How to properly roll dolma into grape leaves. How to prepare dolma from fresh and salted (pickled) grape leaves. Ingredients for dolma recipe

Not all housewives know how to prepare dolma at home. It seems like a pretty complicated dish, but in reality you don't need much: rice, some minced meat, leaves, special spices and a special sauce. In this article you will find a selection of the best recipes and learn the tricks of preparing dolma from different peoples of the world.

In the Caucasus, not a single festive feast is complete without dolma made from grapes or fresh leaves. Whether they are expecting a dear guest, celebrating a wedding, or celebrating a birthday, the hostess spins a whole pan of fragrant “tubes” with meat filling. Dolma is delicious hot or even cold, and it seems absolutely impossible to get enough of it! Especially if you dip it in a spicy white sauce and eat it with warm pita bread.

Dolma is an excellent hot appetizer.

The right to invent dolma is disputed by Armenia, Azerbaijan and even Uzbekistan. But varieties of dolma (or, as it is otherwise called, tolma) are found in Turkey and the Balkan countries. Culinary historians suggest that the dish was “inherited” from the Ottoman Empire, where it was constantly prepared at receptions for entire palaces. It is clear that since the time of Sultan Suleiman the recipe has gone through a lot of changes. But the essence has not changed.

To prepare classic dolma we will need:

• a kilogram of minced meat (any kind, but not chicken!);
• grape leaves (it is difficult to guess the quantity, it all depends on the number of eaters, at least 50 pieces);
• large onion;
• egg;
• a handful of white rice;
• a large bunch of greens - parsley, dill, and (this is a must!) cilantro;
• salt and pepper to taste.

First of all, boil the rice until half cooked and mix it with minced meat. Cut the onion and herbs into small cubes, add one raw chicken egg, salt and pepper to taste. Knead the minced meat so that it turns out dense, uniform, and comes off well from your hands.

Pour boiling water over fresh grape leaves and then let them cool. All that remains is to skillfully twist the dolminki. To do this, place the meat filling on the sheet (on the rough side) and pack it, folding the edges towards the center.

Ready-made dolminki resemble straws or cigars - depending on which association you like. We place them on the bottom of a large pan, pressing them tightly together. All that remains is to pour in meat broth or water (to the height of one thumb), press everything down with a plate of slightly smaller diameter, let the water boil and cook over low heat until the leaves and minced meat are ready. The total cooking time from the moment of boiling is 40-60 minutes.

We serve the finished dolma on a large platter, and next to it we place a white sauce made from yogurt, garlic and herbs. We put large bunches of greens and warm lavash flatbreads on the table, and watch how our dolma is eaten in a matter of minutes!

In a slow cooker

A multicooker makes life easier for any housewife, reducing cooking time significantly. Dolma is no exception. Prepare dolma according to any recipe, place it in dense layers on the bottom of the multibowl, fill it with water, and start the “cooking” mode.

Why press the dolma? This way, our dolminki will not fall apart during cooking, and there will be no need to skim the foam from the broth.

If you don’t want the leaves to “unravel” in the process and the dolma to lose its shape, do it simply - cook it with the lid open, placing a light pressure plate on top with a diameter slightly smaller than the bowl. Usually it takes 30 minutes to cook in a multicooker, and what’s nice is that you can safely go about your business - the smart device itself will notify you about the end of the cooking process.

Cooking according to Azerbaijani recipe

Remember the legendary dialogue from the film “Mimino” between an Armenian and an Azerbaijani. “Do you like dolma? No. This is because you don’t know how to cook it.” In these two countries, the right to call dolma their national dish has been disputed for hundreds of years. It is curious that the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan has already appealed to UNESCO with a request to recognize dolma as an intangible heritage of the country. In the meantime, Unesco makes decisions, let's learn the tricks of preparing signature Azerbaijani dolma.

Azerbaijani-style dolma turns out to be very nourishing, tender and incredibly tasty.

The ideal size of the leaves is the size of a young woman’s palm, and the “fingers” of dolma should be small and neat. A large dolma is a sign of a lazy craftswoman.

Prepare this way:

1. For the signature recipe you will need a kilogram of veal, rice and tender grapes. They should be thin, young, and even better, picked from the tree in their own sap. In winter, dolma made from pickled grape leaves will go great, but its taste will still be completely different. In Azerbaijan, they prefer fresh leaves to pickled ones.
2. We grind the veal with fat tail through a meat grinder, add onions, herbs, and pour in warm boiled water (about a glass). The consistency should be slightly liquid, otherwise, Azerbaijanis are sure, the dolma will come out dry.
3. Cover the minced meat with half a glass of round rice.
4. We twist the dolma, as in the classic recipe, forming neat “fingers”.
5. Place them in a pan in dense layers.
6. Fill with water.
7. Press down with a plate.
8. Let the pan boil.
9. Let it cook for about an hour.
10. Turn off and let cool.
11. Place on a flat dish.

Serve dolma with natural yogurt sauce with garlic (you can add a bunch of any chopped herbs), invite guests and enjoy!

Dolma in Armenian - step by step

Classic dolma with grape leaves in Armenia is always prepared with three types of meat - beef, pork and lamb, which are mixed in equal quantities.

Armenian dolma always includes cilantro, basil, parsley and dill. other spices are at the discretion of the hostess.

The step-by-step recipe looks like this:

1. Grind 500 g of beef, pork and beef through a meat grinder.
2. Add finely chopped onion.
3. We cut a bunch of greens.
4. Add some salt.
5. Add black pepper.
6. We wash the rice and pour it into the minced meat. The amount of rice should be 2-3 times less than meat. You have to understand that it will boil over during the cooking process.
7. Mix the minced meat thoroughly.
8. Pour boiling water over fresh grape leaves. In winter, in Armenia they use pickled, salted leaves, thoroughly washed to remove salt. In summer they also prefer fresh ones.
9. Turn the leaves over with the rough side up.
10. Place a little minced meat in the middle of each (about one and a half teaspoons).
11. From the leaves we form dolmushki, reminiscent of thin cigars. There is no need to twist them tightly, because the rice should be boiled.
12. Line the bottom of a large pan with large grape leaves.
13. We distribute the dolminks on top, pressing them tightly against each other.
14. Fill the dolma with water a couple of centimeters above the tubes - it should cover our grape “cigars” by about the thumb.
15. Place a small weight lid on top.

Let the water boil, and then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the grape leaves are soft for 40-50 minutes. While the dolma is cooking, prepare a delicious sauce from yogurt, garlic and herbs. A modern sauce recipe allows you to use ready-made mayonnaise (high-quality!) mixed with fresh sour cream as a base. But yogurt or yogurt, of course, remains a priority.

Interestingly, in Armenia any stuffed vegetables are called dolma. Minced meat is used to stuff zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, quince, small cabbage rolls, in short, all vegetables that can be stuffed with meat and stewed. The “trick” of the dish is that only the freshest and most aromatic fruits are used. On major holidays, royal dolma is prepared: several types of stuffed vegetables are stewed in one large pan at the same time. They give each other flavors and turn out delicious!

With lamb and mint

In the Caucasus, there are families who prepare dolma exclusively from lamb, and mint leaves, without stems, are always added as a seasoning. Mint and lamb go together amazingly! This dolma turns out spicy, tender and very aromatic. The main thing is not to overdo it with mint, because, as an active spice, it can overwhelm the taste of lamb.

Dolma is a fantastically tasty dish.

Dolma will become even tastier the next day, when the grape leaves and meat juices share their flavors with each other.

Matsoni is a type of yogurt, but slightly less sour. It is thick in itself and you just need to add some salt, garlic and herbs to make the taste rich. This white sauce is also low in calories, so eat it without fear of extra pounds.

Dolma seems like a troublesome dish. But only at first glance. In the Caucasus, whole families enjoy it, just like dumplings in Russia, and the cooking process turns into an interesting event. They prepare dolma with joy, drink new wine, and then everyone eats it together, enjoying the taste of dolma and communication. Try cooking dolma - you will discover a new hobby and a wonderful sociable dish.

In the usual Russian understanding, dolma is a filling of rice and minced meat, wrapped in grape leaves. This is indeed the most common version of the dish both here and in the world. Although the peoples of Transcaucasia, Asia, the Balkan Peninsula, and other national cuisines prepare it with the shell of their various products - cabbage leaves, horse sorrel, as well as a variety of vegetables. The filling always contains rice or other grains, such as chickpeas or bulgur, very often mixed with meat.

We will tell you how to prepare the dish in grape leaves, as well as how to prepare dolma according to unusual national recipes.

The traditional recipe for dolma is not complicated. If we compare, for example, with preparing cabbage rolls, they will require much more time to process the leaves.

Important! You can use fresh leaves or salted ones; they are sold in markets. You can also find ready-made pickled leaves for dolma on sale. The most delicious dish is made from fresh young leaves. But if they are hard, you can pre-boil them with boiling water, soak excessively salted preparations in water and boil for several minutes. It is important to maintain the proportions of salt in the minced meat and leaves.

You will need the following products:

• a kilogram of lamb or beef (preferably the thick edge or the part that can be used for minced meat);
• half a glass of rice;
• onions - 2 pcs.;
• two tablespoons of ghee, goose fat or vegetable oil;
• 1 teaspoon of salt with a small slide;
• a bunch of parsley, cilantro (in total);
• grape leaves;
• spices and seasonings to taste.

Cooking:

1. Pour water over fresh leaves, let stand and rinse. Let the water drain, tear off, remove the petioles. If the leaves are a bit harsh, pour boiling water over them or even boil them a little. Rinse if the leaves are salted or pickled.
2. Rinse the rice in water and boil for 5-10 minutes. Drain and place in a colander. Important! If you use fresh leaves, then you don’t have to boil the rice - the leaves take quite a long time to cook, during which time the cereal will have time to boil to the desired state.
3. Saute the finely chopped onion a little in vegetable oil or fat, until it becomes transparent, but not fried.
4. Cool the onions and rice.
5. Grind the meat in a meat grinder or finely chop it with a knife.
6. Add salt, herbs, rice, spices to the minced meat. Knead it until it has a thick viscosity.
7. Place substandard leaves (torn or uneven) on the bottom of a thick-walled pan (cauldron or clay pot), and folded stuffed envelopes on them. Lay the dolma tightly, in rows, between the layers you can put some dried fruits (dried apricots or prunes, if you prefer).
8. Place leaves on top of the last row and pour boiling water over the layers, covering them completely. Place a clean plate on top to prevent the dolma from floating. Bring to a boil over high heat and, lowering the heat, simmer, covered, for another 40 minutes, until the leaves are cooked.

They eat the dish by pouring the sauce from the cauldron over the envelopes, and also seasoning them with a mixture of sour cream, garlic and finely chopped hot pepper.

Tip: The leaves can be relatively smooth, or very carved, depending on the grape variety. To prevent the filling from falling out, make it small, a little larger than your thumb. Having placed the minced meat in place of the cutting, first wrap one near edge over the minced meat, and then overlap the second corner over it, then wrap the rest of the sheet over the resulting triangle and place it seam side down.

Cooking according to Armenian recipe

Armenian dolma is an almost classic version of dolma, but most often it is stewed with some deviations from the usual version:

• Armenian dogma is distinguished by the addition of garlic to the minced meat. A little, a couple of cloves will revive the taste of your dish;
• I still need to add more spices and herbs. As an option, you can offer basil, turmeric, sage, curry - to your taste and discretion. Spices won’t spoil the dolma;
• During the stewing process, the rice and meat will absorb a lot of liquid and become juicy. But some people add a little natural yogurt or matsoni to the minced meat for even greater juiciness.

The principle of preparing dolma in Armenian is the same, but here is what the recipe looks like:

• half a kilo of beef;
• fifty leaves;
• 300 g each of dry rice and onion;
• cilantro, marjoram, basil - everything by eye, about 50 g each (but marjoram is half as much);
• to taste salt, ground hot and black pepper, and a little chili pepper.

With added nuts

This is a vegetarian version of dolma. It is often called sarma; it became widespread mainly in western Armenia. There, they wrap not minced meat in grape leaves, but lentils and mushrooms; lean rice or other minced cereal with the addition of nuts turns out to be good and high in calories.

In Azerbaijani

More recently, at the end of 2017, a meeting of the intergovernmental committee was held at UNESCO, where, in accordance with the Convention for the Protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of this organization, it was decided to include the tradition of preparing dolma and its distribution specifically from the state of Azerbaijan. For us, this means only one thing: it is simply necessary to talk about how dolma is prepared in Azerbaijani style, because it is widespread in a very wide range of countries, but Azerbaijanis prepare it in their own way and masterfully.

Differences between Azerbaijani dolma:

• she is deliciously fat;
• it is not grape leaves that are stuffed (although those too), but various vegetables;
• fresh yogurt allows flavor notes to develop;
• All vegetables are stewed at the same time in one pan.

It is often called poetically “Three Sisters”, “Three Brothers” or something similar, since three vegetables are stuffed - tomatoes, bell peppers and eggplants.

For each serving, it is usually assumed that there is one vegetable each, respectively, for three people the following is taken:

• 6 medium sized tomatoes;
• the same amount of medium eggplants;
• 6 medium peppers;
• half a kilo of lamb and the same amount of beef or a kilogram of one type of meat;
• half a kilo of onions;
• 200 ml vegetable oil;
• salt, pepper, basil to taste.

Procedure:

1. Make minced meat by grinding the meat and onions in a meat grinder.
2. After heating the frying pan, fry the minced meat in half the oil until light brown. At the end of frying, add pepper and salt.
3. While the minced meat is frying, you need to have time to prepare all the vegetables. Soak the eggplants in cold salted water for about twenty minutes (after cutting off the ends and cutting lengthwise to make a kind of book). Fry the eggplants on all sides in oil and let cool. Cut the top of the peppers and tomatoes, scoop out the seeds and pulp with a spoon, and salt the inside of the vegetables. Discard the pepper seeds and partitions, chop the tomato cores and add to the minced meat, continuing to fry for a few more minutes. Add basil.
4. After cooling the minced meat slightly, stuff the vegetables. Cover the peppers and tomatoes with lids.
5. Place everything in rows in a saucepan, add the rest of the oil and, cover with a lid, simmer over low heat. No water is needed, the vegetables will give their delicious aromatic juice. Azerbaijani style dolma is served sprinkled with juice. It’s also good to sprinkle it with dried mint.

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 ancestors 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 is a wonderful oriental dish that 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 consumption of 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:

• 50 pcs of salted grape leaves (fresh can be used);
• 500 ml of water or meat broth for cooking dolma;

For filling:

• 0.5 kg of minced meat (lamb + beef or pork + beef);
• 0.5 tbsp. rice;
• 2 large onions;
• a small amount of vegetable oil for frying;
• small bunches of greens: mint, basil, parsley;
• zira - a pinch;
• salt;
• ground black pepper;

Recipe for delicious classic dolma

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 to a heated frying pan and add onions. 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.

15. We roll up the rest of the dolma using the same technology.

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!

Since the time of the Ottoman Empire, dolma in grape leaves has been part of the Sultan’s cuisine and one of its most prominent representatives. The recipe has survived to this day almost unchanged.

Many peoples still have heated debates about who came up with the idea of ​​stuffing grape leaves, cabbage and vegetables such as peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants. The Greeks insist on its Greek origin, calling the dish “dolmas”; the Armenians and Georgians take credit for the appearance of this dish, calling it “dolma”; the Uzbeks called it “dulma”.

There is also a possibility that it arose in the vastness of Turkish cuisine, thanks to its rich culinary traditions. The presence of this dish is typical for many countries that succumbed to Turkic influence. During the conquests, the Turks significantly enriched and diversified the cuisines of many countries with original culinary innovations.

In any case, the recipe for dolma in grape leaves, according to many sources, was developed for elite cuisine, since it contains a number of different cooking techniques, requires certain cooking skills and the ability to harmoniously combine various ingredients in one dish.

Dolma is a dish that consists of grape leaves or vegetables stuffed with minced meat. The filling must include meat and rice. Dolma is considered an integral part of the cuisine of Asia, North Africa, and the Balkan Peninsula.

The exact origins of this dish remain a mystery, but the Turks and Greeks believe that they were the ones who first came up with this recipe. Today dolma is considered the most prominent representative of Caucasian cuisine.

How to cook dolma from grape leaves - delicious recipes

Dolma in grape leaves - classic recipe

Ingredients:

• 30 grape leaves
• 300 g lamb
• 2 onions
• 150 g rice
• dill greens
• pepper

Preparation:

Pass the meat and onions through a meat grinder, add salt and pepper and simmer for 50 minutes with 250 ml of water. Boil the rice separately, combine with meat and onions. Pour boiling water over grape leaves for 15 minutes. Place the minced meat and rice filling in the center of each leaf and roll it up like cabbage rolls. Place in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, cover with water and simmer for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with dill.

Dolma with dried apricots

Ingredients:

• 500 g lamb meat
• 3 onions
• 300 g grape leaves
• 200 g dried apricots
• 3 tbsp. spoons of vegetable oil
• Spices

Preparation:

Soak dried apricots for 30 minutes in hot water. Prepare minced meat and onions. Add salt, divide into portions and wrap in grape leaves scalded with boiling water. Place the resulting tubes of leaves with minced meat tightly next to each other in a frying pan, add oil and spices. Place dried apricots on top and simmer for about 40-45 minutes.

Dolma with meat and dried fruit sauce

A dish that comes from oriental cuisine. Now that grapes are grown in almost every garden plot, dolma is becoming more and more popular. Grape leaves can be harvested for future use before flowering - for this they are salted or frozen.

The slight sourness of the leaves, together with dried barberry berries and the pronounced taste of cumin, gives the meat an unusual taste.

Ingredients:

• 400 g beef (cutlet meat!
• 50 g rice
• 50 g dried apricots
• 50 g pitted prunes
• 8 pickled grape leaves
• 50 ml water
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. dried barberries
• pomegranate seeds
• salt, pepper - to taste

Preparation

1. Remove membranes from the meat and cut into pieces. Grind the meat in a blender or finely chop. Peel the onion, cut into large pieces and grind in a blender.
2. Rinse the rice in several waters and boil until half cooked.
3. Add onion and boiled rice to the meat, stir.
4. Add cumin rubbed between your fingers, dried barberries, add salt and pepper (to taste).
5. Place the grape leaves on a cutting board and cut off the tough stems. If salted leaves are used, they must first be soaked in cold water for 30 minutes.
6. Place minced meat on grape leaves.
7. Roll each sheet into a neat envelope.
8. Chop prunes and dried apricots, place into cubes in a container for cooking rice, add 50 ml of water. You can add a little salt.
9. Place the dolma on the steamer rack and place a container with dried fruits on the second tier. Boil for 40 minutes. Before serving, garnish the dish with pomegranate seeds and steamed dried fruits.

Dolma with veal in white cabbage leaves

Ingredients

• 400 g veal,
• 50 g rice,
• 1 head of white cabbage (small),
• 50 g ryazhenka (low fat content),
• 10 g dill, salt.

Cooking method

Cook the rice. Pass the meat through a meat grinder, combine with rice, add a little salt, and mix. Place a head of cabbage in boiling water for 1 minute, then carefully separate the leaves. Place minced meat in the center of each of them, roll into a tube and close the edges. Place the dolma in one row in the steamer basket. Cook for 15–20 minutes. Sprinkle the dish with chopped herbs.

Vegan dolma

You will need:

• 2 large potatoes;
• 1 bunch of green onions;
• 2 carrots;
• 2 onions;
• 24 pickled grape leaves;
• 2 sprigs of fresh mint;
• 1/2 lemon;
• 3 tbsp. spoons of olive oil;
• salt to taste.

Cooking method:

Peel the potatoes and boil until tender. Wash the grape leaves and place in hot water for 5 minutes, then dry. Peel onions and carrots and chop finely. Cut the green onions into thin rings, take the mint into leaves and chop. Remove the zest from the lemon with a grater and squeeze the juice out of the pulp.

Heat 2 tbsp in a frying pan. spoons of olive oil, fry onions and carrots. Add green onions and mint, stir and immediately remove from heat. Mash the potatoes, add the remaining oil, salt and pepper. Mix fried vegetables and herbs with mashed potatoes. Add lemon juice, salt.

Place 4 grape leaves in a low saucepan so that the bottom is completely covered. Place the remaining leaves on a cutting board, shiny side up. Distribute the prepared filling between them.

Roll the leaves into an envelope and place tightly in a saucepan. Add 1 cup of boiling water, sprinkle with lemon zest. Press down with a lid slightly smaller than the diameter of the pan, or with a plate and simmer over low heat for 10–15 minutes.

How to cook dolma in Georgian

To prepare the Georgian version of dolma you need to take:

• 60 grape leaves;
• 500 g minced pork and beef;
• 120 g rice;
• red pepper;
• coriander;
• salt;
• garlic;
• 2 onions.

Preparation

The leaves need to be washed thoroughly, placed in boiling water and cooked for 3 minutes. Then add ice water.

For the filling you need to mix minced meat and rice, pre-cooked until half cooked. Then add chopped onion, garlic and spices. Stir to obtain the most homogeneous mass possible.

Wrap some filling in the leaves. Place the rolls in a pan, cover with a plate and press down with a weight.

Add boiling water and cook over low heat for 40 minutes.

Turkish dolma with beef

Compound:

• minced beef – 0.4 kg;
• fat tail or lard – 100 g;
• rice cereal – 0.22 kg;
• ground red pepper (hot) – 5 g;
• ground coriander – 5 g;
• onions – 0.2 kg;
• garlic – 4 cloves;
• tomatoes – 0.2 kg;
• salt - to taste;
• grape leaves - how much will it take?

Recipe:

1. Peel the onion, cut into small pieces and mix with minced meat.
2. Grind the fat tail or lard through a meat grinder or grind it in a blender, put it in a bowl with minced meat, and mix.
3. Add spices and salt to the minced meat and stir.
4. Crush the garlic and add to the minced meat.
5. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes, peel, cut into small cubes and combine with minced meat, mix carefully.
6. Wash and steam the grape leaves and remove their stems.
7. Stuff the leaves with the prepared minced meat.
8. Place a layer of grape leaves on the bottom of the pan. Fill the pan with dolma. Pour in a glass of water. Place a plate on top.
9. Simmer the dolma under the lid over low heat for an hour. If the water evaporates earlier, you can add it.

Beef dolma is served with the same sauce as the traditional one made from lamb, that is, with unsweetened yogurt.

Eggplant dolma

Ingredients:

• 400 g minced meat (lamb + beef);
• 1–2 onions;
• a glass of rice, already boiled (but not overcooked);
• 8–9 pieces of medium-sized eggplants;
• ground black pepper;
• salt;
• dry spices;
• greenery.

Preparation:

Prepare the filling in the same way as in the above recipes. Boil the eggplants in salted water for 5-8 minutes and let the leaves drain out. Now lightly fry the eggplants evenly on all sides - it will be tastier. We make a cut on each eggplant and stuff it with minced rice and meat. Place the stuffed eggplants in a tall, large frying pan, fill with water to half the height, cover with a lid and place in the oven for 30–40 minutes.

Dolma will be even tastier if you add crushed wheat to the filling along with rice, as is done in Crete. Then the dish will acquire a special, unique Cretan taste.

If you want the dish to be bright and colorful, add to the dolma several vegetables stuffed with the same filling: tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, zucchini. They will pick up the aroma from the grape leaves, which will make them especially tasty. You can offer these stuffed vegetables to your children, I’m sure they will eat them with great pleasure.

Dolma can be both a main dish and an appetizer. If you are making dolmadacia for appetizers, try to keep them very small. In this form they look more beautiful on the table and taste very piquant. If the grape leaves are very large, cut them into two parts.

If you use salted grape leaves, rinse them especially thoroughly in cold water, and be careful when salting the water where the dolma will be cooked, so as not to over-salt the dish.

Believe my experience that a group of four people will sweep them away in just a few minutes. The most labor-intensive part of the whole process is rolling the dolma. But, having gotten the hang of the first ten, you won’t even notice how you take up the last leaf. Some compare it to cabbage rolls. This is not entirely true. Tender grape leaves and a large amount of fresh herbs in the minced meat give the dish a special taste and aroma.

My husband once worked in Yerevan, and he is very familiar with this dish. Therefore, his praise was the highest reward for me. And I have no doubt that you will succeed too.

Armenian dolma recipe with photo

Kitchenware: Bowl; cutting board; meat grinder; a saucepan with a thick bottom; knife.

Ingredients

Large onions	2 pcs.
Lamb or beef pulp	450-500 g
Zira	1 tsp.
Round rice	1/3 cup
Medium carrot	1 PC.
Dill, basil, parsley, mint, cilantro	1 bunch
Purified water	1 l
Grape leaves	50-60 pcs.
Ground pepper, salt	taste
Matsun or sour cream, yogurt, kefir (for sauce)	200-250 ml
Garlic (for sauce)	2-3 cloves
Vegetable oil	50-60 ml
Hot peppers	1 pod
Fresh cucumber, medium (optional)	1 PC.
Lemon (optional)	1 PC.

Step-by-step preparation

Preparing the ingredients

1. First of all, boil water in a kettle and prepare 50-60 grape leaves.
   

   For traditional dolma, it is preferable to take blue grape leaves. Carefully, so as not to damage the leaf, cut the cuttings and place them in a bowl. Pour boiling water until they are completely covered with water and set aside. This will make the sheet softer and make it easier to wrap the minced meat in it.

2. While the leaves are steaming, prepare the minced meat for dolma. To do this, cut 450-500 g of meat into arbitrary pieces and pass through a meat grinder. It is more convenient to cut into strips that will fit more easily into the hole in the meat grinder. Of course, the real dolma is made from lamb. But it has a slightly specific smell and taste, so it can be replaced with beef or veal. The main thing is to choose fattier meat, then the minced meat will turn out juicy. You can also take ready-made mixed minced meat.
   
   
3. Salt and pepper the minced meat to taste, and add a third of a glass of rice. It’s better to take a round one that hasn’t been steamed. There is no need to cook it. Dolma is made with raw rice. It will have time to fully cook during simmering.
   
   
4. Peel two large onions. Cut one whole and half of the other into small pieces. Transfer the onion to the minced meat. Some grind it together with minced meat or grind it in a blender. But I recommend chopping it very finely to retain the juice.
   
   
5. Drain the water from the bowl with the leaves. During this time, they have already become obedient and ready for further work.
6. Finely chop the herbs: dill, basil, parsley and mint, and also put them in a bowl with the meat. If desired, add cilantro leaves. For greens, we use only leaves, since the sticks will not feel very pleasant in the minced meat. Mint is very often present in meat dishes of Caucasian cuisine. It gives them a special taste, especially lamb.
   
   
7. Add a good pinch of cumin and mix thoroughly.
   
   
8. Cut the remaining half of the onion in half and chop. Cut the peeled carrots lengthwise into two halves and cut into thin half rings. Cut off about a third of the hot pepper pod and chop finely.
   
   
9. Place the vessel in which the dolma will be prepared on the stove. Pour 50-60 ml of vegetable oil and lay out the vegetables. Fry the onion until golden, turn it off and let it cool slightly. Vegetables will serve as a kind of pillow for us, and at the same time they will add a piquant taste to the broth, and, accordingly, to the finished dish.

Cooking dolma

1. Now the most important process of dolma formation. Lay the grape leaf evenly on the board, rough side up. We take a portion of minced meat and squeeze it a little in the palm of our hand to form a sausage. We put it in the place where the cutting was.
   
   
2. We wrap the bottom edges and then the sides over the minced meat and carefully roll it up into a doll shape. In order not to spend a lot of time on this each time, I make several portions at once and freeze them. And in winter, I use grape leaves stored for future use. After defrosting, they do not need to be steamed. They are already obedient and soft.
   
   
3. Place all the pupae tightly on the cooled vegetables. Having made the first layer, move on to the second and so on. For density, many recommend placing a plate on the rolls that is smaller in size than the pan and even placing something heavy on it. But, since we do not completely fill it with water, the dolma will not float up and unfold. This means that there is no need for a plate.
4. Fill in no more than 300-400 ml of water. Dolma should not be boiled, but steamed. Plus she will release her juice. Some people fill it with broth, but this is not at all necessary. Enough fat and juice will already be released from the minced meat.
   
   
5. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Then reduce it, cover with a lid and simmer for 50 minutes. In the same way, you can cook dolma in a slow cooker.
   
   
6. Serve dolma with traditional sauce of matsoni or kefir, sour cream or yogurt.

   
   

Matsoni sauce

• Very finely chop a bunch of fresh herbs. It includes a couple of sprigs of parsley, cilantro and dill. You can add a little basil and mint. We chop only the leaves.
• Grind 2-3 cloves of garlic in a convenient way for you. I like it finely chopped. But you can put it through a garlic press.
• Mix the garlic and herbs with the matsoni and leave in the refrigerator while the dolma is prepared. Instead of matsoni, you can use kefir, yogurt, fermented baked milk or unsweetened yogurt without additives.

How to make matsoni

Matsoni, or matsun, is a traditional Caucasian fermented milk drink. At its core, it is milk fermented in a certain way. If you plan to cook dolma only the next day, then the base of the sauce will have time to prepare overnight.

For this we need: black bread, Borodino bread is fine, any fresh milk and good fat sour cream, preferably homemade.

• Bring half a liter of milk to a boil and cool to 45-50°. It can be easily determined without a thermometer: the milk should be moderately hot, or rather, very warm, but not scalding.
• Stir in 2 tablespoons of sour cream.
• Place a crust of black bread.
• Wrap the container with milk and leave it warm for 6-8 hours.

If you decide to continue making matsun, the resulting mass can be used as a starter. And from the next one make another portion and so on. By the way, the refreshing tan known to many is matsun diluted with purified or spring water.

Sauce options

Sour cream dolma sauce

• Grate the cucumber on a fine grater or grind it in a blender.
• Add a pinch of salt to the pulp and leave the juice to simmer for 10 minutes.
• Using a fine grater, remove the yellow part of the zest from the lemon.
• Finely chop the leaves of cilantro and parsley.
• Squeeze the juice from the cucumber pulp through cheesecloth or a sieve.
• Mix a glass of sour cream with herbs, zest and herbs, add pepper and salt to taste and let it brew a little.

Garlic-mint sauce on yogurt

• We tear off the leaves from a couple of sprigs of mint and finely chop them with a knife.
• Grind two cloves of garlic using a press.
• Mix garlic and mint with a glass of yogurt without additives and sugar.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Kefir-sour cream sauce

• Pass two cloves of garlic through a special press.
• Chop the parsley leaves and dill as finely as possible.
• Stir two tablespoons of sour cream in a glass of kefir.
• Add herbs, garlic and salt and pepper to taste and mix.

Video recipe

Watch the video for a recipe for making dolma from grape leaves: how to wrap it correctly and how long to cook it.

For me, this is the most delicious recipe for traditional dolma. I look forward to your feedback about it in the comments. Enjoy your meal!