Ghapama - staple of Armenian Christmas meal: Business InsiderDecember 20, 2017 - 13:20 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Business Insider has unveiled a feature about mouthwatering dishes prepared for a Christmas dinner in 20 countries around the world, naming pumpkin as the staple of the traditional Armenian meal. More particularly, the news website refers to Ghapama, which is prepared by removing the guts of the pumpkin and stuffing it with boiled rice and dried fruits such as chopped almonds, apple, cornel, apricot, plums, dates, prunes and raisins. It is also common to add honey and mix in ground cinnamon or sugar. The pumpkin is baked until it becomes soft. "We have eaten pumpkin, called ghapama, at Christmas for centuries," Narek, from Yerevan, Armenia said. "Christmas is special because it is the only time we eat pumpkin. We stuff it with plav, a mixture of rice and raisins, and honey. This is then served with turkey." Top stories David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Partner news | Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. |