Hamsili Pilav — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A dramatic Black Sea specialty where butterflied anchovies line a baking mold encasing fragrant herbed pilaf, baked until the fish turns golden and crisp.

Ingredients

500g fresh anchovies, cleaned and butterflied
300g long-grain rice
1 large onion, finely diced
3 tbsp butter
50g pine nuts
30g dried currants
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp black pepper
Large bunch fresh dill, chopped
Large bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
500ml fish or chicken broth
2 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

1 Cook rice in broth with a tablespoon of butter until just barely tender and the liquid is absorbed, then fluff and set aside.
2 Sauté onion in remaining butter until golden, add pine nuts and currants, cook three minutes, then fold into the cooked rice.
3 Season the rice with allspice, pepper, chopped dill, and parsley, mixing thoroughly so every grain carries the herb fragrance.
4 Butter a round baking mold generously, then line the bottom and sides with butterflied anchovies, tails pointing upward neatly.
5 Pack the herbed rice firmly into the anchovy-lined mold, then fold the overhanging anchovy tails over the top to seal completely.
6 Drizzle with olive oil and bake at 190 degrees Celsius for twenty-five minutes until the anchovies are golden, crisp, and fragrant.

Did You Know?

In the Black Sea city of Trabzon, the anchovy is so beloved that there are over forty traditional recipes using this single fish.