Eggplant, Pepper and Tomato Dolma

Wash the eggplants, sweet peppers and tomatoes. Trim off the eggplant stems, make deep lengthwise slits, and drop them into salted water; bring to a boil and simmer for 1–2 minutes.

Cut the tops off the peppers and tomatoes, keeping them to use as lids. Remove the seeds and membranes from the peppers, and scoop out the pulp from the tomatoes, reserving it. Carefully scoop out most of the flesh from the eggplants, being careful not to damage the skins.

Finely chop the onion. Mix it with the lamb mince, season with salt and pepper. Melt butter in a skillet and fry the mince over medium heat, stirring constantly, until cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Add finely chopped basil and cilantro, cinnamon, and half of the reserved tomato pulp to the mince. Stir, remove from heat, and let the filling cool slightly.

Fill the eggplants, peppers and tomatoes with the filling, without packing it in too tightly to the edges. Cover the tomatoes and peppers with their reserved tops.

Arrange the vegetables snugly, filling side up, in a wide deep skillet or a shallow pot. Add the remaining tomato pulp and hot water, then cover with a lid.

Braise over low heat for 45–60 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the filling is fully cooked through. Baste the dolma with the juices from the bottom of the pot.

To serve, mix plain yogurt with crushed garlic and serve the sauce separately alongside the hot dolma.