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Turkish Dolma Pilav

A Turkish rice pilaf cooked with pine nuts, dried currants, cinnamon, mint, and sugar.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Pine and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 152 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

Turkish Dolma Pilav

Serves 2

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash the rice until the water runs clear.

  2. Sauté pine nuts and onions over medium heat in a deep skillet with a lid.

  3. Add cinnamon, mint, salt, sugar and black pepper.

Cook the rice

  1. Add the rice and stir constantly until the rice turns translucent.

  2. Add water, enough to cover the rice, and cook on low heat.

  3. When the water is absorbed, check the rice.

  4. Add more water or spices if needed.

  5. Quickly add currants; they should soften in the steam but can be soaked in hot water if preferred.

  6. If needed, use a paper towel and a pan with a closed lid to steam the rice until it is finished cooking.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

668Calories
10 gProtein
32 gFat
91 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Pine Nut1 oz (28g)191
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Mint2 tbsp fresh (3g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pine + cinnamontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together152 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  2. Pine + minttop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together123 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Cinnamon + minttop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together389 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Onion + pinetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together587 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Cinnamon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Basmati rice
Forms the bulk of the dish and absorbs the water and seasonings as it cooks.
Onion
Sweetens and builds savoury depth when sautéed until soft.
Pine nuts
Add rich, buttery crunch and toasty flavour when sautéed.
Dried currants
Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness as they plump in the steam.
Cinnamon
Adds warm, aromatic sweetness that defines the pilaf's flavour.

The step that matters

Stirring the rice until translucent. Toasting the grains in fat until they turn translucent coats them and helps them stay separate and fluffy, rather than sticking or turning gluey, once the water is added.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (basmati rice, onion, pine, nuts, cinnamon, mint, sugar):

  1. Limefits better
  2. Coconutfits better
  3. Lemonfits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against basmati rice, onion, pine, nuts, cinnamon, mint, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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