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Turkish

Acılı ezme (Turkish spicy tomato-pepper relish)

Vegetarian

Acılı ezme

Tomato, green pepper, onion, parsley and mint chopped almost to a paste and bound with red pepper paste, pomegranate molasses, pul biber and sumac. The bright, hot relish served at every Turkish kebab house.

Acılı ezme (Turkish spicy tomato-pepper relish) is a Turkish condiment from Türkiye, ready in about 40 minutes and made with tomato, green bell pepper and parsley. It serves 6 and is rated easy to cook.

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Delicious Turkish Ezme salad served on a white plate, ideal for traditional and vegan dishes.
Photo: Markus Winkler / Pexels · Pexels License
Prep
25 min
Cook
0 min
Rest
15 min
Total
40 min
Serves
6
Level
Easy
Calories
73

Ingredients

6 servings (about 75 g)

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Halve the tomatoes (opens in a new tab), squeeze out the seeds and juice, and chop the flesh into the smallest dice you can. Tip into a sieve set over a bowl and leave to drain for 10 minutes; discard the juice or drink it.

    Tomatoes being diced on a board
    How it looks · Photo: Mayara Caroline Mombelli on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Chop the onion (opens in a new tab) very finely, put it in a bowl with a pinch of the salt and the sumac (opens in a new tab), rub together with your fingers for a minute and squeeze out the juice. This softens its sharpness.

    • 3 min
    An onion being chopped on a board
    How it looks · Photo: Christina & Peter on Pexels

  3. Step 3

    Chop the green pepper (opens in a new tab), chilli, parsley (opens in a new tab) and mint (opens in a new tab) as finely as possible, almost to a mince.

    Fresh herbs being chopped
    How it looks · Photo: RDNE Stock project on Pexels

  4. Step 4

    Pile everything on the board with the garlic (opens in a new tab), pepper paste (opens in a new tab), pomegranate molasses (opens in a new tab) and chilli flakes (opens in a new tab) and chop through the heap with a large knife for 1–2 minutes, folding it over itself, until it becomes a juicy, rough-textured relish where the pieces are barely distinguishable. A food processor turns it to soup; if you must use one, pulse 3–4 times only.

  5. Step 5

    Transfer to a bowl, stir in the lemon juice (opens in a new tab), olive oil (opens in a new tab) and remaining salt and leave for 15 minutes. Taste: it should be hot, sour and a little sweet. Adjust with salt, molasses or pul biber (opens in a new tab).

About this dish

Origin
South-east Türkiye (Adana, Gaziantep, Urfa), Türkiye · Commonly attributedA kebab-house staple most associated with the south-east; regional and restaurant versions vary in heat and in the use of garlic, walnuts and lemon.More food from Türkiye
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Condiments, chutneys & relishes · Dips & spreads · Salads
Cooking method
Raw, No-cook
Taste
spicy (chilli heat), tangy, fresh, herby
Diet
Vegan · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · Keto-style · Low-carb
All labelsVegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Whole-food focused · Paleo-style · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Mediterranean-style · Keto-style · Low-carb · DASH-style
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Budget-friendly · Everyday
Cook more with
Tomato · Green bell pepper · Parsley · Red pepper paste · Onion · Mint

Allergens

None of the 14 major allergens appear in the listed ingredients.

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

73 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 78 g · recipe makes 6

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 5%
  • Carbohydrate 38%
  • Fat 56%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g
Energy73 kcal93 kcal
Protein1 g1.3 g
Carbohydrate7.5 g9.6 g
Net carbohydrate6 g7.7 g
Sugars5.1 g6.5 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre1.5 g1.9 g
Fat4.9 g6.2 g
Saturated fat0.7 g0.9 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol0 mg0 mg
Sodium202 mg258 mg
Salt equivalent0.5 g0.6 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
268 mg
Calcium
24 mg
Iron
0.8 mg
Magnesium
20 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
56 µg
Vitamin C
21 mg
Vitamin D
0 µg
Vitamin B12
0 µg
Folate (DFE)
17 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: green chilli, garlic.
  • Red pepper paste: Tomato paste (FDC 170459) used as a stand-in for Turkish biber salçası; both are sun- or cook-concentrated nightshade pastes of similar density.
  • Pomegranate molasses: Molasses (FDC 168820) as a stand-in for a concentrated fruit syrup of similar sugar density.
  • Red chilli flakes: Ground cayenne (FDC 170932) used as a stand-in for dried chilli flakes such as pul biber or Aleppo pepper.
  • Sumac: Paprika (FDC 171329) as a stand-in dried ground red spice; values are approximate.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Use firm, meaty tomatoes; watery salad tomatoes make a loose ezme.
  • Kebab-house cooks chop ezme with a zırh, a curved double-handled blade; a heavy chef's knife does the same job.

Common mistakes

  • Skipping the draining step, which leaves a pool of tomato water.
  • Chopping the ingredients separately and only stirring them together; chopping them together binds the relish.

Serve with

  • With Adana kebab, köfte and lahmacun, wrapped in lavaş with parsley and onion.
  • On a meze table with haydari, cacık and bread.

Storage

  • Best within a few hours. Refrigerate up to 1 day; it releases more liquid as it sits, so drain before serving.

Variations

  • Gaziantep ezme with walnuts (Türkiye): Finely chopped walnuts are added for body and richness.
  • Mild ezme: Use sweet (tatlı) pepper paste and no fresh chilli for a child-friendly version.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

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Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

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Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

  • Tomato, firm, ripe; deseeded and very finely diced300 g
  • Green bell pepper, sivri or long mild green pepper, deseeded and very finely chopped60 g
Used in steps 1, 3

Make it milder, swap ingredients for your diet, change the batch size or thickness — the original stays as it is.

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