Armenian cuisine, dolma recipes

dolma recipes

Armenia has long-standing and plentiful culinary traditions. Delicious meals are not a cult here but are indeed regarded as a very important component in the life of an ordinary Armenian family. People in Armenia like to get together, organize picnics, and spend evenings in the outdoor cafes in summer either with family members or friends. In the present article we provide recipes of two of the most favored meals: summer dolma and dolma in vine leaves. We hope you will find either of the recipes to your taste.

Summer dolma (Etchmiadzin’s dolma):

Grind lamb (or beef), add minced onions and greens (mint, coriander, and basil), add salt, pepper and blend the stuffing. Hollow the vegetables: tomatoes, eggplant, bell pepper. Put the cabbage (head) in a deep stewing pan with 200 g of boiling water. Take off the cabbage stump and put the cabbage into the pan with the hole side down. Let boil 5 minutes, take off the cabbage, peel off the cabbage leaves. Fill the vegetables and the cabbage leaves with the stuffing. The bottom of the pan where you will be preparing the dolma cover with tomato slices. Put the dolmas in the pan, add small pieces of apple, quince, little chilly pepper, and poor tomato sauce. If needed add some water, cover the pan and let the dolmas simmer for 45 minutes. Afterwards (before serving) let it stew for half an hour (remain in the hot pan with cover on) so that the dolma will absorb the liquid and become delicious.

Dolma in vine leaves:

Grind lamb or beef; add salt, pepper, half-boiled rice, chopped onions, coriander, mint, marjoram, and basil. Blend the stuffing well. Put vine leaves for a couple of minutes in the hot (just boiled) water with salt (do not boil the leaves). You may poor some oil on the bottom of the pan and spread vine leaves before putting the dolmas in the pan. Normally the dolmas should not tough the pan directly. Wrap the filling in the vine leaves. After keeping the leaves in the hot water they become dark green – brownish, spread each at a time on the cutting board, put a tablespoonful of stuffing on the wider side of the leaf, fold the central, then the right and left sides and roll over to the remaining part of the leaf to cover. Place the dolmas in the pan with the seam side down. When all dolmas are in the pan, in order to prevent unraveling put a relatively heavy plate on top layer of the dolmas covering it. Poor boiling water or broth to cover the dolmas, add the necessary amount of salt and some chilly pepper. Put the cover on and let the meal simmer from 45 to 60 minutes, when done let it stay covered for 20 – 30 minutes so that the liquid is absorbed making the dolma juicy. On the plate when serving the dolma you may poor some of the sauce from the pan. The traditional seasoning for dolma is matsun (sour yogurt thinned with water) either with salt and minced garlic or with sugar and cinnamon. Ingredients should be in the following proportions: meat 500 g, 400 g of vine leaves, 25 g rice, 100 g onion, 250 g yogurt thinned with water, 10 g garlic or 5 g cinnamon, 50 g sugar, salt, pepper (chilly pepper), mint, marjoram, and basil.

Armenian Picnic Food Recipes