I was walking around the market and noticed grape leaves on sale. I decided that I could pamper my loved ones and family with dolma. These are the so-called small cabbage rolls in grape leaves, the progenitors of the well-known cabbage rolls in cabbage leaves. Try dolma, and then compare it with the recipe for delicious cabbage rolls. Like cabbage rolls, dolma can be stored in the freezer as a semi-finished product for several months. Therefore, you can always prepare another batch for the future.
Dolma - beautiful oriental dish, which will be an excellent decoration for both festive and everyday tables. And what can we say about the usefulness of this delicious dish! Grape leaves contain a lot of dietary fiber, which improves digestion and stimulates metabolic processes in the body. Frequent use grape leaves improves vision, potency and slows down the aging process. This is probably why dolma is so valued among eastern centenarians.
Dolma has many different cooking options, but I will tell you the recipe as close as possible to the traditional one.
Ingredients:
for filling:
1. Rice must be thoroughly washed 5-6 times until the water becomes clear. Next, pour boiling water over our rice so that the water lightly covers it and leave to swell. This way the rice will absorb water and will not take away the juice from the minced meat, which will make the dish more juicy.
Or, you can boil the rice until half cooked. To do this, rinse the rice well, add water, bring the water to a boil and cook for about a minute over medium heat.
2. Chop the onion very finely and set the frying pan to heat up.
3. Add vegetable oil into a heated frying pan and add the onion. Fry the onion, stirring evenly, until transparent.
4. When the onion has become transparent, pour our slightly swollen rice into the pan. Stir evenly so that the rice absorbs the onion juice. After this, the dolma filling will become even tastier. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool.
5. Chop the parsley very finely and place it in a deep bowl in which we will prepare the filling for the minced dolma.
6. Add minced meat to parsley.
7. Add spices, salt and pepper. Mix.
8. Add onion and rice to the minced meat. Mix thoroughly again.
9. While the minced meat is infusing, we will prepare the grape leaves. For dolma, you need to use young green leaves, and they should be collected in the spring. Such leaves are preserved for a year in advance in lightly salted water. Jars with preparations can be found on the market from private traders with pickles.
Carefully straighten the finished grape leaves and remove the petioles. We go through each sheet, putting the damaged ones aside. We will also need them, but not for wrapping dolma, but for lining the cauldron.
If you use fresh young leaves, then before cooking they need to be poured with boiling water and kept in this form for about 10 minutes.
10. Lay out the grape leaves, smooth side down, with the veins pointing upward.
11. Place some minced meat closer to the middle of the sheet.
12. Cover the filling with the bottom edge of the leaf.
14. Roll up our first dolma into a tight tube.
16. Place some of the prepared grape leaves on the bottom of the cauldron in 1-2 layers.
18. Cover the dolma placed in the cauldron with the remaining grape leaves.
19. Fill with meat broth or water so that the liquid lightly covers the dolma. Place a plate on top and, if necessary, place a weight on top. The latter is necessary so that the dolma does not unfold during the cooking process.
20. Place the cauldron on the fire and bring to a boil. When the water boils, reduce the heat to low and continue cooking for 1-1.5 hours at a slightly noticeable simmer. Then remove the cauldron from the heat and leave to brew for 10-20 minutes.
The most delicious dolma is ready. Serve it with sour cream or sour cream and garlic sauce. Bon appetit!
Alexander Gushchin
I can’t vouch for the taste, but it will be hot :)
Content
Cabbage rolls are popular in our national cuisine, however traditional recipes Southern countries suggest preparing a very similar dish not from cabbage, but based on young tender grape leaves. Dolma is served as a cold or hot appetizer; it is popular in Armenia, Georgia and Greece. Any housewife can master the recipe.
To learn how to cook dolma from grape leaves, you need to choose the appropriate minced meat for the filling. Traditionally it is made from lamb with the addition of rice and national spices, but you can try recipes based on pork or beef. In addition, it is recommended to add onions to the minced meat. The specifics of further preparation depend on the characteristics national cuisine: someone cooks dolma, someone stews it, and someone fries it. This dish can be served with white sauce or a dressing of fried vegetables.
Experienced housewives from southern countries know that the best time to prepare real dolma is the beginning of June, when the greenery on the trees is just blooming and the young leaves of the grapes still retain a delicate light green color. It is recommended to choose small ones (about the size of a woman’s palm), and before cooking, immerse them in boiling and salted water for two to three minutes, and then pour over ice water.
If you are interested in learning how to prepare dolma from grape leaves, regardless of the time of year, you can master the traditional Armenian recipe, according to which the leaves should be rolled into tubes, first tied with threads, poured with a rich salt broth (a tablespoon of salt per glass of water) and rolled into sterilized jars. Such canned preparation can be stored for a very long time.
Any housewife can prepare this dish deliciously if she remembers exactly what components the minced meat includes and how long to cook dolma from grape leaves. It’s difficult to immediately determine which recipe tastes best - it’s better to try cooking according to Greek, Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian canons, and then choose something of your own. Gourmets are more likely to appreciate classic homemade recipes of national cuisine.
In order to master the Armenian version of the dish, it will take very little time. The recipe for dolma from grape leaves in Armenian involves the following components:
Follow a simple algorithm:
It is known that the Azerbaijani recipe is not too different from the previous one, however, lamb is preferred here - this meat corresponds to the canons of the national oriental cuisine. You will need:
The step-by-step preparation is very simple:
The dish served in Greece will also be called dolmadakya or dolmades, a name that comes from Turkish culture and means “to wrap foods one inside another.” Keep in mind that the greens must be fresh, and meat is not included in this recipe. Dolmades are usually served among cold appetizers along with traditional Greek tzatziki sauce made from cucumbers and yogurt. For cooking you will need:
Follow the step by step instructions:
At home, you can use a variety of devices to boil dolma. The time spent on this process will depend on the exposure option. For example, to prepare a product from minced meat and grape leaves (dolma) traditional way, you will have to spend about 45-50 minutes.
You need to cook it in a slow cooker and a double boiler. 1 hour The fastest way to boil a semi-finished product is in the microwave; it takes no more than 15 minutes. But when choosing the optimal treatment option, you must be guided not by how much time you will have to spend on bringing the component to readiness, but by the taste and aroma of the final result.
Before you start preparing dolma or boiling a semi-finished product, you should learn more about the features and characteristics of this dish. This will allow you to get the most tasty and aromatic delicacy, and not boiled minced meat in a shell of grape leaves.
Tip: If you want to give familiar dish more exquisite taste, then it is recommended to add to the minced meat, in addition to onions, herbs and peppers, a little grated carrots and pumpkin.
The finished dolma does not have to be served hot right away. No less delicious dish It will appear even after it has cooled, but it must be served with herbs and lemon. Sour cream sauce would be a good addition.
In the case of boiling dolma, an important role is played not only by how long the processing will last, but also by how to organize it. Here are basic recommendations for processes depending on the impact option.
It is not recommended to boil dolma in a pressure cooker, because... It will be difficult to choose the optimal temperature and duration of exposure. But a pressure cooker will give good results. The holding time will also be from 50 minutes to an hour. As a last resort, the semi-finished product can be boiled in a colander secured over a pan of boiling water.
Sometimes no tricks for boiling dolma help. Most likely, this simply indicates the low quality of the workpieces. To avoid such a problem, you need to prepare the dish yourself, especially since it is quite simple.
It is worth considering that the quality of the leaves used may affect the taste characteristics of the finished product. If you prepare dolma from fresh leaves, then salt the minced meat well and do not forget to add the water in which the components are cooked. But salted leaves, even soaked ones, will already fill the product with the required degree of salinity. But even in this case, you will have to add a little salt and pepper to the minced meat. In general, all the nuances of processing semi-finished products become obvious only with experience.
At home, you can use a variety of devices to boil dolma. The time spent on this process will depend on the exposure option. For example, to prepare a product from minced meat and grape leaves (dolma) in the traditional way, you will have to spend about 45-50 minutes.
You need to cook it in a slow cooker and a double boiler. 1 hour The fastest way to boil a semi-finished product is in the microwave; it takes no more than 15 minutes. But when choosing the optimal treatment option, you must be guided not by how much time you will have to spend on bringing the component to readiness, but by the taste and aroma of the final result.
Before you start preparing dolma or boiling a semi-finished product, you should learn more about the features and characteristics of this dish. This will allow you to get the most tasty and aromatic delicacy, and not boiled minced meat in a shell of grape leaves.
Tip: If you want to give a familiar dish a more refined taste, then it is recommended to add, in addition to onions, herbs and peppers, a little grated carrots and pumpkin to the minced meat.
The finished dolma does not have to be served hot right away. The dish will seem no less tasty after it has cooled, but it must be served with herbs and lemon. Sour cream sauce would be a good addition.
In the case of boiling dolma, an important role is played not only by how long the processing will last, but also by how to organize it. Here are basic recommendations for processes depending on the impact option.
It is not recommended to boil dolma in a pressure cooker, because... It will be difficult to choose the optimal temperature and duration of exposure. But a pressure cooker will give good results. The holding time will also be from 50 minutes to an hour. As a last resort, the semi-finished product can be boiled in a colander secured over a pan of boiling water.
Sometimes no tricks for boiling dolma help. Most likely, this simply indicates the low quality of the workpieces. To avoid such a problem, you need to prepare the dish yourself, especially since it is quite simple.
It is worth considering that the quality of the leaves used may affect the taste characteristics of the finished product. If you prepare dolma from fresh leaves, then salt the minced meat well and do not forget to add the water in which the components are cooked. But salted leaves, even soaked ones, will already fill the product with the required degree of salinity. But even in this case, you will have to add a little salt and pepper to the minced meat. In general, all the nuances of processing semi-finished products become obvious only with experience.
Having tried dolma, many become “fans” of this dish. No wonder the dish has become popular, as it is very easy to prepare. However, in order to cook it correctly, you should know how long to cook dolma.
Cooking dolma takes 40-50 minutes. It is better to cook in a pan with thick walls. If dolma is cooked from grape leaves, then they are placed from below, at the beginning of cooking. Then the entire product is filled with water, which should completely cover the contents. However, it should not be allowed to reach the edges. Cook on low heat.
It takes 1.5 hours to cook dolma in a double boiler. If dolma is cooked in a slow cooker, you need to select the “Stew” mode.
Important: to avoid the rolls falling apart, it is better to cover them with a plate and cover the pan with a lid.
To prepare this sauce, chop the garlic and mix with sour cream. If there is no sour cream nearby, yogurt can replace it.
Place chopped garlic in a glass of kefir. You can also add any greens that suit your taste.
Mix onion and dried apricots. Mix pepper and cinnamon in a 1:1 ratio. Then you need to simmer the entire mixture in a frying pan, covering it with a lid. Cooking time is 10 minutes. Add salt (1-2 tsp), sugar (2 tbsp), and tomato paste to the mixture.
Considering how long the dolma is cooked depends on whether the dolma will taste good. But to cook properly, both time and approach to cooking are important. To make food tasty, it is useful to know some facts.
