Dolma in grape leaves, step-by-step recipe with photos. How to prepare dolma from grape leaves? Recipe for dolma from grape leaves, photo

Half of the world is fighting to appropriate the recipe for this dish as the traditional one of their people. The most ardent fighters in this competition are Armenians and Azerbaijan. They cannot divide among themselves which side the original dolma recipe belongs to and cannot calm down to this day. In 2017, Azerbaijan even recognized this delicacy as the intangible cultural heritage of this people. As for history, the path goes back to the Ottoman Empire. It is believed that this dish was served at court, to high-ranking people, as a kind of delicacy.

Of course, there are a great many recipes for this dish and the varieties are becoming more and more every day. Only in Azerbaijan during the festival there are about 300 types, but I will tell you in detail and show you the most key, tasty, practical and simply heartfelt recipes, and most importantly, I will tell you the subtleties in preparation that will make your dish truly the best. And people, having tried it, will consider you a professional and will begin to visit your home more often.

So, in today’s article we will analyze the best, classic recipes for dolma in grape leaves. I also recommend preparing a very tasty

Dolma in grape leaves in Armenian - Recipe with step-by-step preparation


Ingredients:

  • Grape leaves – 500 gr.
  • Minced meat – 500 gr. (pork with beef)
  • Onion – 1 pc.
  • Rice – 200 gr.
  • Butter
  • Spices and herbs to taste.

Cooking method:

Place the greens and onions in a blender and chop. Add this to the minced meat, also rice, spices, mix thoroughly, you can add a little water (for better taste, use chicken broth).


The grape leaves need to be washed, the tails cut off and steamed in hot water for 2 - 3 minutes.


We take a pan on its bottom in one layer, lay out the leaves, set aside. Take a plate, place a sheet, glossy side down.


We put in a little bit of minced meat, stretched out like a sausage, wrap it and put it in the pan.


After one layer has been laid out, add butter, lay out the second layer and also add a little oil on top, and put leaves on top of it in one layer.


Cover everything with a saucer so that they don’t fall apart during cooking.


Pour water into the pan (I remind you for best taste you need chicken broth) put on fire for 1.5 - 2 hours. When everything is ready to serve the dish, you can prepare a sauce from sour cream or matsoni with seasonings to taste. Bon appetit.

Classic recipe in a slow cooker


Ingredients:

  • Onions – 2 pcs.
  • Rice – 200 gr.
  • Minced meat – 500 gr.
  • Grape leaves – 700 gr.
  • Spices to taste.

Cooking method:

Chop the onion small pieces and mix it with washed rice and minced meat, add spices.


The grape leaves need to be washed, the tails cut off and steamed in warm water for 2 minutes. We put the unfolded sheet with the gloss on the bottom, take a little minced meat, put it in the sheet and wrap it (the sheet has 5 limbs, like the fingers on the hand, so the method of wrapping is like clenching a fist, first we pinch the thumb, then the little finger, and then the index, ring and average).


When all the dolmushki are ready, put them in the slow cooker and cover with a plate so that they do not fall apart. Fill with water so that only the ends stick out, set the simmer mode to 100 degrees for 1 hour.


When everything is ready to serve the dish, you can prepare a sauce from sour cream or matsoni with seasonings to taste.

Dolma baked in the oven


Ingredients:

  • Onions – 700 gr.
  • Vegetable oil – 100 ml.
  • Top oil
  • Meat (minced lamb) – 1.5 kg.
  • Turmeric, salt, black pepper, ground cumin, mint and arigana
  • Grape leaves – 800 gr.
  • Rice – 200 gr.
  • Chicken leg – 2 pcs.

Cooking method:

1. Take a small saucepan and cook the chicken. The main thing is to get more broth, we will need it.

2. Boil the rice for 5 minutes, then remove from the stove and drain the water.

3. Cut the onion into squares and place in a frying pan. Add vegetable and melted butter there in full, since lamb is lean meat.

4. Bring the onion to a golden color and add turmeric, salt, black pepper, ground cumin, mint, arigana and minced lamb.

6. Add lightly boiled rice. Stir, cool and our minced meat for dolma is ready.

7. Take the leaves and steam them in hot water for 3 minutes. And lay it out on the table with the glossy side down. Take exactly one teaspoon of our filling and arrange them on the leaves. Wrap and place on a baking sheet.

8. Before putting them in the oven, pour in the remaining chicken broth and send it to 100 degrees for 2 hours.

If you follow all the instructions, you will get simply divine dolma. Bon appetit.

Delicious recipe in Azerbaijani


Ingredients:

  • Lamb meat – 600 gr.
  • Onions – 1 pc.
  • Round rice – 150 gr.
  • Dry mint – 1 tsp.
  • Dill – 1 bunch
  • Water (hot) – 50 ml.
  • Grape leaves – 300 gr.
  • Salt and pepper to taste.

Cooking method:

1. Wash the grape leaves and steam in hot water for 2 - 3 minutes.

2. Mix our ingredients minced meat, finely chopped dill, onion and mint.

3. Add water, spices and mix thoroughly.

4. The filling is ready, take the leaves, remove the stems and wrap the minced meat in them a little at a time (the leaves should lie glossy down).

5. If you want to make a smaller dolma, then you need to take larger leaves in advance and divide them into 3 equal parts diagonally.

6. Take a pan, lay out the leaves in one layer, and then arrange our preparations on them, cover them with leaves in one layer and press them down with a plate. So that when boiling they do not open up and our dish does not fall apart.

7. Fill with water and simmer until cooked for 2 hours. Bon appetit.

Recipe for dolma with nuts


Ingredients:

  • Garlic – 2 cloves
  • Carrot – 1 pc.
  • Grape leaves – 200 gr.
  • Onions – 1 pc.
  • Mint – 3 stems
  • Rice – 100 gr.
  • Walnut – 100 gr.
  • Matsoni and zira.

Cooking method:

1. Wash the leaves cold water from excess salt.

2. Cut the onion into cubes, grate the carrots and sauté in vegetable oil.

3. Separate the mint leaves from the stem. Finely chop the leaves, and put the stems in a blender along with some matsoni, cumin, walnuts, salt, pepper and beat. Add the resulting mixture to the frying pan, add the raw rice and mix.

4. Add the shredded leaves to the rest of the matsoni and mix.

5. Before eating, add finely chopped garlic.

5. We begin to wrap the minced meat in grape leaves (they should lie with the glossy side down).

6. Place the resulting mixture in a saucepan, cover with a plate, fill with water and cook for 40 minutes. Fragrant and tasty dietary dolma is ready.

There are dishes with a centuries-old history, and this is one of them. This dish is widespread in the east and is nothing more than cabbage rolls stuffed with meat and rice, wrapped not in cabbage leaves, but in grape leaves. Since dolma has a wide distribution area - from Transcaucasia to the Balkan Peninsula and North Africa, this contributed not only to the emergence large quantity recipes, but also different names. Different peoples call it differently - tolma, dalma, sarma, durma, dulma, dolmekh. For example, sarma is considered national dish Turkish cuisine. Unlike Armenian dolma, it is prepared completely without meat. The rice filling is generously seasoned with spices, onions, garlic, tomato sauce and mint. Many people still argue about what cuisine dolma belongs to.

The authentic name of the dish “dolma” comes from the Turkic language and is translated as “fill” or stuff. From Armenian the word “tolma” is translated as grape leaves. Let's look at how to prepare dolma in grape leaves step by step.

Ingredients:

  • Grape leaves - 30-40 pcs.,
  • Minced meat (pork or beef) - 400 gr.,
  • Short grain rice - one and a half cups,
  • Carrots - 1 pc.,
  • Spices: cumin, black pepper, paprika, ground coriander, dried basil,
  • Onions - 1 pc.

Dolma in grape leaves – step by step recipe:

  1. Preparing dolma in Armenian it begins with preparation grape leaves. To make dolma tasty, you need to use young grape leaves no larger than the palm of your hand. Old leaves are coarser in texture and less juicy, so they are used much less often for this dish. Traditionally, leaves of white grape varieties are used, although leaves of other varieties are also suitable. Wash the grape leaves. Cut off the stems with a knife.
  2. Place them in a bowl and pour hot water. Leave the leaves to steam for 5 minutes. As soon as the leaves change color from green to brown, they can be considered ready for dolma.
  3. Rinse the rice in two or three waters. Place it in boiling water and cook until half cooked. After this, drain in a colander. Rinse with water. Place on a plate.
  4. Prepare the vegetables. Peel the carrots and onions. Grind the carrots on a medium or fine grater.
  5. Cut the onion into cubes.
  6. Place pork or Ground beef. Add chopped carrots and onions. Sprinkle spices and salt over the filling.
  7. Mix all filling ingredients.
  8. Filling and grape leaves for dolma in Armenian are ready and you can begin the actual preparation. Place the grape leaf face down. Roll the minced meat into cutlets and place it in the center of the leaf, closer to the base of its stem.
  9. Wrap the leaf in a tube.
  10. Using your fingers, fold the edges of the resulting roll inward.
  11. Grape leaves are very flexible, and therefore preparing dolma should not cause difficulties. You can wrap dolma like cabbage rolls in another way, namely, with an envelope. Also arrange the filling as in the first method. Fold top part sheet, placing it on the filling. Fold the sides of the leaf towards the center.
  12. Roll the resulting workpiece into a tube. Using any of the described methods, form a dolma. Wash the remaining grape leaves. Line the bottom of the pan with them. Place dolma in it in layers and be sure to seam down.
  13. Fill the dolma with cold water or meat broth until it covers it. If you are used to extinguish it plain water, then it should be slightly salted; the broth does not need to be salted additionally.
  14. Cover the top of the pan with a flat plate. Be sure to place a weight on it. This is necessary so that during cooking the dolma does not fall apart and lose its appearance. Cook the dolma over low heat for 40 minutes, avoiding a strong boil. While it is extinguishing, you can add a little water if you see that it is not enough.
  15. Remove the pan with the finished dolma from the stove. Take the weight and plate. Cover it with a lid and leave for another ten minutes. This will allow her to further steam in own juice and become even tastier.

Dolma

Dolma This is a dish that includes: some kind of shell, the more usual - grape leaves, filling - minced meat with rice or rice with onions and herbs (lenten dolma) and sauce, usually with garlic or sweet and sour. Dolma is widespread in many countries. In Greece, for example, this dish is called , in Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan - , in Armenia, Georgia - tolma, in Russia - there is also a dish similar to dolma, these are cabbage rolls. The recipes for preparing this dish are very diverse, of course, there are national characteristics preparations. Therefore, you can choose the recipe you like best. Today I want to offer you a recipe for making dolma with walnuts, which an Armenian friend taught me. So, tolma or dolma is an Armenian recipe.

What products do we need:

  • canned grape leaves - 1 jar
  • minced lamb - 300 g + lamb bones for broth
  • minced beef - 500 g
  • large onions - 2 pcs.
  • handful of walnuts
  • garlic - 4 cloves per mince + 5-6 cloves
  • boiled rice - 1/2 the volume of minced meat
  • cilantro, parsley or dill
  • Bay leaf
  • ground black and red hot pepper, black peas
  • curry seasoning 1/2 teaspoon
  • olive oil

For the sauce:

  • Matsoni or full-fat kefir or sour cream
  • garlic

Dolma step by step recipe:

  1. First we prepare the minced meat. Grind the meat in a meat grinder, preferably using a fine mesh. I recommend buying lamb on the bones. Cut the meat and make minced meat, and cook the broth on the bones, which we will pour into the dolma for cooking.
  2. Onions and greens can also be minced or finely chopped.
  3. Boil and rinse rice, preferably round.
  4. Chop the walnuts well. Add finely chopped garlic, 1 teaspoon olive oil and a few drops of lemon juice. Mix.
  5. Add rice, onion, herbs, salt, pepper, curry and walnuts with garlic. Mix until smooth.

Dolma from pickled grape leaves

  1. Place the canned grape leaves in a saucepan with water (or cold water). Let them lie down for a while.
  2. And right in the water you can start unrolling the rolls. When the leaves are separated from each other, drain the first water and rinse again in clean water to remove excess citric acid, in which the leaves are preserved. Let the water drain.
  3. The leaves must be tasted before stuffing. If they are hard or over-salted or over-acidified, then you need to cook them for 5-10 minutes. or even in two waters (for those who cannot tolerate sour foods).
  4. Now we stock up on patience and sit down to stuff the grape leaves. The technology is not complicated, the main thing is to adapt to the amount of minced meat that needs to be placed on the sheet. And the rest is a matter of technique. We lay out the sheet with the bottom side (more matte) facing up.
  5. For stuffing, we use whole leaves, and put the substandard ones aside, they will be useful to us.
  6. From this amount of minced meat, approximately 60-70 pieces of dolma are obtained.

Now let's start laying out:

  1. You need to take a saucepan with a wide bottom or a wide deep frying pan so that we get 2-3 layers no more. Place a layer of leaves on the bottom (substandard and leftovers).
  2. There is a layer of dolma on it. The dolma in the pan should lie tightly to each other so that the leaves do not unfold during prolonged boiling.
  3. On top there is again a layer of leaves, and again dolma.
  4. On the top layer of leaves add bay leaf, garlic, black peppercorns. Pour the broth level with the top layer, no more.
  5. Be sure to cover with an inverted plate to press down the dolma.
  6. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil. How long to cook dolma? As soon as it boils, reduce the heat and cook the dolma over SLOW heat for 1.5 hours. This time is necessary for the dolma to become soft and juicy. Almost all of the broth will be absorbed.

Sauce for dolma:

  1. Place matsoni or full-fat kefir or sour cream in a bowl, add a little salt and squeeze out the garlic. Mix everything and the sauce is ready.
  2. In an hour and a half our dolma is ready! Place on plates, pour over the sauce, and sprinkle with cilantro or parsley.

BON APPETIT!

Dolma recipe

Dolma is prepared almost everywhere, but of course it is common in the east. Dolma is prepared from grape leaves. Many people believe that dolma differs from the usual cabbage rolls only in leaves (in cabbage rolls there are cabbage leaves, but here there are grape leaves), but this is not so. The composition of the filling, spices, and even the cooking technology differ. Therefore, these are two completely different dishes.

If you decide to cook dolma, follow our recipe. This is a classic dolma - very tasty, aromatic and appetizing. There is nothing complicated in preparation, and the process will not take much time.

Ingredients:

  • grape leaves
  • 500 g lamb
  • 2 onions
  • parsley, dill, cilantro - to taste
  • 100 g rice
  • salt, pepper to taste
  • hot peppers, bell pepper, garlic - to taste

Preparation of dolma:

  1. Pour the washed rice with hot water and leave to infuse.
  2. Peel the onions, chop the lamb and grind everything in a meat grinder.
  3. If possible, it is better to chop the onion and meat very finely with a knife - that’s when the dolma will acquire a special taste. But you can also use a meat grinder.
  4. Now you need to add spices and chopped herbs to the minced meat - everything to your taste. But traditional dolma should have a lot of greenery.
  5. By this time, the rice should have already brewed, drain the water from it and add it to the minced meat.
  6. Now is the most important and interesting part of the whole cooking process. Take a grape leaf, place a tablespoon of minced meat on it and begin to wrap it. You should get an envelope.
  7. Now we need a cauldron, or a saucepan with a thick bottom. We put grape leaves on the bottom - you shouldn’t spare the leaves. We lay dolma on top and again cover everything with grape leaves.
  8. Now attention! We need some pressure, we can use a plate. Place it on top of the leaves.
  9. Now fill everything with water, salt and cover with a lid. Let it simmer on low heat for an hour.
  10. While the dolma is preparing, let's make the sauce. To do this, take matsoni (or kefir) and mix with finely chopped garlic. There should not be a lot of garlic, as it can drown out the true aroma of the dolma itself.
  11. Take the finished dolma out of the cauldron and serve with sauce. Served only hot. Despite the fact that the dish is meat, it is quite light, so you need to cook more. Bon appetit!

Dolma

Sometimes dolma is made in a vegetarian manner, i.e. No meat is used in the filling.
Dolma is widespread in the cuisines of the peoples of the former Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire, the Balkan Peninsula, Central and South Asia: Azerbaijan, Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Greece, Georgia, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Northern Sudan, Turkey, Uzbekistan.

The word dolma can be literally translated as “fill”, “minced meat stuffed into grape leaves”, “stuffed cabbage”. Because minced meat can contain all sorts of additives: lemon juice, nuts, olive oil.

Serve dolma or with sour cream sauce, or with a sauce based on the broth in which the dolma was cooked. The sauce should be either sour or sweet and sour. In Azerbaijan, grape leaves are sometimes replaced with quince or fig leaves. Also, dolma is made from fish, not meat. There are more than 10 types of dolma in Azerbaijan.

To prepare this dish, take the youngest and tender leaves. But in Turkey there are two main types of dolma. The first one is with meat filling, which is only served hot. And the second - with rice, can be served cold, as an appetizer.

DOLMA

Ingredients and cooking process delicious second dishes - Armenian dolma made from grape leaves:

  • 350 g grape leaves for dolma
  • 600 g beef (or lamb)
  • 100 g pork (or tail fat if the main meat is lamb)
  • 80 g onions
  • 80 g of greens (mint, cilantro, dill)
  • 150 g short grain rice
  • salt, pepper, garlic to taste
  • 300 g matsoni (or thick yogurt, or light sour cream)
  1. Rinse the rice and pour boiling water for 40 minutes.
  2. Meat, onion, greens (dill, cilantro, mint) grind in a meat grinder.
  3. Add cooled rice, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.
  4. On the wrong side of a young fresh grape leaf without a stem (you can also use salted grape leaves purchased at the market, which must first be thoroughly washed and soaked for 1-2 hours in water to remove excess salt cold water) put the prepared minced meat in an amount of approximately 20-25 grams.
  5. Fold the sheet with the filling into an envelope.
  6. To stew dolma, choose a pan with a thick bottom. Place a layer of grape leaves on the bottom of this pan. Place dolma on them tightly in rows, then cover the dolma on top with an appropriately sized flat plate so that the dolma does not unfold and float during cooking.
  7. Pour in water, or better yet, prepared broth.
  8. Simmer for an hour with the lid closed on low heat.
    Serve with the juice obtained from stewing.
  9. Separately serve matsoni (or sour cream) with garlic grated.

Although dolma is a meat dish, it is very light dish! Sour milk sauce helps proper digestion, resulting in food being quite easily digestible.

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 cold or hot snack, it is popular in Armenia, Georgia and Greece. Any housewife can master the recipe.

How to cook dolma from grape leaves

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 of the national cuisine: some cook dolma, some stew it, and some fry it. This dish can be served with white sauce or a dressing of fried vegetables.

Grape leaves for dolma

Experienced housewives from southern countries they know that best time to prepare real dolma - the beginning of June, when the greenery on the trees is just blooming and the young leaves of the grapes still retain their tenderness. light green color. It is recommended to choose small ones (about the size of a woman’s palm), and before cooking, dip them in boiling and salted water for two to three minutes, and then pour over them. 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 saturated 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.

Recipe for dolma with grape leaves

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.

Dolma in grape leaves in Armenian

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:

  • fatty minced meat from a mixture of beef and pork – 1 kg;
  • onions – 2-3 pcs.;
  • dried basil and rosemary;
  • red and black peppers;
  • salt;
  • pickled and salted leaves.

Follow a simple algorithm:

  1. Mix the minced meat with raw rice, spices and herbs, add a couple of spoons meat broth(or clean water). Leave for 30 minutes.
  2. Free the leaves from the brine and dry.
  3. Place a couple of teaspoons of minced meat in the center of each leaf and wrap the cabbage roll.
  4. Place the rolls in a ceramic pan very tightly to each other. Fill with water until it covers the entire dolma.
  5. Place it on slow fire and leave for 40 minutes. Before serving, you can add butter or white sauce matsoni

Dolma in grape leaves in Azerbaijani style

It is known that Azerbaijani recipe 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:

  • lamb (back leg) – 1 kg;
  • tail fat– 50 g;
  • rice (can be long grain) – 100 g;
  • onions – 2 pcs.;
  • fresh mint;
  • fresh cilantro;
  • leaves;
  • salt pepper.

The step-by-step preparation is very simple:

  1. Pass the lamb and onion through a meat grinder (it would be better to use a large attachment), add rice and herbs. Pour in half a glass warm water.
  2. Rinse the leaves from brine and dry.
  3. Place a reliable plate (for example, made of tempered glass) on the bottom of the pan.
  4. Wrap the rolls. Place in the pan so that the cabbage rolls fit tightly together.
  5. Top with another plate. The dish will cook for about 40 minutes.
  6. While the cabbage rolls are cooking, you can make the matsoni sauce.

Greek dolma made from fresh grape leaves

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 is usually served among cold appetizers along with traditional Greek sauce cucumber and yogurt tzatziki. For cooking you will need:

  • fresh leaves– 20-30 pcs.;
  • rice – 200 g;
  • bulb;
  • fresh herbs: cilantro, basil, mint;
  • eggplant – 1 pc.;
  • olive oil.

Follow step by step instructions:

  1. Young grape leaves need to be boiled in salted water for two to three minutes in advance.
  2. Grate the eggplant coarse grater, coarsely chop the herbs and mix with rice and olive oil.
  3. Lightly simmer the filling in the pan.
  4. Wrap up the cabbage rolls.
  5. The bottom of the pan should be lined with torn leaves, then the rolls should be placed closer to each other.
  6. Add lemon juice, a spoonful of olive oil, salt and spices.
  7. Fill with water and cook for 40 minutes.

The peoples of Asia Minor have long been famous for the diversity of their cuisine. One of the most bright dishes is dolma, which is classical technology is a grape leaves stuffed with rice and minced meat.

In our understanding, these are cabbage rolls, in which grape leaves are used instead of cabbage. The dish is extremely tasty and, rest assured, is worth the effort spent on preparing it.

History of the dish

Dolma is extremely common in the cuisines of the peoples of Transcaucasia, Central and Western Asia, the Balkan Peninsula and even North Africa. All national cuisines have their own special technology cooking dishes and each of them is special in its own way.

The dish belongs to Armenian cuisine, which has long been famous for its best recipes.

The Armenian people claim that they were the discoverers of dolma, and only later, the dish became popular in other national cuisines.

According to the Armenians, this food was extremely common in the court cuisine of the Ottoman Empire; this is not strange, because the recipe is distinguished by its taste and originality.

The benefits and harms of dolma

Grape leaves are widely used in medicine; they are rich in great amount vitamins, microelements, nutrients, so their benefits are undeniable. At regular use dishes based on grape leaves, you can get rid of many ailments, such as migraines, varicose veins.

They are also useful for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and genitourinary system. Grape leaves strengthen the immune system and are a natural elixir of youth.

However, people suffering from excess weight Those with ulcers or diabetics are not recommended to eat dishes made from grape leaves. Because, in in this case, dolma will harm the body. In any case, you should consult your doctor.

Difficulty and cooking time

Dolma is enough complex dish, because it involves 4 stages of preparation: preparing the leaves, preparing the filling, wrapping the filling in leaves and directly stewing.

Taking this into account, we can say that it takes at least two hours to prepare dolma. But the housewife can be sure that the time and labor spent is worth it. The taste of the dish is spicy and refined at the same time.

Food preparation

The most important step in preparing food is finding the right grape leaves. It is best to buy them salted, but since the leaves are folded, the housewife cannot be sure of their integrity. Before use, such envelopes need to be doused with boiling water to soften the leaves a little.

If fresh leaves are purchased, they must be soaked in salt water for at least 20 minutes and be sure to cut the cuttings from each leaf so that they curl more easily.

How to cook dolma

A classic and simple recipe for cabbage rolls in grape leaves.

Ingredients:

  • grape leaves - approximately 100 pcs;
  • pork – 1 kg;
  • optional bones for broth;
  • round rice - ½ cup;
  • onion – 4 heads;
  • Sunflower oil – 50 g;
  • a pinch of salt;
  • ground black pepper – 1 tsp;
  • coriander – ½ teaspoon;
  • cilantro - a bunch;
  • parsley - a bunch;
  • tarragon - smaller than a bunch.

This quantity of products is designed for approximately 20 servings.

Preparation:

The bones need to be fried until appetizing golden brown crust. Fill with water and cook the aromatic broth for about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling. In classical technology, pork should be minced. Cut two onions into large cubes and fry on sunflower oil. Mix with meat, add rice, chopped herbs, seasonings and mix thoroughly.

The most aesthetically important part of preparing a dish is wrapping the envelopes. The filling should be applied to the dull part of the grape leaves. Then, we fold the leaves on the sides and roll them into a tube.

Now you need to fold the dolma into the pan with the seams down. Pour broth around the edge of the pan and simmer for about an hour.

Approximately, one serving of dolma - 150 grams, contains 60 kcal, which is calculated as 55% fat, 30% protein and 15% carbohydrates. However, the dish is healthy and incredibly tasty.

Cooking options

Since several nations are fighting for the right to be called the discoverers of this dish, there are also several options for preparing the dish: using Armenian technology, Azerbaijani and Moldavian.

Dolma can also be prepared from pickled grape leaves in a slow cooker. Each of the recipes is unique and has its own unique taste.

Dolma in pickled grape leaves

Ingredients:

  • 50 pickled grape leaves;
  • 5 kg minced lamb;
  • 5 liters of meat broth;
  • 6 tablespoons of coarse grain rice;
  • 5 onions;
  • 50 grams of butter;
  • 50 ml vegetable oil;
  • aromatic herbs: dill, parsley, cumin;
  • spices: salt, ground pepper.

Preparation:

If the meat is on the bones, then you need to separate the pulp from the bones, cook the broth on them, and grind the meat using a meat grinder or blender. Otherwise, you can use any meat broth.

Pour boiling water over the rice and cover with a lid to steam a little. After 10-15 minutes, strain and add to the meat.

Peel the onion, wash it to remove any remaining dirt and cut it into cubes. Heat a frying pan over medium heat and fry the onion in a mixture of oils until golden brown. Add to the filling.

Fresh greens must be washed under running water and finely chopped. Pour into the filling along with the spices and mix thoroughly.

Place the grape leaves on the work surface so that the smooth side is down. Place the filling in the center of the sheet and wrap it in an envelope.

Place the dolma in a thick-bottomed pan, seam side down, add broth, cover with a lid and simmer for about an hour. Then the filling will be tender, and the taste of the dish will amaze your guests.

Delicious Armenian dolma with beef

Ingredients:

  • 1 kg beef;
  • ½ cup rice;
  • tomato;
  • bell pepper;
  • 50 grape leaves;
  • 2 onions;
  • a bunch of parsley;
  • spices: basil, ground pepper, paprika, salt.

Preparation:

Scald the grape leaves with boiling water, wash them, cut off the veins. Wash the rice thoroughly too.

We wash the vegetables and parsley, remove the skin from the tomato. We chop the parsley, and pass all the vegetables, rice and meat through a meat grinder, add spices and mix.

Place the filling on the leaves, wrap the envelopes and simmer over low heat for at least 50 minutes.

Dolma with vegetables and seasonings will surprise you with its taste.

Azerbaijani dolma with lamb

Ingredients:

  • lamb – 0.5 kg;
  • grape leaves – 20-30 pcs;
  • round rice – 5 tbsp. spoon;
  • eggs – 2 pcs;
  • onion – 2 pcs;
  • greens: cilantro, mint;
  • spices: salt, ground pepper.

Preparation:

We clean the meat from the veins and grind it. Chop the greens and onions, add to the meat, beat the eggs, add pre-washed rice and spices, mix.

We wrap the filling in leaves, forming envelopes, put the dolma in a pan and simmer for at least an hour.

This technology for preparing dolma is that the filling using an egg is more tender and does not crumble. The dish will certainly surprise the hostess's relatives.

Moldavian dolma

Ingredients:

  • 30 grape leaves;
  • ½ kg of meat (lamb, pork, beef);
  • 3 onions;
  • 50 ml sunflower oil;
  • 1/3 cup rice;
  • 2 tablespoons of tomato paste;
  • 1 carrot root;
  • salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Grind the meat, cut the onions and carrots into cubes and simmer it all in sunflower oil until golden brown.

Wash the rice, add it to the meat and simmer for another 10 minutes. tomato paste. When the filling has cooled, add chopped herbs, spices and mix.

Place the leaves with their smooth surface down, add the aromatic filling, wrap them in envelopes and simmer for about 40 minutes. Incredible Moldavian dolma will surprise you with its spicy taste.

Recipe in a slow cooker

Ingredients:

  • 5 kg minced meat;
  • 20 grape leaves;
  • 1 onion;
  • 4 tbsp. spoons of rice;
  • 50 g butter;
  • 50 grams of sunflower oil;
  • 1 bunch of greens;
  • salt and spices to taste.

Preparation:

We wash the rice. Turn on the multicooker, pour in vegetable oil and, using the “frying” mode, fry the chopped onion until golden brown.

In a small bowl, mix minced meat, fried onions, rice, spices, chopped herbs and butter.

Place the filling on pre-prepared leaves, form envelopes and carefully place them in the slow cooker, seam side down. Fill with hot water to cover the envelopes and turn on the “quenching” mode for 1 hour.

Cooking dolma in a slow cooker is easy and simple, and most importantly, delicious.

Video recipe

There are several main secrets:

  1. To prevent the dish from burning, place grape leaves on the bottom of the pan or multicooker.
  2. We fold the envelopes with the seams down so that they do not unfold during the stewing process.
  3. When all the envelopes are placed in the pan, it is best to secure them by pressing them with a plate. In this case, during the boiling process the filling will not come out of the envelopes.

Dolma is considered one of the simplest and delicious recipes In the world, only young leaves are good for cooking. Then the dolma turns out tender and melts in your mouth. This dish is suitable for every day and for the holiday table.

Dolma is cabbage rolls, but not with cabbage, but with grape leaves. The filling, as in cabbage rolls, is rice and minced meat, and different ones. But dolma can also be vegetarian.

Tasty and aromatic dolma is traditionally prepared in Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Iran, Syria, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. However, cabbage rolls made from young grape leaves have become popular in the cuisine of other nations. Recently, a Norwegian friend of mine taught my Moscow Armenian friend how to cook “real dolma” :) “I’ll show you the recipe for dolma as it is,” a real Scandinavian guest shared his secrets.

Cabbage rolls in grape leaves are much more tender than their counterparts in cabbage leaves. They have pleasant sourness and amazing aroma. Believe me, if you haven’t tried it yet: the tenderness and aroma of dolma do not become overcooked! As for cooking, turning “dolmushki” is a pleasant and exciting thing.

Ingredients

  • minced meat (pork + beef) – 350-400g
  • rice - 60-80g
  • onions – 1-2 pcs.
  • vegetable oil – 50-70 ml
  • butter – 30-40g
  • carrots – 1 pc.
  • black pepper, salt
  • balsamic vinegar - less than 1 teaspoon
  • cumin (ground)
  • dill and parsley - medium bunch
  • dry herbs (cilantro, mint, basil)
  • grape leaves – 40-55 pcs.
  • cauldron or stewpan for 2-2.5 l

Cooking method

Leaves for dolma. Only fresh grape leaves (small and young) are suitable for dolma. They are very tender and fragrant.

Select leaves for dolma in advance, excluding all coarse and large leaves (especially older ones). Rinse thoroughly under running water. Then dip into boiling water for a few seconds (5-10), remove to a colander, let drain and cool.

You can also use canned leaves for dolma. They are very easy to prepare. Rinse young, not very large and hard grape leaves with cold water. Then, in batches of 5-10 pieces, dip into boiling water for 5-10 seconds. Let cool slightly and, stacking them in stacks of 5-10 pieces, roll into rolls. Place the resulting blanks (rolls) in a sterile jar (preferably 700-800g). This volume is enough for one-time preparation of dolma for a family. Prepare separately hot pickle at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 600 ml of water. Pour hot brine over the grape leaves and cover with a lid. Before using, it is advisable to soak the canned leaves in cold water for 5-10 minutes.

Filling for dolma

Peel the onion, rinse and cut into cubes. Melt butter in a frying pan. Add vegetable oil and chopped onion. Bring it to transparency.

The authentic recipe for dolma does not include such an ingredient as carrots, and You can skip this step. But this is a matter of taste. If you use carrots, peel and rinse them. Grate on a coarse grater and combine with the lowered onion. Cook until soft, about 3-5 minutes.

Rinse the rice thoroughly and boil in salted water for 3-5 minutes. Place in a sieve and rinse with cold water.

Combine rice and sautéed vegetables in a bowl.

Season with salt and pepper to your taste.

Traditional dolma must contain minced lamb, sometimes with the addition of beef. However, more familiar to us minced pork and beef It won't ruin its taste either. Add the prepared minced meat to the rice mixture.

Add cumin and dry herbs, pour in vinegar. Chop the washed dill and parsley and also combine with the rest of the ingredients. Mix the dolma filling thoroughly.

Preparing dolma rolls. Place the grape leaf back side up. Place some filling at the base.

Cover the filling with the overhanging edges of the grape leaf.

Fold the sides to the center.

Roll the dolma into a tight roll. Do the same with the rest of the leaves.

Placing dolma in a container and cooking. Place the pieces in a cauldron or saucepan (lightly grease them with olive oil) in dense rows. Having filled one row, you can lay out one or two more layers. Cover the last layer of dolma with grape leaves without filling (if there are enough leaves).

Add another 2-3 tbsp to the container. l. olive oil and cover the food with a plate turned upside down along the diameter of the saucepan, creating a kind of press. This is done so that the dolma rolls do not open during cooking.

Now fill the dolma with water or broth, vegetable or meat, so that the dolma is covered by 1-2 cm. Place on the stove and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook dolma (covered) until cooked, about 50-60 minutes. During cooking, add more water if necessary.

After this, carefully, so as not to burn yourself, remove the plate and tilt the saucepan on its side. Very carefully scoop some out of the pan aromatic juice- you will need it to prepare the sauce.

Serve with sour cream, yogurt or hot sauce. One of the most delicious sauces is given below. Dolma is served with it in Greece.

Egg-lemon sauce and dolma cream

Ingredients:

  • 5 lemons
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch (for cream)
  • ½ teaspoon salt (for cream)
  • a little less than half a teaspoon of pepper (for cream)

How to cook:

1 In a large bowl, beat the meringue into a thick consistency egg whites. Continuing to beat, add the yolks, lemon juice and juice from the pan. Your egg-lemon sauce is ready.

2 If you are not going to prepare the cream, then pour the prepared sauce into the dolma in the pan and carefully tilt the pan in different directions by the handles so that the sauce spreads better over the food.

3 If you want to prepare cream, do the following: Pour into a small saucepan corn starch and dissolve it in 200 g of water. Then add ½ teaspoon of salt and a little less pepper to the starch.

4 Heat the dissolved starch over medium heat.

5 Once the starch liquid is warm, add the previously prepared egg sauce to it. Continuously stir vigorously for 2-3 minutes until you have a cream. (Be aware that the mixture may curdle very quickly).

6 Fill ready-made cream dolma and again tilt the pan in different directions so that the cream is distributed evenly.

Dolma, recipe and photo © Magic Food.RU