This is an international dish that people like to cook in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Iran and Greece. In each country, dolma is prepared according to special customs and recipes.
By the method of preparation, it resembles cabbage rolls, but the filling is wrapped in young and soft leaves of grapes, and not in cabbage leaves.
You can use both fresh and harvested pickled leaves.
The traditional stuffing of dolma consists of rice cereal and meat. This dish is perfect for serving on a festive table.
Dolma in grape leaves - general principles of preparation
To prepare the classic dolma, two types of grape leaves are used - agshany and karashany. They will suit both fresh and rolled up for the winter. Rinse the leaves preferably with boiled water.
Any meat is used: beef, lamb or pork. For a more delicate taste, you can combine two types at once.
Dolma should not have a lot of rice, otherwise the taste of the dish will be spoiled. Rice itself is desirable to use round grain.
One of the essential components of the dish is smelled. Replace it if desired with lentils.
Before cooking dolma, the bottom of the pan must be covered with grape leaves so that the dish does not burn.
You can wrap the "dolmishki" in cubes or tube. In the pan you need to lay them out in an even layer. Pour the water two fingers below.
In the Caucasus, dolma is served with katyk mixed with garlic. This dairy product can be replaced with sour cream.
Dolma in grape leaves - a classic recipe
Ingredients:
• 480 g of minced lamb;
• 350 g of fresh young grape leaves;
• half a glass of rice cereal;
• one onion;
• one bunch of green onions;
• 40 g flour;
• 130 g sour cream;
• 70 g of tomato paste;
• glass of water;
• salt;
• ground black pepper.
Cooking:
1. Rinse the grape leaves, cut off the coarse parts and dry the leaves in the air or dry with a towel.
2. Peel, rinse and chop the onion.
3. To sort rice if necessary, rinse and cook until half cooked, cool.
4. Stuffing mix with onion, rice, season with salt and ground pepper.
5. Stuff prepared grape leaves. To do this, lay out the sheet on a table or cutting board, put a little mincemeat on the top of the sheet, wrap the top of the sheet, then the right and left parts to the center and roll down.
6. Fold the whole dolma tightly together in a saucepan, pour a mixture of water, sour cream and tomato paste, simmer for about an hour and a half until cooked.
7. Prepare the sauce. To do this, fry the flour a little in a dry frying pan until a brownish tint is obtained, mix with the sauce remaining from the stew and pour the mixture prepared for serving dolma with this mixture.
Dolma in grape leaves with vegetables
Ingredients:
• 450 g of mutton;
• 90 g of turmeric;
• 380 g of fresh grape leaves;
• two onions;
• three red tomatoes;
• two eggplants;
• one hot pepper;
• two bell peppers;
• 60 g butter;
• dolma;
• salt;
• a pinch of ground pepper.
Cooking:
1. Peel and wash the onion.
2. Grind lamb, turmeric and onion in a meat grinder.
3. Wash grape leaves well and cut off from coarse areas.
4. Stuff the minced meat in a pan and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally. Season with salt, softened butter and ground pepper. Stir and leave to cool.
5. Wash and peel tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. Pepper to clear seeds and stalk. Place the peeled eggplant in a container of salted water to remove excess bitterness, then squeeze and dry a little, laying on a paper towel.
6. Dice the vegetables and stew until half cooked.
7. Stuffing mix with vegetables, stuff them with grape leaves.
8. Put the resulting dolma in two layers in a saucepan or stewpan. Pour water there (1-2 cm above the dolma level) and simmer a little more than an hour.
Dolma in grape leaves with fish
Ingredients:
• grape leaves fresh or salty;
• 30 g of rice cereal;
• 300 g fish fillet;
• vegetable oil;
• one onion;
• 3-4 tbsp. l lemon juice;
• 1 tbsp. l tomato paste;
• 200 g of water;
• salt;
• ground white pepper.
Cooking:
1. To carry out the processing of grape leaves. To do this, cut off rough veins and a twig from them. If the leaves are salty, you must first soak them in water.
2. Chop fish fillet with a knife into small pieces or chop it with a meat grinder.
3. Peel and finely chop the onion, passively with the addition of vegetable oil.
4. Rinse and boil rice until half cooked.
5. Mix chopped fish, onion and rice. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with lemon juice.
6. Spread the minced meat on the leaves of the grapes and spin them. It should be something like cabbage rolls.
7. Gently fold the fish dolma into a saucepan, pour in a mixture of water and tomato paste. Simmer over moderate heat for 35-45 minutes.
Vegetarian dolma in grape leaves
Ingredients:
• two chicken eggs;
• fresh young grape leaves;
• four onions;
• 150 g round rice;
• one bunch of green onions;
• one bunch of dill;
• 180 g of sorrel or fresh spinach;
• one sprig of cilantro and mint;
• 100 g of kefir;
• a glass of water or vegetable broth;
• vegetable oil;
• a pair of garlic cloves;
• salt;
• ground pepper.
Cooking:
1. Carry out a treatment of greenery Wash and clean the grape leaves from rough areas. Soak green onions, dill, sorrel, cilantro and mint in a bowl of cool water, rinse and dry a little on a paper towel. Then grind dried herbs in a blender into a pulp.
2. Rinse the rice and boil a little.
3. Chop the onion finely.
4. Boil eggs, peel and finely chop.
5. Stir the cooked ingredients. Add some vegetable oil, salt and pepper.
6. Stuff the grape leaves with the prepared egg-vegetable mixture, roll up in the form of small envelopes. If the leaves are harsh, you can first scald them with boiling water and cool a little.
7. Fold the dolma into a saucepan or a wide saucepan, add broth or water and simmer until cooked over moderate heat.
8. Prepare the sauce. To do this, peel and chop the garlic into a pulp and mix it with kefir and season with salt.
9. When serving dolma pour over kefir sauce.
Beef Dolma in grape leaves
Ingredients:
• grape leaves;
• 600 g of beef (neck);
• 60 g of rice cereal;
• one carrot;
• one onion;
• a couple of celery petioles;
• a pair of parsley branches;
• 60 g butter;
• any vegetable oil;
• glass of water;
• salt;
• ground pepper;
• dense bio-yogurt without additives.
Cooking:
1. Rinse the rice groats and soak for a couple of hours in cool water.
2. Rinse the grape leaves, clean from rough sections and veins, scald with boiling water and cool. If you use pickled leaves, they should be washed in cold water.
3. Rinse the meat, dry it and cut into small arbitrary pieces.
4. Peel, wash, and chop coarsely.
5. Grind meat and onions with a meat grinder.
6. Rinse the parsley and chop finely with a knife and add to the minced meat.
7. Separate rice from water using a sieve.
8. Peel, rinse and grate the carrots.
9. Wash the celery, peel and cut into small cubes.
10. Combine celery and carrots and fry a little in oil.
11. In the stuffing, put rice, salt, pepper, celery with carrots. Mix everything thoroughly.
12. Stuff grape leaves, put in a saucepan, add water, simmer for about an hour.
13. Before serving dolma pour yogurt.
Dolma in grape leaves with pine nuts and currants
Ingredients:
• 440 g canned grape leaves;
• ten onions;
• 350 g of rice cereal;
• 70 g of parsley;
• 100 g of olive oil;
• 40 g pine nuts;
• 50 g of dried black currant;
• 12 g of dried mint;
• four peas of allspice;
• a pinch of black pepper powder;
• a pinch of cinnamon;
• a pinch of sugar;
• lemon juice;
• salt.
Cooking:
1. Conduct product processing. Soak the grape leaves in water for 12-15 minutes, dry. Peel and wash the onion. Rinse the rice. Rinse the parsley and chop finely.
2. Finely chop the onion, transfer to a frying pan or a saucepan, sauté in olive oil for 3-4 minutes. Add cedar nuts, pass for several minutes. Fall asleep rice. Stew until rice is transparent.
3. Then add to the pan all the spices and parsley provided for in the list of ingredients. Mix. Add 80-90 g of boiling water and simmer with the lid closed on moderate heat until the rice swells. After that, put everything in a plate and cool at room temperature.
4. The thus prepared filling is used for stuffing grape leaves.
5. Put the dolma in a wide saucepan, add lemon juice, a little olive oil and pour boiling water so that the water completely covers the whole dolma and is 1-2 cm above it.
6. Stew for about an hour.
Dolma in grape leaves - tricks and tips
• If you did not find grape leaves, then you can replace them with quince or fig leaves.
• Dolma will be very tasty if you add bell pepper or tomato to the filling.
• To add flavor to the dish, be sure to put greens (cilantro or dill) in the dolma. It is advisable to cut them large.
• Pepper, adava and peppermint will be good ingredients when preparing dolma in grape leaves. They will help to further reveal the taste of the dish.
• If the minced meat is not going to the cutlet, then add the egg to it.
• If the filling is dry, add ghee to it.
