Topik — Armenian Chickpea and Potato Lenten Dumpling

Other Fast With Oil Published June 13, 2026

Topik is a Lenten showpiece from the Armenian table of Constantinople — a smooth shell of mashed chickpea and potato wrapped around a dark, sweet-savory filling of slow-cooked onions, tahini, currants, pine nuts, and warm spice. It is shaped into a dome in a cloth, chilled, sliced like a terrine, and showered with lemon, olive oil, and cumin. One slice carries the protein of a bowl of hummus with the elegance of something you would serve at a feast. This is the dish Armenians make to prove that fasting food can be the centerpiece.

As written this is a fast-with-oil dish, finished with olive oil and tahini both. For strict no-oil days, dress the slices with lemon and cumin alone and keep the tahini in the filling light — it still carries beautifully. The currants and onions provide enough richness that the oil is a grace note, not a crutch.

FASTING LEVEL: Fast With Oil (adaptable for strict days — see notes)
SERVINGS: 6
TIME: 1 hour 15 minutes plus chilling

INGREDIENTS

For the shell:
- 1 1/2 cups (250g) cooked chickpeas (or 1 can, drained), skins slipped off
- 2 medium potatoes (about 400g), boiled and peeled
- 3 tablespoons tahini
- Salt to taste

For the filling:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil (reduce to 1 for lighter days)
- 4 large onions, halved and thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup currants or raisins
- 3 tablespoons pine nuts
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- Salt and black pepper to taste

To finish:
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (omit for strict days)
- Ground cumin and paprika, for dusting

METHOD

1. Make the filling first. Heat the olive oil in a wide pan over medium-low heat and cook the onions slowly, stirring often, for 25-30 minutes until deeply soft, sweet, and golden brown. Patience here is the whole dish.

2. Stir in the currants, pine nuts, cinnamon, allspice, and cumin and cook 3 minutes more. Remove from heat, stir in the 2 tablespoons tahini, and season well. Let cool.

3. For the shell, mash the chickpeas and potatoes together very smoothly (a ricer or food processor helps). Beat in the 3 tablespoons tahini and salt until the mixture is a stiff, pliable dough. Chill 15 minutes if soft.

4. Lay a damp cloth or large piece of plastic wrap on the counter. Spread the chickpea-potato dough on it into a circle about 1cm thick.

5. Mound the cooled onion filling in the center. Using the cloth, draw the edges up and over the filling to enclose it, twisting the top to form a sealed dome. Chill at least 2 hours, or overnight.

6. Unwrap onto a plate. Just before serving, drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil and dust the whole dome with cumin and paprika. Slice into wedges with a wet knife.

NOTES

- Slipping the chickpea skins makes the shell silky; it is tedious but worth it. Rubbing the chickpeas in a towel removes most at once.
- For strict no-oil days, water-cook the onions (it takes longer and they brown less, but the sweetness comes through), keep tahini to a minimum, and finish with lemon and cumin only.
- Topik must be served cold — it is a chilled terrine, not a hot dish. It keeps 3 days refrigerated.
- Tahini is the protein and richness backbone here; use a good runny one.