This is a classic main course of home cooked meals in Turkey. With minor variations, the same recipe can be applied to three other vegetables: tomato, egg plant and oriental zucchini. In fact, in some households, these three vegetables are cooked in the same pot allowing their flavors to blend into something quite exquisite. While grape leaves stuffed with the same filling are sometimes added to the mix, dolma made with grape leaves is a tradition in itself that deserves its own entry (upcoming!).

Wash the rice and leave it in a bowl filled with cold water for about half an hour. Use one of the tomatoes to prepare the caps for the peppers as shown in the picture above. Finely chop the onion and the parsley with a sharp knife. Also chop the second tomato and whatever is left from the first tomato. Put the chopped onion, parsley, tomato, spices and 1/3 cup of water in a bowl and mix them well.

Wash the peppers and punch them on three sides using a fork. Cut the tops of the peppers, remove the seeds and stuff them loosely with the meat filling. Arrange the stuffed peppers in a shallow pan as shown below. If the pan is too large, you can use a potato or two to prevent the peppers from turning over during cooking. They will be quite delicious too.