Oriental cuisine, rich in spices, will not leave indifferent any gourmet. It has long been internationally recognized and has been successfully used by cooks around the world. In any large city, there is at least one reputable institution that offers its guests to taste exclusively oriental dishes. And, undoubtedly, such a dish as dolma will always be a success among its visitors. However, it is not necessary to go to a restaurant to enjoy a dolma. It can be cooked at home. And about how to do this, we will tell below.
Dolma - general principles and methods of preparation
In fact, dolma are the same cabbage rolls, with one difference: the “clothing” for an exotic dish is not cabbage, which is usual for us, but grape, quince or fig leaves, less often whole vegetables. It is impossible to say which country is the birthplace of the popular dolma. It is prepared in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Egypt, Turkey, Libya, Palestine, as well as in many other countries. That is why there are a lot of variations in the preparation of dolma, and it is called by different peoples in its own way.
The traditional stuffing for dolma is finely chopped meat (mind you, it’s chopped and not twisted in a meat grinder), which is often combined with cereals, mainly rice, herbs and oriental “sparkle” - spices. There are many recipes for the so-called vegetarian dolma, where instead of meat they use minced meat from vegetables sautéed in fat. And such dishes familiar to us as stuffed zucchini or tomatoes in the east are varieties of dolma.
In some countries, dolma is made from minced fish, supplemented with rice, chopped nuts, lots of herbs, lemon juice, mint - as a rule, a whole bunch of herbs and spices is used. It sounds somewhat frightening, but local culinary experts are not at all afraid, because they are real professionals, and they can easily prepare a “sweetie” for the festive table. If you do not like such a generous abundance of spices in the dish - adjust their number according to personal preferences.
Dolma - food preparation
Grape leaves for dolma can be purchased at any vegetable market (they must be whole, smooth and neat). Cuttings are cut from them, otherwise the packaging of the filling will turn into a very problematic task, and soaked in salted water for half an hour. Selling grape leaves and in a salty form. Such "envelopes" are also suitable, but they must be soaked in fresh water or doused with strong boiling water.
In the east, stuffing for dolma is made from lamb - this is the most popular option. But this does not mean at all that a dish cannot be prepared, for example, from pork or chicken. Can! And you even need to experiment. Classic dolma recipes include minced meat (fillet) in its composition. This is so troublesome that it will require a lot of time. If it is sorely lacking - no big deal! Use a meat grinder or blender.
Dolma - the best recipes
Recipe 1: Classic Dolma
An excellent snack will decorate any table and surprise guests with a pleasant unforgettable taste. It is equally tasty both hot and cold. If you want to cook dolma, then start with this simple recipe.
Ingredients:
- one kilogram of lamb (fillet)
- half a glass of round rice
- four bow heads
- one teaspoon of coriander
- one tsp. dried basil
- one tsp. dried oregano
- two table. lies. tomato paste
- glass of water
- 500 gr. grape leaves
- black pepper and salt to taste
Cooking method:
1. First, prepare the stuffing. To do this, chop the meat finely with a knife, chop the peeled onions in a blender, Mix the minced meat with onion, dried herbs, ground into powder, pepper and salt. Also add rice to it. Mix.
2. We wash the leaves, if necessary, soak them, release them from the cuttings and lay them out on a working surface. Next, grab the minced meat with a teaspoon and spread it at the base of the sheet. Wrap neatly like a small convolution. We do the same with the rest of the leaves.
3. We find a wide pan. We spread the dolma in dense layers along the bottom of the tank. Then fill the products with water so that the liquid covers them only a few centimeters. Cover with a wide flat plate for fixing dolma (it should remain stationary during cooking). We close the pan with a lid, simmer the dish over low heat until cooked (within an hour).
Finished products should be served with sour cream, garlic sauce or yogurt.
Recipe 2: Vegetable Dolma
In this recipe - a real Azerbaijani one - the “house" for our dolma will be vegetables: eggplant, tomatoes and pepper (Bulgarian). As the filling, we use minced meat from lamb tenderloin. In addition, we need kurdyuk. For those who are not in the know: fat tail is the tail-tail fat fold in fat tail sheep.
Ingredients:
- two large onions
- 100 gr. fat tail
- 500 gr. lamb tenderloin
- two eggplants
- three large tomatoes
- one hot pepper
- two bell peppers
- 150 gr. melted plums. oils
- two tsp salt
- a pinch of ground pepper
Cooking method:
1. We pass meat, fat tail and onion through a meat grinder. Mix. Put the prepared stuffing in the pan. No need to add oil. Stew the minced meat over low heat, periodically stirring and breaking the resulting lumps.
2. At the end, add a teaspoon of salt, pepper and 70 gr. ghee. Mix. Turn off the stove.
3. We take care of vegetables. From peppers remove the stem with a cap. From the "cups" we take out the seeds and insides. From the tomatoes, we also cut off the lid and clean the inside with a spoon. We should get tomato "pots". We cut the eggplants along, we clean the insides so that we get 4 boats. Soak them for 20 minutes in salt water to leave the bitterness.
4. Fry eggplant (boats) and peppers (cups) in a pan with the addition of ghee. Cooling down. Then, using a spoon, we stuff the vegetables with minced meat, glue the eggplant boats. Stuffed tomatoes and peppers close with "caps".
5. In a deep frying pan, spread the remaining tomato grated. Put the stuffed vegetables in a sauce in a circle, close the container with a lid and simmer the dish for about an hour on a very low fire. When serving, sprinkle vegetables with herbs and pour sauce.
Recipe 3: Dolma Vegetarian
If for some reason you do not eat meat, this recipe is for you. Tasty, satisfying, healthy. There is not a drop of meat in the dish, but it is boldly called the traditional eastern dolma.
Ingredients:
- a jar of grape leaves in saline
- two eggs
- a glass of round rice
- half a bunch of green onions
- four onion heads
- a bunch of sorrel (or spinach + lemon juice)
- a handful of dill
- a spoon of chopped mint
- a spoon of chopped cilantro
- half a glass of ghee
- half a cup of kefir
- a couple of cloves of garlic
- to taste cinnamon, salt and pepper
Cooking method:
1. We wash all the greens, including sorrel, and chop finely in the combine. Hard-boiled eggs, grate and combine with herbs. Mix. Salt, pepper, add mint, ghee, cinnamon and boiled friable rice. We mix everything.
2. Wash the grape leaves, scald with boiling water and spread on a cutting board. For each, lay out the "vegetarian platter" by teaspoon and carefully fold.
3. At the bottom of the container, lay out the formed dolma, pour in water (preferably a vegetable broth), add salt, press it with a flat plate, close the lid and put on the stove. We simmer the products for about 20 minutes on low heat.
4. Fry the onions in a pan, decorate the finished products with them, and top with heavy kefir mixed with chopped garlic. We serve to the table. Bon Appetit everyone!
Dolma - tips from experienced chefs
- For dolma, it is best to select small-sized grape leaves (palm). They are soft, juicy and less sinewy, so the finished dish has the best and most vivid taste properties;
- If the minced meat for dolma is made from lean meats, then add fat tail fat to it, chopping it finely with a knife, or melted butter;
- To prevent dolma from burning during cooking and not sticking to the bottom, cover the bottom of the container with a dense layer of grape leaves, and only then (on top of the leaves) lay out the products.
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