Hollowed courgettes stuffed with spiced lamb and rice, simmered in a warm cooked-yoghurt sauce.
Ablama is a cherished Lebanese home dish in which small courgettes (kousa) are cored and packed with a fragrant mixture of minced lamb, rice and warm spices, then gently simmered until tender. What sets ablama apart from other stuffed-vegetable dishes is its silky cooked-yoghurt sauce, stabilised with egg and cornflour so it never curdles, and finished with garlic and dried mint. The courgettes are sometimes browned in butter first for extra richness, then bathed in the velvety white sauce until everything melds. Served over vermicelli rice, it is a comforting, slightly tangy dish that showcases the Levantine love of yoghurt cooked into savoury food. It is the kind of meal that fills a Lebanese kitchen with the smell of mint and garlic.
Serves 4
Trim the stem ends and hollow out each courgette with a vegetable corer, leaving walls about 5mm thick. Work carefully to avoid piercing the sides. Rinse and drain the shells, then lightly salt the cavities.
Save the courgette flesh — it can be sautéed with onion and egg for a quick side the next day.
In a bowl, combine the minced lamb, rinsed rice, cinnamon, allspice, salt and olive oil. Mix thoroughly with your hands until evenly blended. The rice will absorb the meat juices and swell as it cooks.
Loosely fill each courgette with the meat mixture, leaving about 2cm empty at the top so the rice has room to expand. Pressing too tightly will cause them to split during cooking.
Filling them only three-quarters full is the single best way to keep them from bursting.
Melt the butter in a wide pot over medium heat. Gently roll the stuffed courgettes in the foaming butter for 4-5 minutes until lightly golden on all sides. This step adds a nutty depth to the finished dish.
Add just enough water to barely cover, season with a little salt, cover and simmer gently for about 25 minutes, until the courgettes are tender and the rice is cooked through. Drain off most of the cooking liquid, reserving a cup.
While they cook, whisk the yoghurt, egg and slaked cornflour in a saucepan with a good pinch of salt. The egg and cornflour are essential — they keep the yoghurt from splitting once it heats.
Whisk constantly in one direction; stirring back and forth encourages curdling.
Set over medium-low heat and stir the yoghurt continuously in one direction until it comes to a bare simmer and thickens to a pourable cream, about 8-10 minutes. Never let it reach a rolling boil.
Pour the hot yoghurt over the courgettes and simmer together 5 minutes. Quickly fry the crushed garlic and dried mint in a little butter until aromatic, stir through the sauce, and serve hot over vermicelli rice.
The sizzled garlic-and-mint finish is the signature aroma of ablama — add it just before serving.
Choose small, straight pale-green courgettes; they are sweeter and easier to core than large dark ones.
Always stabilise the yoghurt with egg and cornflour, or it will split into grainy curds.
Stir the cooking yoghurt in one direction only and keep it below a boil for a silky sauce.
Reserve some cooking liquid to loosen the sauce if it thickens too much.
Fresh mint can be used, but the toasted dried mint gives the more traditional, concentrated flavour.
Use a mix of courgettes and small eggplants for a heartier sheikh-style platter.
Add a handful of pine nuts to the stuffing for crunch and richness.
Make it vegetarian by stuffing with rice, chickpeas, tomato and herbs instead of meat.
Stir a little tahini into the yoghurt sauce for a nuttier Levantine twist.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat very gently over low heat, stirring, as the yoghurt sauce can break if overheated.
Ablama belongs to the wide Levantine family of mahshi (stuffed) vegetable dishes and the regional tradition of cooking with stabilised yoghurt, known as laban immo. Stuffed courgettes in white sauce have been a staple of Lebanese and Syrian home kitchens for generations, prized as economical, nourishing family fare.
Whisk a beaten egg and a little cornflour into the yoghurt before heating, then cook it over medium-low heat while stirring constantly in one direction. Never let it reach a vigorous boil. These steps stabilise the proteins so the sauce stays smooth and creamy rather than splitting into grainy curds.
Look for small, pale-green Lebanese-style courgettes (kousa) about 12-15cm long. They have thinner, sweeter flesh and a shape ideal for coring. If you can only find standard dark courgettes, choose the smallest, straightest ones and core them gently to keep the walls intact.
The rice in the filling absorbs liquid and swells significantly as it cooks. If the courgettes are stuffed too full, that expansion has nowhere to go and the shells split open, spilling the filling into the sauce. Filling them only about three-quarters full leaves room for the rice to expand cleanly.
You can core and stuff the courgettes several hours ahead and refrigerate them. It is best, however, to make the yoghurt sauce fresh just before serving, since reheating cooked yoghurt risks breaking it. If reheating leftovers, do so slowly over low heat while stirring gently.
Per serving (420g / 14.8 oz) · 4 servings total
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