Unleashing the Grape-est of tastes with Vine Leaves
I am back with yet another post for a tasty, healthy and wholesomely easy recipe with vine leaves at its centre : "Dolmeh", or sometimes also called "Dolmades".
Either served as a starter or a main, vine leaves dolmehs or dolmades are filled with rice, split peas, minced beef (optional and can be left out if making the vegetarian version), barberries and last but not least aromatic vegetables.
You may have typically come across dolmades in the shape of long and thin tubes with puffy rice. But today, I will be sharing with you the persian recipe for dolmades which is slightly different in ingredients and the aesthetics (I would even go as far as saying tastier!).
Yep, you've guessed it! That's me caressing my HOME-GROWN vine leaves before I cut them to make my masterpiece... but let's get back to how to make these yummy dolmehs!
Ingredients (for 4 people)
- Rice - 2 cups
- Yellow split peas - 100 grams
- Dolmeh herbs - 200 grams
- 1 onion
- Minced lamb - 200 grams
- Sugar - 2 tbspn
- Vinegar - 1/2 cup
- Vine leaves - as many as needed
- Barberries
- Salt, pepper, turmeric and oil
Preparation of the filling:
- Soak the yellow split peas in water for 2 hours before cooking, before sieving
- Once ready to cook, place them in a pan with 2-3 cups of water to boil
- Dice finely the Dolmeh herbs which consist of scallions, summer savory, dill, mint, parsley and tarragon
- Soak the rice in water before adding it to 1-2 cups of boiling water to allow it to soften, and once softened pass through a sieve to remove excess water
- Chop finely the onion and fry in a pan, adding turmeric and letting it turn into crispy fried onions (for more info on how read my previous article https://www.yumyum4u.com/small-but-mighty-caramelised-onion/)
- Add the diced herbs to the onion pan, followed by the rice and split peas
- At this stage we also add the salt, pepper, turmeric as well
- Finally add the minced lamb to the mix and fry before adding 1 cup of water to allow to cook under medium heat for a bit
Dolmeh preparation
- Take the vine leaves and lie them flat in a pan with a bit of salt and some water covering the top surface of the leaves and let it simmer
- Once comfortable that the leaves are soft enough, pass through a sieve, ready to be filled with the mix
Cooking the Dolmehs
- Use scrap leaves to cover the bottom of the pan you will be cooking the dolmehs in, before layering the pan with the prepared Dolmeh squares
- To make the Dolmeh squares, hold each leaf on the palm of your hand and take a spoonful of the mix and place in the middle of the leaf, fold the edges from the sides and overlap to cover the filling and wrap the Dolmeh into a square
- Place each Dolmeh in the pan and layer up until all Dolmeh squares are in the pan
- Cover with a plate on top to keep the dolmehs in shape and in tact when cooking
- Add 2 cups of water with some sugar and vinegar and allow to cook thoroughly under gentle heat for around 30-40 minutes
Serving the Dolmehs
Decorate the cooked Dolmehs with marmalade orange slivers and barberries or green gauge plums. For the barberries to taste as yummy as possible, use melted butter in a small pan over medium-low heat and add barberries, sugar and 1 tsp reserved saffron water. Cook, stirring, 2 minutes to just warm through.
