Dolmades are grape leaves stuffed with rice, meat and
fresh herbs. (Other names: dolma in Turkish and Bosnian;
Dolme in Persian; tolma in Armenian, sarma,
plural sarmale in Romanian; yaprakes finos in Ladino).
Ingredients:
- 2 cups rice
- 1 lb. ground lamb or sausage
- Two lemons
- Olive oil
- 1 bunch green scallions, finely chopped
- 1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped
- salt and pepper,
- 2
bunches of Dill.
Method:
- Cook lamb or sausage mixture in pan with a little
olive oil until fully cooked, crumble and mix with rice and juice of lemon, some Greek olive oil, green scallions
, chopped parsley, a little salt and pepper, and dill.
- Set the
mixture aside for 2-3 hours so that the herbs will permeate.
- Remove the grape leaves from their glass jar and place in boiling water
briefly. Rinse. (This is to get the brine off the leaves.) Pat the bundle dry.
Begin stuffing the grape leaves one by one with one spoonful of the herbed
mixture.
- Place mixture in lower center.
- Fold up from bottom to cover left
to center, right to center, and then complete the bundle by rolling up to the
very top.
- Fold leaves inward as necessary so nothing is sticking out.
- Spread any remainingg
parsley and dill at the bottom of the pot, plus any broken grape
leaves you might have obtained during the wrapping process. (necessary to permeate the mixture with aromatic herbs and prevent the
domades from sticking to the pot)
- Pack the domades tightly into the pot.
- To prevent them from coming
unwrapped during the cooking process - place plates on top of them.
- Then pour 4
cups of water, a little more olive oil, and a little salt and pepper
into the pot.
- Simmer at low heat with the lid on until all the water has been
absorbed by the dolmades ,otherwise
they'll dry up.
- Dolmades can be served hot or cold, either by themselves or as part of a
larger meal. They can be stored in the
refrigerator and eaten over a period of time. (Be sure to pour some Greek olive
oil over them and they will keep for a very long time.)
