Microwave Recipes - All recipes call for "Lower element heating" Unless stated otherwise:

Turkish homemade ravioli (Manti) (Turkish cuisine) - Serves 4 - microwave recipes

Ingredients - Amounts

For the Filling:
Minced meat - 250 g
Onion - 1 medium size
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Water - 2 tablespoons
For the Dough:
Flour - 1 cup
Eggs - 1
Salt
Water - 3 tablespoons
Olive oil or sunflower oil - 1 teaspoon
For the Sauce:
Strained yogurt - 750 g
Garlic - 2 cloves
Salt
Freshly ground white pepper
Butter or sunflower oil - 2 tablespoons
Paprika - 1 teaspoon

1- Peel and grate onion. Crush garlic with salt. Sift the flour.
2- Mix well minced meat, onion, salt, black pepper and water in a bowl. Set it aside. 3- To prepare the dough, make a hole at the center of the flour, break an egg and add water, salt and olive or sunflower oil. Mix by hand and knead. Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest for 15-20 minutes. Repeat the same procedure once more. After kneading and letting rest for the second time, divide the dough in half and pat each half into a ball. Lightly flour the surface and roll out to paper thickness about 20 cm in diameter.
4- Put small dollops of meat filling about 4 cm apart.
Cut the dough into 4x4cm squares with a lump of filling in the center of each. Pick each square by hand and press four corners together above the center of the filling forming tiny packets.
5- Lightly grease the teflon tray of your oven with sunflower oil and remove any excess oil with a paper napkin. Put the prepared manti's (ravioli's) on teflon tray. Put the grilling wire of your microwave oven in place. Place the teflon tray on it and grill the Raviolis for 7-8 minutes.
6- In the meantime, bring 1cup of water to boil. Transfer ravioli from the tray onto an oven proof dish and add hot water. Cover dish with a plastic cooking film and cook at 100 % for 2.30 minutes. Let it rest for 1 minute after removing from the oven and before you remove the plastic cover.
7- In a small pan, beat with wire the yogurt, garlic, salt and white pepper to heavy cream consistency by slowly adding water. Add more salt and pepper if necessary. Heat the yogurt sauce in microwave oven at 80% for 1 minute.
8- Transfer ravioli into pre-heated plates. Pour the warm yogurt sauce over it. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small frying pan. Mix butter with paprika while hot. Put butter - paprika mixture over yogurt sauce and serve ravioli hot.

Pilaf with tomatoes - Serves 4 - microwave recipes

Ingredients - Amounts

Rice - 2 cups
Onion - 1 large size
Tomatoes - 5 medium size
Broth - 250 ml (1cup)
Butter - 75 g (5tablespoons)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1- Sort rice and place in a deep cooking pan. Add warm water until about 3-4 finger-thickness above the surface of the rice. Stir in 2 tablespoons of salt and let rice soak for 1hour. Drain water and wash several times until it becomes clear.
2- Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel and grate tomatoes. Bring the broth to boil and keep it hot.
3- Place butter, chopped onions, and grated tomatoes in a microwave dish and cook at 100% for 2 minutes. Mix well once and continue to cook for 2 more minutes.
4- Remove from oven and add hot broth, salt and black pepper to tomato sauce and mix them. Place in microwave oven once more and boil the mixture at 100% for 3 minutes. Add prepared rice to sauce. Cover top with a stretch-film. Cook pilaf at 100% for 2 minutes. Then reduce the power to 40% and let cook for 15 minutes.
5- Remove from oven, cover with a clean cloth and a lid on top. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Mix once and serve.

Stuffed bell peppers in olive oil (Dolma) - Serves 4 - microwave recipes

Ingredients - Amounts

For Peppers:
Bell peppers - 8 medium size
Tomatoes - 2 medium size
Olive oil - 60 ml (1/4 cup)
Sugar - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt
Hot water - 375 ml (1 1/2 cup)
For the Filling:
Rice - 3/4 cup
Currants - 1 1/2 tablespoons
Onions - 3 medium size
Fresh mint - 1/4 bunch
Dill - 1/2 bunch
Pine nuts - 1 1/2 tablespoons
Sunflower oil - 3 tablespoons
Olive oil - 3 tablespoons
Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon
Ground cinnamon - 1/2 teaspoon
Ground allspice - 1/2 teaspoon
Freshly ground white pepper
Salt
Hot water - 200 ml (4/5 cup)

1- Remove the seeds from bell peppers by pressing their stalks inwards. Wash tomatoes and cut in pieces that would cover tops of peppers.
2- Sort rice and let it rest in warm water for 1hour and then rinse several times until water runs clear. Let currants sit in warm water for 1hour. Peel and finely chop the onions. Clean mint and dill and chop them as well.
3- Place pine nuts, sunflower oil and olive oil in an ovenproof dish. Roast at 100% for 4minutes until pine nuts become golden brown. Add onions and continue to cook for 6 more minutes.
4- When onions are brown, add rice and continue to cook for 2.30minutes. Then add currants, mix well and cook for another 2.30 minutes. Afterwards mix in sugar, cinnamon, allspice, white pepper, salt and water, cover with a plastic cooking film and cook for 3more minutes. Finally, add chopped dill and mint, mix and let it rest for 10 minutes after covering it up with a clean cloth.
5- When the filling cools down stuff the bell peppers. Cover with tomato pieces if you wish. Put dolmas in an oven proof dish. Mix olive oil, sugar, salt and hot water and pour over the dolmas. Cover dish with a plastic cooking film and cook at 100 % for 10 minutes (at the half of the cooking time take some of the juice and pour over the dolmas).
6- After taking out of the oven, let it cool with plastic film for 20 minutes. Serve warm or cold with lemon slices.

Sultan's delight (Hunkar Begendi) - Serves 4 - microwave recipes

Ingredients - Amounts

For ''Begendi'' (eggplant purée):
Eggplants - 1 kg
Butter - 90 g (6 tablespoons)
Flour - 90 g (3/4 cup)
Warm milk - 500 ml (2 cups)
Grated cheddar type cheese - 1 cup
For ''Tas Kebab'':
Garlic - 2 cloves
Bell pepper - 1 medium size
Onions - 2 medium size
Tomatoes - 2 medium size
Sunflower oil - 3 tablespoons
Cubed lamb (rump) - 750 g
Flour - 1 tablespoon
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Grated nutmeg - 1 pinch
Hot water - 500 ml (2cups)

1- Prick eggplants in several places with a toothpick. Put the grilling wire of your microwave oven in place. Cook eggplants in the teflon tray of the microwave oven. Cook eggplants in top and bottom cooking adjustment for 12 minutes until they become very soft.
2- To prepare tas kebab, peel and thinly slice cloves of garlic. Remove seeds from bell pepper by pressing its stalk inwards and slice it thinly. Finely chop the onions. Puree tomatoes in a blender
3- Place sunflower oil, onions, sliced garlic and the green pepper in an oven proof dish, cook at 100 % for 3 minutes. Add the meat, cook for 4 more minutes and mix in tomatoes and flour. After cooking for 1more minute add salt, pepper, nutmeg and water. Cover with a plastic cooking film and cook in microwave oven at 60 % for 20 minutes.
4- To prepare eggplant puree, melt butter and mix well with flour in an ovenproof dish. Take meat out of the oven and let it rest awhile before removing the plastic cooking film. Cook butter-flour mixture at 100 % for 3 minutes (mix once after 1.5 minutes).
5- Peel skin of roasted eggplants. Cut stalks and mix eggplants well with the cooked butter-flour mixture using a fork. Smash eggplants with a wooden spoon and slowly mix in the warm milk. Add salt and the grated cheese and mix once more. Cook at 80 % for 4 minutes.
6- Put hot eggplant puree in a serving dish, make a hole in the middle and place cooked meat with some of its sauce. Serve while hot.

Mixed spices - 2 cups

Ingredients - Amounts

Black peppercorns - 1/2 cup
Coriander seeds - 1/4 cup
Cinnamon stick - 13 cm long
Cloves - 1/4 cup
Cumin seeds - 1/3 cup
Cardamom seeds - 2 teaspoons
Nutmeg - 4 pieces
Ground paprika - 1/2 cup

1- Blend peppercorns, coriander seeds, cinnamon stick, cloves, cumin seeds and cardamom seeds in a blender until they are crushed to a powder.
2- Grate nutmeg and mix with other spices together with ground paprika. Save in an air-sealed container to be used when needed.

Note: You may prepare this mixture using ground spices. Four whole nutmegs is approximately equivalent to1/4 cup ground nutmeg. When only ground spices are used, the total amount of mixed spices comes out to be more than what is mentioned above.