Dolma is a delicious hot appetizer. Its main components are minced meat and grape leaves. Representatives of different nations are still arguing about who came up with an excellent dish. After all, the recipe for dolma can be found in Azerbaijani, Armenian and Uzbek cuisine.
What is dolma?
This is one of those dishes that even a novice can cook. Dolma was "born" in the East. This explains the original combination of ingredients in the recipe. The grape leaf is durable, which allows it to withstand high temperatures without problems. The sourness characteristic of the leaf improves the taste of meat. Rice absorbs excess fluid. Many of you have already noticed that dolma is very similar to our cabbage rolls.
Turkish chefs prepare dolma as meat, serving it hot and lean, which is eaten cold. Armenians believe that the dish should have a delicate taste, so they add a minimum of spicy spices to it. In Georgia, housewives think differently and generously put paprika in dolma.
Dolma Leaves
What is dolma without grape leaves? Greens are a key component of the dish. For harvesting for the winter, less often take the leaves of red grape varieties, more often - white varieties. They should be young and as even as possible.
Storage
To enjoy fresh leaves in dolma even in winter, they should be stored correctly. We twist them into 10 rolls and put each of them in a glass jar. Cover and sterilize for 30 minutes in the oven. We roll up the cans and put them in a dark place for storage.
Pickled leaves
For pickling, only whole grape leaves should be selected . We wash the greens under running water and put in a pan. Fill with water and bring to a boil.
We put the cooled leaves on top of each other and turn them into tubes. We fill the banks quite densely with green rolls.
To prepare the marinade, you will need 1.5 liters of water and 2 tablespoons of table salt. Throw salt and a few peas of allspice into boiling water. We carefully pour the resulting brine into jars of leaves, filling them with all the voids. Leave the leaves for the night.
In the morning, close the pickled greens with plastic lids and put the jars in the refrigerator. You can also roll cans until the brine has cooled.
Leaf preservation
Canned greens of grapes will retain all the beneficial properties. To prepare it, you must perform the following steps:
- Wash selected young sheets under running water. Roll them up with a tube - 15-20 pieces each. Secure the “rolls” with a thread.
- Place them in a slotted spoon and dip them first in boiled water for a few seconds, then in cold.
- Take half-liter glass jars and place the green tubes tightly in them. Pour in cold brine. To prepare the brine per 1 liter of water, you need to take 40 g of salt.
- Leave this way for 3 days.
- After the specified time, add 1 tsp. To each jar. 9% apple cider vinegar. If necessary, add brine to the containers.
- We sterilize the jars in the oven for 20 minutes. Then roll them up.
Salting leaves
Not every housewife knows how to pickle grape leaves for dolma. There are many recipes, consider one of the simplest.
Prepare a 10% salt solution. For 100 g of salt, take 900 ml of water. Pour the pre-washed leaves into the resulting solution. For salting, it is convenient to use half-liter containers. Keep greens in a cool place. Before cooking dolma it should be soaked in water for 1-2 hours.
Freezer storage
Before freezing grape leaves, they must be thoroughly washed and dried. Then put the greens in small stacks and roll them up. Place in a regular plastic bag and then in the freezer. Under the influence of low temperatures, the leaves become fragile. Therefore, they should be thawed very carefully, dropping into cold water. Thawed greens must be placed in hot water for a while.
Dolma Recipe in Grape Leaves
To prepare the dish you will need the following products:
- minced meat - 1 kg;
- grape leaves - 300 g;
- onions - 2 pcs.;
- white rice - 100 g;
- chicken egg - 1 pc.;
- tomatoes - 3 pcs.;
- carrots - 1 pc.;
- meat broth;
- greens;
- salt, pepper to taste.
Cooking step by step
Use the step-by-step recipe and you will immediately understand what dolma is.
- Boil the rice. Add minced meat to it. Stir and sprinkle with finely chopped dill and parsley. Add chopped onion, salt, pepper, one egg. Mix the resulting dolma stuffing well.
- Blanch leaves for several minutes in boiling water. We spread the meat filling on each sheet. The edges are bent towards the center, and then we turn the workpiece. Put the dolma in the pan.
- Cooking the sauce. Grind the onion and rub the carrots on a coarse grater. Finely chop the tomatoes. Fry all vegetables for several minutes in a pan with a small amount of oil. Take ½ cup meat broth and pour into the mixture. Stir and bring the frying to a boil. Add the hops-suneli.
- Pour the cooked roast into the dolma. Cover and set on low heat for 40 minutes. The eastern dish - dolma in grape leaves, the recipe of which we have reviewed - is ready! Enjoy your meal!
Azerbaijani Dolma recipe in a slow cooker
Using a slow cooker, you can cook dolma not only tasty, but also quite quickly. For the dish you will need the following ingredients:
- ground beef - 700 g;
- long steamed rice - ½ multi-cup;
- grape leaves (fresh, dried or canned);
- fat sour cream - 1 multi-glass;
- greens;
- salt;
- pepper.
Cooking process step by step
- If fresh grape leaves are used for the dish, then they should be made as soft as possible. Pour boiling water and leave for 30 minutes.
- Rinse the rice and mix it with minced meat. Pepper and salt the meat filling. To prevent it from being excessively dry, add a little water to it.
- Gently cut the base of the leaves with a knife. Then in each sheet put a portion of the meat filling. Fold them in the form of an envelope and put them in a crock-pot. Salt and fill with water.
- Cook the dolma in the "Extinguishing" mode. Cooking time will be about 1.5 hours.
- What is dolma without sauce? Do not forget about this important component. Combine sour cream and finely chopped herbs. With the resulting sauce, serve the dish to the table.
In Georgian
To prepare Georgian dolma (a dish that is very popular) you will need:
- mixed forcemeat (pork and lamb) - 0.5 kg;
- pickled grape leaves - 300 g;
- white onion head - 1 pc.;
- cilantro;
- garlic;
- salt;
- black and red pepper.
Cut a twig from each grape leaf. Soak the greens for a while in the water so that it gives away excess salt and acidity. Finely chop the onion, garlic and cilantro. Mix the prepared ingredients with minced meat. Stir the filling and add salt and pepper to taste.
Stuffing spread on top of the sheet. We wrap the filling with an envelope or roll it into a tube. We put dolma in the pan, fill it with sauce and simmer until tender.
In Armenian
To prepare dolma in Armenian, the following ingredients will be required:
- veal - 0.5 kg;
- round rice - ½ cup;
- onions - 2 pcs.;
- tomato paste - 3 tbsp. l .;
- grape leaves;
- salt pepper;
- basil, parsley, cilantro.
According to this recipe, fatty meat should be used. If the veal is lean, then it is recommended to add fatty pork to it.
- Peel the meat from the tendons and make the meat with a meat grinder.
- Rinse the rice several times and boil it until half cooked.
- Chop the onion.
- Mix the minced meat, rice and onion.
- Add the tomato paste, spices and chopped herbs to the meat mixture.
- Knead the minced meat with your hands until smooth.
- Spread the filling on the leaves of the grapes, forming dense envelopes.
- Take a pan with a thick bottom. Fit dolma tightly into it.
- Fill the workpiece with water and simmer for one hour over low heat.
- Serve hot with garlic sauce. Enjoy your meal!
Features of cooking delicious dolma
The eastern "relative" of our cabbage rolls, dolma, is minced meat wrapped in grape leaves. To enjoy delicious dolma, check out the features of its preparation:
- The taste of the dish will be exquisite, tender and juicy if you choose young grape leaves for its preparation. According to experts, the leaves of light grape varieties harvested in the spring are considered the best.
- For lack of fresh leaves, saline can be used.
- For minced meat, it is better to choose young lamb. It should be scrolled in a meat grinder or finely chopped with a knife. Meanwhile, any kind of stuffing is allowed. Dolma from beef, pork and poultry is also very tasty.
- If the minced meat turned out to be very dry, then you can add a few tablespoons of warm water to it.
- Some recipes include the addition of minced cereals. Many housewives recommend using coarse rice. But even after prolonged quenching, it can remain solid. To prevent this, boil it until half ready before adding it to the minced meat.
- You can also add vegetables to the filling. Then the dish will turn out not only more juicy, but also as useful as possible.
- Spices give dolma the desired flavor. However, adding spices, you must know the measure.
- If you have a few extra leaves left, “spread” them in a pan on top of the dolma.
- Serving the dish is best done in a deep plate, abundantly pouring it with meat broth. Sauce based on sour cream or another sour-milk product is also traditionally served with dolma.