While there is a lot of mingling of regional cuisines down in southeastern Turkey along the border with Syria, I can’t say I’ve had much in the way of hummus. Probably because I didn’t know where to look, but the few times I’ve had it, it paled in comparison to the best hummus I’ve ever had. So I was surprised when a Turkish tour guide friend responding to my open request for food recommendations in Gaziantep asked me if I had ever heard of nohut dürümü. I was familiar with the bread wrap dürüm – varying from a sort of tortilla thickness to something more akin to pita bread — but had only associated it with kebap and döner wraps. Nohut means chickpea. I eat a lot of meat when I am in Turkey; a vegetarian option is never a bad thing.

I googled and found a page in Turkish wherein I found a few restaurant names specializing in nohut dürüm, one of which, Adil Usta, was within walking distance. It claimed to be the oldest dürümcüs in Gaziantep. The first person known to have offered chickpea wraps was Zengin Ağa who sold them from a pushcart back in the 1940s. Zengin taught his nephew and Adil Usta how to make them and the two ended up starting their own dürümcülük – wrap shop specializing in chickpea wraps, nohut dürümü. The shop was founded in 1960.

At lunch this corner shop fills up with locals. It’s hearty food at affordable prices, 2.5 TL (just over $1 USD) for one chickpea wrap. We went late after the lunch rush and ordered up one nohut dürümü for me and a tavuk (chicken) dürümü for Tip. The chickpeas were partly whole and partly mashed into a pre-mixed paste that included seasonings and onions. I opted for acı (ah-juh) – spicy.

I have to admit the chicken was delicious enough to make me partly regret going vegetarian on this meal, but we can add nohut dürümü to my list of great Turkish foods. And just another great reason Gaziantep is Turkey’s foodie capital.

Where Is This?

Google Maps as it turned out led us down the wrong back street. Adil Usta is on the corner of Atatürk Boulevard and

Şair Nebi Sokak. I’ve marked it on the map here. They do delivery service: 232-1616

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Enjoy more posts from Southeastern Turkey! Click here for the Gaziantep trip.

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