~553 cal · 8g protein · 120g carbs · 8g fat (estimated, per serving)
🍽️
Whole baked pumpkin filled with jeweled rice and dried fruit
🇦🇲 Yerevan
Ghapama is Armenian celebration made edible — a whole pumpkin roasted with sweet rice and dried fruit until you can scoop shell and all. It has its own folk song, sung as the pumpkin is carried to the table and cracked open at weddings and New Year.
Sign in to save recipes to your book and leave reviews.
Make it yours
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
Ingredients
Serves 6 —
•
1 (about 4 lbs) small round pumpkin
•
1.5 cups rice, par-cooked
•
1.5 cups total dried apricots, prunes, and raisins
•
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped
•
1/4 cup honey
•
4 tbsp butter, melted
•
1 tsp cinnamon
•
1 a pinch of salt
Instructions
1
Cut a lid from the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds, leaving the walls intact.
2
Mix the par-cooked rice with the dried fruit, walnuts, honey, half the butter, cinnamon, and salt.
3
Pack the filling into the pumpkin, drizzle with the rest of the butter, and replace the lid.
4
Bake at 350°F for 80–90 minutes until a knife slides easily through the pumpkin wall.
5
Carry it whole to the table and cut down into wedges so each serving is sweet rice and soft roasted pumpkin together. Sing if you know the song.
Yerevan celebration tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Sign in to rate this recipe once you’ve cooked it.
No reviews yet — be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers — know your destination
📍
Yerevan. The pink city, where autumn means stuffing a whole pumpkin.
🗺️
Armenia. Ancient highland kitchens of apricot, lavash, and pomegranate.
🌍
Asia. From street-cart woks to slow monastery kitchens.
The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.
👩🍳
Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker
Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →
More from Armenia
Khorovats
Armenian barbecue: marinated pork or lamb grilled over vine coals with fire-roasted vegetables.
Zhingyalov Hats
Thin flatbread stuffed with a dozen or more chopped herbs and greens, griddled until blistered.
Tan
A cold, salted yogurt drink whisked with water and sometimes mint — Armenia's tangy, savory answer to summer heat.