Tiny rice and meat balls the size of a fingernail, cooked with chickpeas in a warm yoghurt soup finished with dried mint butter. It is the feast dish of Gaziantep, made for Eid mornings.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
Yuvalama is a labour dish. The balls are rolled by hand from a paste of soaked rice and minced lamb, each one no bigger than a chickpea, which is why it appears at festivals and family gatherings rather than on a weekday. The base is yoghurt stabilised with egg and starch so it can be heated without splitting, and chickpeas and shredded lamb go in alongside the rolled balls. It is finished with butter and dried mint. Gaziantep families traditionally eat it on the first morning of Kurban Bayramı, and restaurants that cook it are signalling that they do regional home food, not just kebab.
Common allergens: Dairy, Eggs
Tip from the editors. Stir the yoghurt in one direction only and keep it below a simmer, or it will curdle and no amount of whisking will bring it back.
Yesemek Gaziantep Mutfağı plates regional home cooking near the castle, and half portions make it the easiest place in Gaziantep to taste widely.
Order: Ekşili köfte, the sour meatball soup.
Tip: Vegetarian dishes are listed separately. The kuru patlıcan dolması is meat-free on request.
Hışvahan is the most formal room in Gaziantep, an Ottoman han restored into a hotel and restaurant that plates Antep dishes under stone vaults.
Order: Peynirli güveçte irmik helvası, the cheese and semolina halva.
Tip: Book for dinner rather than lunch. The courtyard lighting is the reason to be here after dark.
Evirgeç Mantı Evi plates home cooking on Atatürk Bulvarı, and Gaziantep mantı with yoghurt is one of the cheaper sit-down meals in the centre.
Try: Antep mantısı
Tip: Check the daily board before ordering. The listed menu runs wider than the day's cooking.
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