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.

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.

3 editor picks for Yuvalama in Gaziantep, ranked by editorial score. All Gaziantep signature dishes · Yuvalama across every city.