Around the World in Foodventures (Armenia: MANTAPOUR and GHAPAMA)

It’s pumpkin season around here, so I couldn’t pass up the chance to make an Armenian recipe that involved using one: Ghapama (a sweet stuffed gourd, mostly served around the holidays or during special occasions, but also so loved in Armenia that there’s apparently even a modern pop song about it).  I usually only make one dish at a time from each country….but since Ghapama is more of a dessert than a meal in and of itself, I decided we needed an entrée: Mantapour (a yogurt-based soup with meat-filled dumplings).  Which of course means, two photos this time!

Mantapour

Ghapama

For the Mantapour, I basically followed this recipe: http://atelierchristine.com/archives/7503/recipe-box/mantabour-armenian-yogurt-dumpling-soup, including the wheat berries and shredded chicken along with couple tweaks of my own.  First -- because I saw lamb in some other versions of the dish, I chose to use a 50/50 mixture of lamb and beef inside the dumplings.  And B -- I tried to cheat by, instead of making the dumpling dough from scratch, using some pre-made wonton wrappers that I’ve had in the freezer for a while and wanted to make a dent in.  It turns out that this was a mistake because those wonton wrappers couldn’t hold up to the boiling time that the dumplings needed, and ended up falling apart, resulting lots of broken dumplings and the mini meatballs that fell out of them.  It did make me realize, though, that if you wanted, you could totally make this soup gluten-free by just skipping the dough/dumplings altogether and simply forming mini meatballs (you’d have to forego the wheat berries, too, obviously).  In the photo above, you can see the only three dumplings that really survived in tact, alongside some of the mini meatballs that fell out of others.  For the liquid part of the soup, I used fresh Mint (therefore doubling the amount called for) and had to add some salt at the end of cooking for overall flavor.  As a whole, I don’t think any of my adjustments (or mistakes) made any difference in the final flavor of this soup.  It was delicious, Hubby cheered, and I’d make it again.
 
For the Ghapama, I followed this recipe http://www.ianyanmag.com/ghapama-a-very-armenian-american-thanksgiving/ -- pretty much to the letter.  And there isn’t much to say about it other than holy wow yum who needs pumpkin pie just eat this instead.  ☺  I will add, though, that the amount of filling I prepared didn’t come all the way up to the top of the pumpkin when I stuffed it; but after baking, it had expanded and was chock full.

This post is part of my project: "Around the World in Foodventures" (I decided I want to expand my culinary horizons even further by making the national dish or a popular recipe, or some signature food or traditional meal from every country in the world. Maybe it'll happen alphabetically, or by region, in random order, or something else. I figure if we can't (yet?) travel everywhere, we at least have the luxury of being able to taste it. It’ll be fun and interesting, but obviously, will take a long time to get through -- as I'll only be doing it once a week or so at most. I am chronicling the journey here.)

“If I’m an advocate of anything, it’s to move…Walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food.” --Tony Bourdain