that I got i Adana. It's made with sliced red onions. I don't know the other ingredients. Can you please post a recipe if you know this one?

 
At 7:26 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Miriam,
I need more information about the dish what you asked for:)

 
At 3:36 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

what is pomegranate paste or Granadine syrup and what is the difference between paste, syrup and mollasis?!!! I love Turkish fooooodddd...Im so happy that I found this website :)) hi all

 
At 11:40 AM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Sereen,
Pomegranate paste is concentrated pomegranate juice. You can find all the info about Grenadine syrup here;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenadine_syrup

 
At 12:51 AM, Blogger Saffron said...

Thanks for posting this recipe; I'd been looking for one for this spicy tomato dip literally for years! I have blogged about my experiences with your recipe and added you to my blog roll. Keep the good stuff coming!

 
At 4:07 PM, Anonymous sally said...

WOW I LOVE YOUR FOOOODDD!!!

 
At 4:04 PM, Anonymous sabrina said...

Is this the same or similar to Antep Ezme. It looks similar. If not could you post the recipe. Great site!!

Thanks,
Sabrina

 
At 11:02 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Sabrina,
It looks similar but slightly different than Antep Ezme. I haven't post it yet but I will in the future:)

 
At 1:13 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Selam Binnur,
Having just returned from Fethiye again, am desparate for the antep ezme recipe as my partner loves it. He can cope with the hotter dishes and loves antep and haydari on meat or just about any type of dish. Loving the site and recipes. They are so easy to follow, especially as you suggest alternatives for those ingredients which are not freely available outside of Turkey. Thanks for a great site.

 
At 2:16 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello. I live in Jerusalem and often enjoy 'Turkish Salad' from an Arab restaurant. Although I can purchase it in the market, it is never quite as good and so I wanted to make it from scratch...unfortunately 'Turkish Salad' seems to be many things. This recipe seems to be the closest that I've found, as the Turkish salad that I'm familiar with is tomato, onion and parsley based, but I'm not sure of the seasonings. I will try your recipe, but am wondering if you are familiar with regional variations and if there might be a 'Palestinian Turkish Salad'?

 
At 3:02 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi,
Sorry, I am not familiar with the Palestinian cuisine:)

 
At 1:32 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

We're just back from another trip to Fethiye and again loved the food. We too are so glad that we've found this site (although disappointed that we can't get hold of the book, as we're in the UK and not the US). If you can post Antep Ezme I'll have a very happy hubby. He loved this dish and couldn't get enough of it.

Keep posting - we love trying the different receipes.

Sarah

 
At 11:17 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi...this recipe looks yummmmm...however what do you eat this dip with? & what kind of main course would be best to cook along with it to make it a complete meal?

Thanks for your reply in advance
Sumi

 
At 11:24 AM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Sumi,
Acili Ezme goes very well with any kind of Kebabs:)

 
At 6:27 PM, Blogger detune said...

If you can't find sumac or pomegranate molasses, I recommend ordering them online. Or if you can make it to a city, find a Turkish grocer. Those ingredients are critical to the flavor. Without them, you've basically made "salsa" :(

 
At 10:42 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I also remember 'Turkish Salad' from Arab restaurants in Israel. Looked for it in Turkey and this is the nearest match. I have had similar served hot in Dalyan and the cold, tomato based version appeared in Tourist hotel buffets. However, I found some in the supermarket in Antalya yesterday described as Acili Ezme which had Biber salçası as the first ingredient with Domates salçası, Soğan, etc. I was therefore surprised to see no peppers in this recipe.

 

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