Dolma (Grape Leaves)

Dolma is a Turkish meal, which means 'stuffed'. It has spread to Eastern Europe during Ottoman Empire. Now, it is a well known dish especially in Europe and USA. Originally it is stuffed with ground beef and rice, but in some places meat is not used in recipe. I prefer not to include meat to the recipe as well.

Note: This recipe is for 5-6 people

Ingredients

• 2 cups of white rice
• 1 jar of grave leaves
• 1 small onion
• 1 small tomato
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dry mint
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 lemon juice
• Water

Preparation

Put olive oil in a pot, add chopped onions and cook them until they change color. 

Wash rice with the help of a strainer and then add it into the pot and cook couple of minutes. Then add the ingredients with this order while cooking; mint, oregano, black pepper, cinnamon, sugar, chopped tomato, lemon juice and salt. Then add warm water, close the lid and cook until all water is gone. You do not need to add a lot of water, it should be a little bit higher than rice.

Take grape leaves out of jar and boil them in hot water couple of minutes and then strain the water. After they  get cold, take a cutting board and put one grape leaf on it. Put about 1 dessertspoon fill on the grape leave like a line and start rolling.  

To do that first you close the bottom part, then two sides and then start to roll. They need to be tight so, be careful while rolling. 

Line all the rolls in a flat pan tightly, then put some lemons on top. Add some cold water, like 1/2 inch higher than rolls, close the lid and cook 1 hour on low heat. If it still has some water after one hour, you need to cook more. You can serve it with lemon and yogurt. Enjoy!