Ramen original recipes from different countries of dolma. Dolma from grape leaves. Garlic-mint sauce on yogurt

A fragrant and healthy dish - dolma in grape leaves - should take a worthy place on the festive and everyday table. This tasty, hearty food from the Caucasus, also called dalma, sarma, dulma or tolma, consists of stuffed vegetables or leaves. The dish resembles well-known cabbage rolls, where delicate grape leaves are used instead of cabbage leaves. Any housewife will be interested to learn about the various options for making dolma.

Cooking features

To learn how to properly cook at home according to any of the recipes for dolma in grape leaves, first of all, you need to decide which minced meat should be used to make the filling. Usually choose a mixture of lamb with rice and spices... You may prefer dishes made from beef, pork or other products.

Onions are often added to minced meat. The specifics of cooking will depend on national characteristics and individual preferences. Some choose boiled dolma, others stewed or fried.

The finished dish is served with white sauce, dressing with fried vegetables.

Selection of grape leaves

Housewives with experience living in southern countries are well aware that the best time for making real tasty dolma is the beginning of June... At this time, greenery blooms on the trees, and the leaves of the grapes have a delicate light green color and a special aroma.

To prepare such a stuffed dish, it is advisable to pick up young and fresh leaves, small in size, about the size of a woman's palm. It is necessary to exclude coarse large, especially older leaves. Before the cooking process, the leaves are thoroughly washed under running water and immersed for 3 minutes in salted boiling water, after which they are poured over with ice water.

Canning raw materials

When you plan to cook this type of cabbage rolls from grape leaves at any time of the year, you should use the traditional recipe for making leaves... According to him, young, medium-sized and hard leaves are washed with running water. Then 5-8 pieces are lowered for 5-8 seconds. into boiling water. Let the leaves cool down a little.

Then they are collected in stacks of 5-10 pieces. and rolled up into tubes, tied with threads and put sterilized cans 700-800 g. Pour the tubes with a saturated decoction from one tablespoon of salt and a glass of water, roll up the lids.

Canned leaves are stored for a long time. They should be soaked for 5-10 minutes before use. in cold water.

Formation of rolls

Often, without experience, housewives cannot neatly pack grape leaves with minced meat into rolls and not tear the leaf itself, as a result of which the filling partially spills out. Therefore, when filling the leaves with minced meat, it is better to use this advice:

Place the minced meat with a teaspoon in the center of the leaf.
Cover the filling with one edge of the leaf (bottom).
Close the minced meat with the sides of the leaf.
Then the resulting envelope is wrapped like a stuffed cabbage roll.

With the acquisition of experience, such rolls will be obtained quickly.

Any housewife can make a delicious dish at home. You just need to learn how to cook semi-finished dolma, what ingredients should be included in this or that minced meat and how long it will take to cook such a dish. It is difficult to say which recipe for this dish is the most delicious.

It is worth practicing to cook dolma using Armenian, Georgian, Greek, Azerbaijani way, and then decide which is better. Gourmets will surely love the classic national variants of the dish. All methods are quite simple to follow if you use step-by-step recipes for beginners on how to cook dalma.

Dolma in Greek

This dish in Greece is called dolmades, dolmadakya, which means wrapping one product in another. For such a dish, fresh herbs are taken. There is no meat in the recipe, from the products used:

fresh grape leaves, about 30 pieces;
onion, 1 head;
rice, 200 g;
eggplant, 1 pc .;
fresh greens: basil, mint, cilantro;
lemon juice;
olive oil.

First, the leaves are boiled for 3 minutes. in salted water. Further steps for cooking are as follows:

The food is served as a cold appetizer with a traditional version of the sauce containing cucumbers and yogurt (tzatsiki).

Armenian version of the dish

This recipe is for those who love Armenian cuisine and want to know if dolma can be made from pickled grape leaves. Tinned leaves will add sourness to the dish. Products required for work:

minced meat from a mixture of beef and pork meat - 1 kg;
round or long grain rice - 100 g;
canned grape leaves;
onions - 2-3 pieces;
dried basil, rosemary;
black, red pepper;
salt.

This cooking option does not take much time.

The cooking algorithm is as follows:

Mix the minced meat, raw rice, spices, herbs. Add 2 tablespoons of pure water or meat broth to them. Leave the mixture for half an hour.
Remove the leaves from the brine, dry them.
On each of the leaves, put two tablespoons of minced meat, form a roll.
Fold the cabbage rolls made in dense rows in a saucepan, preferably a ceramic one. Pour water up to the top level of the rolls.
Put the dishes over low heat. Cabbage rolls will be cooked for 40-45 minutes.

The dish is served on the table with butter, white yogurt sauce, a sour milk product of Caucasian cuisine, reminiscent of sour cream.

Azerbaijani recipe

It is similar to the previous one, but according to oriental traditions, minced meat is made from beef here. Required Ingredients:

ram meat (leg, back) -1 kg;
fat tail fat (fatty deposits near the tail of a ram) - 50 g;
round (long-grain) rice - 100 g;
grape leaves, canned or fresh;
onions - 2 heads;
fresh mint and cilantro, salt, pepper.

To get minced meat, you need a meat grinder. It is easy to prepare such dolma according to the recipe step by step, for this:

While the rolls are being prepared, you can make the yogurt sauce.

Georgian food

This dish is very popular. It is prepared using products according to the list:

minced meat from a mixture of pork and lamb - 500 g;
pickled grape leaves - 300 g;
white onion - 1 piece;
garlic, cilantro;
black, red pepper;
salt.

First, the grape leaves are freed from the twigs. And the leaves are soaked for a while in order to remove excess salt and acid from them. Finely chop onion, cilantro, garlic. They are mixed with minced meat, add the right amount of pepper and salt. Stir, spread the filling on a leaf of grapes, roll up an envelope. Then they roll it up into a tube. All prepared semi-finished dolma is placed in a saucepan, poured with broth or water. Stew until tender.

Classic dolmas

This recipe for making small cabbage rolls in grape leaves corresponds to the traditional one as much as possible. To get an appetizing dish, you will need the following products:

Begin the cooking process by rinsing the rice well (up to 6 times) so that the water becomes clear. Then boiling water is poured into the rice so that it covers the cereal, and the product is left to swell. At the same time, the rice absorbs water and does not take away the minced meat juice in the future. The dish will turn out to be juicy. Another way is to pour the washed rice with water, bring the mixture to a boil, cook until half cooked for about 10 minutes over moderate heat.

Further stages of cooking:

Finely chop the onion and sauté it in vegetable oil. With stirring, bring the onion to a transparent state.
Put prepared rice in the pan. Stir the contents of the pan so that the rice is soaked in onions. This will make the filling tastier.
The dishes are removed from the heat to cool.
Finely crumble and place greens in a deep container, add minced meat, spices, pepper, salt to it. All components are mixed.
Spread rice with onions in the same container, mix well again. The minced meat is left to infuse.
Prepare grape leaves: straighten them, remove the stalks. Lay aside damaged leaves that will still come in handy. If fresh leaves are used, then they are first poured with boiling water for 10 minutes.
The leaves are laid out with the smooth side down, veins up.
Put some minced meat in the middle of the sheet, close it on all sides and wrap the sheet. It turns out a tight tube. Do the same with the rest of the "dolmushki".
Part of the previously discarded leaves is placed on the bottom of a saucepan or cauldron in 1-2 layers.
Rolls made with seams are placed on the leaves in several layers. Top them covered with the remaining leaves of grapes.
Pour the broth (water), the liquid should lightly cover the rolls. From above everything is covered with a plate. If necessary, put a load on it so that the rolls do not open.
Put the container with dolma on the fire and, bringing it to a boil, reduce the heating. Cook the dish for an hour or a little longer with a low boil.
Then the pan is removed from the heat and left to infuse for 10-20 minutes.

The cooking process is complete. Sour cream or sour cream-garlic sauce is served with dolma.

Vegetarian dish

The meat in this dish is replaced by protein legumes: chickpeas (chickpeas), lentils, beans, couscous (durum wheat). The dish turns out to be just as tasty and no less nutritious than with minced meat. The following ingredients are required:

The preparation of the dish begins with the fact that the chickpeas are soaked overnight. Then change the water to fresh. Set the pot to simmer for 1-1.5 hours so that chickpeas became soft... Salt it at the end of cooking. Rice should be washed and cooked until half cooked. Put the pan over medium heat, pour in 2 tbsp. l. olive or any other vegetable oil, fry finely chopped onions, garlic, celery or carrots instead until the onions are transparent. Add rice, stir, lightly fry to evaporate moisture and remove from heat.

Beat the chickpeas with a blender until smooth. In a mortar, together with 0.5 tablespoons of salt, grind and mix the spices: cilantro, cumin, sesame seeds, black pepper, 1-2 cloves of garlic. For those who like spicy food, 1-2 chili peppers will do the trick. Put in the container chickpeas, fried rice and vegetables, herbs and spices; mix well. You should get a mass slightly thicker than minced meat. In the event that it is liquid, you should add a small amount of bread crumbs to it.

Then they stuff the grape leaves with it and roll them up, put them tightly in a saucepan. Boiling water or hot broth is poured into dolma to its level. Cover with a plate on top, bring to a boil, cook until tender for 15-20 minutes.

While the rolls are boiling, the sauce is prepared. It will require: a glass of yogurt, garlic - 2 cloves, several sprigs of cilantro, a little salt. After the dish is cooked, you need to drain the water and serve the food hot or cooled to room temperature.

If you want to surprise your guests or your family with some interesting and unusual dish, dolma will certainly be one of the best options. Even with the existing analogy with popular cabbage rolls, a dish with grape leaves has a completely different taste, and broth and sauce will be a pleasant addition to it.

Attention, only TODAY!

The peoples of Asia Minor have long been famous for the variety of their cuisine. One of the brightest dishes is dolma, which in classical technology is 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, it is worth the effort spent on preparing it.

The 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 cooking technology and each of them is special in its own way.

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

The Armenian people claim that they were the pioneers 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, and 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 a huge amount of vitamins, trace elements, nutrients, so their benefits are undeniable. With the regular use of dishes based on grape leaves, you can get rid of many ailments, such as migraines, varicose veins.

They are also useful in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and the genitourinary system. Grape leaves enhance immunity and are a natural elixir of youth.

However, people who are overweight, have ulcers, or diabetics are not advised to consume meals made from grape leaves. Because, in this case, dolma will harm the body. In any case, you need to consult a doctor.

Complexity and cooking time

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

Considering this, we can say that it takes at least two hours to cook dolma. But the hostess can be sure that the time and work spent is worth it. The taste of the dish is spicy and exquisite at the same time.

Preparation of food

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 hostess 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 it is imperative that cuttings be cut from each leaf to make them easier to twist.

How to cook dolma

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

Ingredients:

grape leaves - about 100 pcs;
pork - 1kg;
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 - less bunch.

This amount of food is calculated for about 20 servings.

Preparation:

The bones must be fried until an appetizing golden brown appears. Fill with water and cook the aromatic broth for about 1 hour.

In the meantime, we are preparing the filling. In the classic technology, the pork should be chopped. Cut two onions into large cubes and fry in sunflower oil. Mix with meat, add rice, chopped herbs, seasonings and mix thoroughly.

From the aesthetic point of view, the most important part of cooking is the twisting of the envelopes. You need to put the filling on the dull part of the grape leaves. Then, on the sides, fold the leaves and twist them into a tube.

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

Approximately, one serving of dolma - 150 grams, accounts for 60 kcal, which in the calculation is 55% fat, 30% protein and 15% carbohydrates. Nevertheless, the dish is healthy and incredibly tasty.

Cooking options

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

Dolma can also be prepared from pickled grape leaves and 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 of minced lamb;
5 liters of meat broth;
6 tablespoons of coarse rice;
5 onions;
50 grams of butter;
50 ml of vegetable oil;
fragrant 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 with a meat grinder or blender. Otherwise, any broth can be used.

Fill the rice with boiling water and cover with a lid so that it steamed a little. After 10-15 minutes, filter and add to the meat.

Peel the onion from the chives, rinse it from the remnants of dirt and cut into cubes. Heat a skillet over medium heat and fry the onions in a mixture of oils until golden brown. Add to the filling.

Rinse fresh herbs under running water and chop finely. Pour into the filling together with the spices and mix thoroughly.

We spread the grape leaves on the work surface so that the smooth side is at the bottom. Put the filling on the center of the sheet and wrap it in an envelope.

Put dolma in a saucepan with a thick bottom, seam down, fill with broth, cover 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 of beef;
½ cup rice
a 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, rinse, cut off the veins. The rice is also thoroughly washed.

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

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

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

Azerbaijani dolma with lamb

Ingredients:

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

Preparation:

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

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

This technology for cooking dolma is that the filling with the help of an egg is more tender and does not crumble. The dish will certainly surprise the family of the hostess.

Moldavian dolma

Ingredients:

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

Preparation:

Grind the meat, cut the onion and carrots into cubes and simmer all this in sunflower oil until a ruddy shade appears.

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

We spread the leaves with a smooth surface down, apply a fragrant filling, wrap in envelopes and simmer for about 40 minutes. Incredible Moldavian dolma will surprise you with its spicy taste.

Multicooker recipe

Ingredients:

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

Preparation:

We wash the rice. We turn on the multicooker, pour in the vegetable oil and, in the "frying" mode, fry the chopped onion until golden.

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

We spread the filling on the pre-prepared leaves, form envelopes and carefully fold them into the multicooker with the seam down. Fill with hot water to cover the envelopes and turn on the "quenching" mode for 1 hour.

Cooking dolma in a multicooker is easy and simple, and most importantly - delicious.

Video recipe

There are several main secrets:

To prevent the dish from burning, put grape leaves on the bottom of the pan or multicooker.
We fold the envelopes with the seams down so that they do not unfold during the extinguishing process.
When all the envelopes are in the pot, it is best to secure them by pressing down 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 most delicious recipes in the world; only young leaves are well suited for the dish. Then the dolma turns out to be tender and melts in your mouth. Such a dish is suitable for every day and for a festive table.

In the usual sense of Russians, dolma is a filling of rice and minced meat, wrapped in grape leaves. This is, in fact, the most widespread variant of the dish both in our country 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 wide variety of vegetables. The filling always contains rice or other cereals, for example, chickpeas or bulgur, very often mixed with meat.

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

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

Important! You can use fresh leaves or salted ones sold in the markets. You can also find ready-made pickled leaves for dolma on sale. The most delicious dish is obtained from fresh young leaves. But if they are tough, they can be pre-boiled with boiling water, overly salted workpieces can be soaked in water and boiled for several minutes. At the same time, it is important to observe the proportions of salt in minced meat and leaves.

You will need the following products:

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

Cooking:

Pour fresh leaves with water, let stand and rinse. Allow water to drain, cut off, remove petioles. If the leaves are harsh, pour boiling water over them or even boil a little. Rinse if leaves are salted or pickled.
Rinse the rice in water, boil for 5-10 minutes. Drain and discard in a colander. Important! If you use fresh leaves, then you do not need to boil the rice - the leaves are cooked for a rather long time, during which time the cereal will have time to boil down to the desired state.
In vegetable oil or fat, pass the finely chopped onion a little, wait until it becomes transparent, but not fried.
Refrigerate onions and rice.
Grind the meat in a meat grinder or finely chop with a knife.
Add salt, herbs, rice, spices to the minced meat. Knead it to a dense viscosity.
Put substandard leaves (torn or uneven) on the bottom of a thick-walled saucepan (cauldron or clay pot), on them - folded stuffed envelopes. Dolma should be laid tightly, in rows, between the layers you can lay some dried fruits (dried apricots or prunes, for an amateur).
Put the leaves on top of the last row and pour boiling water over the layers, covering them completely. Put a clean plate on top to prevent the dolma from floating. Bring to a boil over high heat and, reducing heat, cook for another 40 minutes under the lid, until the leaves are cooked.

The food is eaten by pouring envelopes with sauce from a cauldron, as well as seasoning with a mixture of sour cream, garlic and finely chopped hot pepper.

Tip: Leaves can be relatively flat or very carved, depending on the grape variety. To prevent the filling from falling out, make it small, a little larger than your thumb. Putting the minced meat to the place of the cutting, first wrap one near edge on the minced meat, and then overlap the second corner, then wrap the rest of the sheet on the resulting triangle and put the seam down.

Cooking according to the Armenian recipe

Dolma in Armenian is almost a 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;
still need to add more spices and herbs. Alternatively, you can offer basil, turmeric, sage, curry - to your taste and discretion. Do not spoil dolma with spices;
during the stewing process, rice and meat will absorb a lot of liquid and become juicy. But some add a little natural yogurt or yogurt to the minced meat for even more juiciness.

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

a pound of beef;
fifty leaves;
300 g each of dry rice and turnip onions;
cilantro, marjoram, basil - all by eye, about 50 g each (but half the amount of marjoram);
to taste of salt, hot and black pepper, as well as a little chili.

With added nuts

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

In azerbaijani

Most recently, at the end of 2017, a meeting of an intergovernmental committee was held at UNESCO, where, according to the Convention for the Protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of this organization, it was decided to include the tradition of making dolma and its distribution from the state of Azerbaijan. For us, this means only one thing: we just need 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 skillfully.

Differences of Azerbaijani dolma:

she's deliciously fat;
it is not grape leaves that begin (although they too), but different vegetables;
fresh yoghurt lets the flavor open up;
all vegetables are stewed at the same time in one pan.

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

For each serving, it is usually assumed for each of the vegetables, respectively, for three people it is taken:

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

Procedure:

Make minced meat by scrolling meat and onions in a meat grinder.
After preheating a frying pan, fry the minced meat in half the oil until light brown. Season with pepper and salt at the end of frying.
While the minced meat is being fried, 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 along them to make a kind of little book). Fry the eggplants on all sides in oil and let cool. For peppers and tomatoes, cut the lid on top, pick out the seeds and pulp with a spoon, salt the vegetables from the inside. 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.
After slightly cooling the minced meat, stuff the vegetables. Cover the peppers and tomatoes with lids.
Put everything in rows in a saucepan, add the rest of the oil and, covered with a lid, simmer over low heat. No water is needed, vegetables will give their delicious aromatic juice. Served dolma in Azerbaijani style, watered with juice. It is also good to sprinkle it with dried mint.

Today for lunch we have a wonderful dish of Armenian cuisine, delicious and aromatic, we invite you to join! You will learn how to cook dolma at home, we present a step-by-step recipe with a photo for clarity of the process.

Dolma (tolma), a popular national dish in Armenia, is traditionally prepared from minced meat wrapped in grape leaves. In ancient times, such a dinner, of course, was seasonal. It was served on the table only during the period of active growth of grape leaves. Today in cooking, the concept of seasonal dishes has almost disappeared. Thanks to modern freezers, almost any product can be stored for quite a long time.

Delicate grape leaves are no exception. They can be folded in a stack of 10-20 pieces, rolled up, sealed and stored in the refrigerator for several months. This preparation allows you to prepare Armenian dolma from frozen grape leaves at any time of the year. It turns out to be as fragrant and tasty as from fresh leaves.

Frozen grape leaves - 100 pcs.;
Minced meat - 500 g;
Long grain rice - 100 g;
Onions - 2 heads;
Tomato paste - 3 tbsp l .;
Cilantro - 1 bunch;
Purple basil - 2-3 branches;
Ground paprika - 1 tsp;
Salt - 1 tsp

First of all, you need to prepare grape leaves for tolma. To defrost them, shock heat treatment is required. To do this, boil 2 liters of water. In boiling water, you need to immerse a small portion of frozen leaves for 10 seconds. Then they must be immediately transferred to a bowl of cold water to interrupt the exposure to high temperatures. The water in the pot should be boiled again and a new batch of leaves should be immersed in it.

Then it must be combined with finely chopped onions and minced meat. In order for dolma to turn out juicy and tasty, it is important to observe the proportions of these three main ingredients. The meat should be at least half of the total filling. At the same time, onion and rice should be approximately equal.

Another important point is minced meat. Traditional Armenian dolma is made from a mixture of fatty pork and beef. Today, other fillings are very often used: from beef, minced chicken or even fish. However, in minced meat, it must be fat enough so that the tolma does not turn out to be dry. For juiciness, you can add butter or ghee.

Mix the meat, rice and onions.

Then add tomato paste, finely chopped herbs, salt and pepper.

Knead the filling for tolma from frozen grape leaves.

After that, you can start wrapping the minced meat. To do this, on a plate or a small tray, you need to lay out the grape leaf, veins up. Put 1-2 tablespoons of the filling in the center and give it an oblong shape.

Dolma must be wrapped tightly so that it does not open during cooking.

Folded cigars should be placed in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. The rows must be laid tightly so that no voids remain.

On top of the tolma, it is necessary to press down with a flat lid or plate so that it does not float and unfold. Pour cold water into the pan so that it rises 2 cm above the food.

Cover the saucepan tightly and set over medium heat. After boiling, the heat must be reduced to a minimum and cooked for 40-45 minutes. You can serve it with yogurt or tkemali.

Now you know how to make dolma from grape leaves, and you can please your household with a delicious unusual dish.

Check out another very interesting dish - with step-by-step photos.

Dolma is a delicious dish, the roots of which go far to Asian countries. Minced lamb or beef, traditional for Eastern countries, is wrapped in young grape leaves, which are pre-aged in boiling water in order to become softer and more obedient. In this type, dolma is stewed for a long time in a cauldron on the stove, which allows the grape leaves to soften even more and give the dish its aroma.

Dolma is the progenitor of all known cabbage rolls, which we usually cook with ground pork and beef and wrap in cabbage leaves. That is, in fact, these are the same cabbage rolls wrapped in grape leaves.

But there is a difference in the preparation of the sheets themselves, and very significant. To make the leaves of the grapes tender and easy to chew, there are some secrets, which will be discussed below.

Therefore, if you want the most delicious, juicy and tender dolma to turn out, I advise you to read the recipe with a photo at home to the end. And then, I'm sure everyone will be delighted with the prepared dish.

Ingredients:

Minced meat - 550-600 g
Onions - 2-3 pcs.
Dry rice - 60-70 g
Grape leaves - 20-30 pcs.
Zira - 1 teaspoon
Ground red pepper or paprika - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt, black pepper - to taste
Greens to taste

Dolma recipe at home with photo

For making dolma, you can use both fresh grape leaves and pickled ones. But the most important condition is that the leaves should be young, light green and not very large. This is very important if you want the minced meat rolls to be easy to chew.

Classic dolma is made from minced lamb or beef, but if religion allows, then you can use pork.

You can also take minced chicken or prepare a standard set: pork and beef in a 1: 1 ratio. And you can also cook vegetarian dolma. In this case, boiled rice and stewed vegetables are added to the filling. But in any case, this dish is very tasty and insanely healthy!

1. First you need to prepare the grape leaves. They need to be rinsed well on each side, and not just rinsed and the petiole removed.

2. Then put the prepared leaves in a bowl and pour boiling water over it. We leave them in this form for half an hour, or until the water cools down.

You can use already prepared purchased leaves. They are, for example, sold in the Korean pickles departments. But you can preserve it yourself for the winter at home.

Hot leaves should be transferred to prepared clean, dry and hot jars, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to 1 liter of water on top, twist or roll up. Sterilize for 30 minutes in boiling water.

3. During this time we will have time to prepare the filling for dolma. Rice must be rinsed several times in running water. Then boil, slightly salting water, until half cooked.

4. It is better to use red onions, but onions are also suitable. We clean it and cut it into small cubes or quarter rings.

5. Add spices and a little salt to the chopped onion, knead the onion well with your hands.

6. Add cooled boiled rice and prepared minced meat to the onion.

7. Mix the minced meat well with your hands, if you wish, you can add any chopped greens, cilantro, parsley, dill to it. Add the finished minced meat if necessary.

8. Grape leaves are ready, minced meat too, you can start forming dolma rolls. To do this, remove the leaves from the water, blot with paper towels.

We lay the leaves with the smooth side down, and on the veined side we lay out the prepared meat filling, about a tablespoon. It all depends on the size of the leaves.

9. We begin to wrap the rolls. First, close the filling with the top of the leaf.

10. Then we turn the side parts of the sheet to the middle.

12. Do the same with the remaining leaves and minced meat.

13. We put the prepared dolma in a saucepan with a thick bottom or cauldron, in one or several rows, pressing tightly against each other so that the leaves do not unfold during cooking.

14. Put a plate of the appropriate size on top. You can install a glass of water on it, which will serve as a load. Then pour in water or any meat broth. It should cover the dolma with two fingers.

We put the pan on the stove, bring to a boil, reduce, and then cook for one hour over the lowest heat. After an hour, we turn off the fire, but we don't get the dolma.

We leave it to infuse in a saucepan in the broth for another 30 minutes. The dish will absorb all the broth and become even tastier.

15. That's all, delicious dolma is ready at home!