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Dolma (tolma, sarma) is a delicious meal from stuffed grape leaves. Traditional filling of dolma include rice with vegetables and herbs. Today I’ll tell you how to cook dolma with the meat and rice filling. It will take some time, but, you will like a result.

Dolma video

Ingredients:

For dolma:

500-600 g (about 1½ pound) minced meat (lamb or mix lamb and beef or beef and pork)
50-60 grapes leaves (fresh or pickled)
4-5 big onions, peeled and finely chopped
4-5 Tbsp uncooked round grain rice
200 ml cup of finely chopped fresh greens: mix of parsley, coriander, basil and dill
2-3 Tbsp sunflower oil
50 g (¼ cup) butter
1/3-1/2 Tsp. ground cumin
Salt, ground black pepper to taste
500-600 ml (2-2½ cup) hot water or meat broth

For sauce:

200 ml (¾ cup) Greek yogurt
3-4 gloves of garlic, minced
2-3 Tbsp finely chopped fresh greens (parsley, dill, basil, coriander)
1-2 cucumbers (fresh or pickled to taste), finely chopped
Salt, ground black pepper to taste

Let’s get started!

Rinse grape lives in cold water and put in a boil with boiled water for 5-7 minutes. Drain and cut of any stems. Reserve broken or less-than-perfect leaves to line pot.
Rinse the rice and place in a bowl with cold water (1 part of rice to 2 parts of water), bring to boil, reduce the heat, cook 2-3 minutes and drain.
Heat oil and butter in a medium frying pan, over medium heat and fry onions until golden and softened.
Place minced meat, rice, fried onion and greens in a bowl, add cumin, salt and ground black pepper. Mix together thoroughly by hands.
Place grape leaves on flat work surface with smooth side down (ribs of leaves up). Place a rounded tablespoon of meat filling near bottom-center of grape leaf. Fold bottom sections of leaf over mixture, fold over sides, and roll toward the top of the leaf into a cigar shape.
Prepare a large deep pot, place on a bottom of pot 1 or 2 layers of reserved grape leaves. Place dolma in the pot by arranging them along the sides then working toward the center to cover the bottom. Put dolma close enough to hold their shapes when cooking. Make two layers if necessary. Invert a small plate over the dolma and place some 200 ml (1 cup) glass jar with water to weight them down while cook.
Pour in hot water or broth. Bring to a simmer, uncovered, over medium-high heat. As soon as liquid is heated through and starting to bubble (2 to 4 minutes), reduce heat to low, cover, and cook about 1-1,5 hour.
Remove pot from the heat and give it stay for 10-15 minutes. Dolma will absorb the rest of broth and becomes juiciest.
Let’s cook sauce. Mix greens, garlic and cucumbers with yogurt, add salt and ground black pepper to taste.
Drizzle fresh lemon juice over dolma before serving. Serve dolma warm with the sauce and enjoy.