Palneni Chushki are often made for Christmas. This recipe is made without meat, though many other Bulgarian stuffed peppers contain meat and other vegetables.
Palneni Chushki, or Bulgarian stuffed peppers, are common among Bulgarians and often made for Christmas. This Palneni Chushki recipe is made without meat, though many other versions of Bulgarian stuffed peppers have meat and other vegetables.
Stuffed peppers are very popular in Bulgaria, and it is one of the many Balkan countries that has a stuffed pepper recipe. My Croatian version, punjene paprike, is one very popular recipe on the blog, and it is very different from this one.
Nevertheless, this easy recipe with just a few steps can be made after a long day at work and takes no time at all – dobŭr apetit (bon appetit!)
Bulgarian Stuffed Peppers - Palneni Chushki Recipe
Palneni Chushki or Bulgarian stuffed peppers, are often made for Christmas. This Palneni Chushki recipe is made without meat, though many other Bulgarian stuffed peppers contain meat and other vegetables.
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- 1 kg of peppers (any shape or color you can get). Remove the tops and clean out the seeds
- 150 g rice (risotto rice is best, but you can use any you have) - rinced to remove excess starch
- 1 onion
- 1 carrot
- 4-6 tbsp. of sunflower oil (or other vegetable oil)
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp chubritsa (Bulgarian spice), you can also subtitue with oregano
Optional Sauce
- 200 g of yogurt
- 2 eggs
- 1-2 tbsp. of flour
- Salt
- 1 tsp. of lemon (if yogurt is not sour enough)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180-200°
- Cut the onion and carrot into small pieces and fry them in the oil on moderate heat in a large frypan until soft
- Add the rice and fry until it becomes “glassy.” Usually around 3-4 mins
- Add 150 ml of warm water (rice: water 1:1) and let the rice absorb the water on low heat
- Add salt and pepper to taste, along with the chubritsa to the rice
- Make 2 or 3 fork marks on each pepper (so they do not split during cooking), and sprinkle a little salt inside the peppers
- Fill the peppers loosely with the rice mixture. The rice will absorb more water during baking so do not over stuff. Place them in an oven-proof dish
- If you have rice left over, place it around the peppers in the dish and pour over 100 ml of water
- Bake at 180-200° for 40 minutes
Make the sauce as follows, approx 5 mins before the peppers are ready:
- Mix the eggs, the yogurt, and the flour in a saucepan and place it on a moderate heat on the stove, and stir continuously until it thickens - do not let it boil. This should take around 3-4 minutes
- Remove the dish from the oven, and serve it topped with the sauce
Notes
- You might need more or less water depending on the rice you use. The rice is almost ready before baking (al dente), so it usually doesn’t need a lot of water, and peppers release additional juices as they bake
- Some peppers have a thin wall, mine were very thick, and I was unable to add as much rice as usual, so I had a lot of rice left to place in the baking dish. But, the rice outside the peppers is the most delicious part of the dish, in my opinion
- Stuffed Peppers {Punjene Paprike}
- Under The Bell {Ispod čripnje}
- Pasticada Recipe
- Octopus Salad
- Prezgana Soup (Brown Roux Soup)
- Lazy Apple Pie {Lijena Pita s Jabukama}
- Stuffed Vine Leaves (Japrak)
- Zagorje Cheese Strukli
- Trogirski Rafioli {Filled Cookies}
- Bijela Pita (White Slice Traditional Cake)
- Buredžici: Meat Pie Topped With Sour Cream, Yogurt & Garlic
- Oblatne s Čokoladnom Karamel Kremom (Tort Wafers Cake)
- Gulaš (Traditional Goulash)
- Kuglof With Apples (Apple Bundt Cake)
I believe that what you call chubritsa (Bulgarian spice) is the herb known here in the US as summer savory. I do know that savory is a popular cooking herb in some Eastern European countries.