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The Most Delicious Vegetarian Dolma Recipe
This is a delicately spiced Turkish dish. You can serve dolmas hot or chilled and lemon juice is nice with them. You can stuff and roll the dolmas the night before making them, if that simplifies things. Grape leaves are nice to work with but bear in mind some might have holes in or be torn, so it is best to have extra ones in case you need them. You need to remove the roll of grape leaves from the can in one go, and then unroll them one by one.
This dolma recipe combines an interesting mixture of spices and flavorings, namely mint, cinnamon, cumin, allspice, dill, currants and more. This might sound like an eclectic combination and it works really well with the rice mixture. The pine nuts add a delicious flavor and you can even use extra if you want. Use white grape raisins if you cannot find currants.
These easy party appetizers are perfect if you are looking for hot appetizers and if you want something international and interesting. Serve these dolmas warm if you want to be traditional or chilled if it is a warm evening. This is perfect if you are looking for holiday appetizer recipes because dolmas are guaranteed to get your guests talking about how delicious they are. A vegetarian dolma makes a lovely appetizer before any kind of entree. They are also good at a buffet.
How to Make Dolmas - Stuffed Grape Leaves
Ingredients -
1 ˝ cups raw white rice
1 tablespoon dried mint
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 minced onions
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon dried dill
8 oz jar grape leaves
2 tablespoons pine nuts
2 tablespoons currants or white grape raisins
Lettuce and arugula, for garnish
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Preparation:
Drain and rinse the grape leaves.
Heat the oil over a medium heat then sauté the onions until soft.
Add the rice and add hot water to cover.
Cover the pan and simmer the rice for 10 minutes.
Take it off the heat, and then add the currants, cinnamon, pine nuts, tomato paste, dill, mint, cumin, and allspice.
Let the mixture cool.
Put an inverted plate on the bottom of a big pot to protect the dolmas from too much heat when you steam them.
Rinse the grape leaves in warm water. Cut the stems off.
Put a teaspoon of the cooled rice mixture in the middle of each dolma leaf, then fold up the sides and roll them up.
Put them into the pot with the inverted plate.
Add enough water to reach the first layer, cover the pot, and simmer for 40 minutes over a low heat or until the rice is cooked.
Add more water if you need to.
Serve the dolmas hot, stacking them up with some fresh lettuce leaves as garnish and lemon wedges on the side.
(Serves 8)
Photo Description:
These Turkish stuffed grape leaves are really flavorful and the aromatic rice mixture used to stuff them is simple to make but so tasty. A vegetarian dolma or two makes a wonderful appetizer and these tasty little treats are great at cocktail parties, buffets, or even sit-down dinners. Serve lemon wedges with them because some people like the extra tang. As you can see from the picture, some bright green and red lettuce makes an attractive garnish for these dolmas.
