Sept 2023
Updated Nov 2024
Dolma is mainly associated with Greek or Turkish cuisine but many recipes refer to Arab / Arabic. Dolma usually means “Stuffed”, usually vine leaves are used but it seems that any fruit or veg can be used.
The main ingredients are minced / diced meat (usually Lamb but can be any), Rice and Vegetables capable of being stuffed. Things like bell peppers, Onions, Courgette, Marrow etc.
Ultimately “Dolma” is a freestyle one pan recipe and your imagination is the only limiting factor 🙂
Here are some ideas to wet you appetite :-
Hopefully these have given you some inspiration.
I tend to use the Mixed Vegetable version (above) but whatever recipe you choose, getting the rice combo is key. The main idea is getting the rice cooked to perfection and at the same allowing it to absorb all those lovely flavours.
Trawl the Web to find Dolma recipes and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. The colours, the taste and the aroma are just awesome. You can limit the amount of veg to be stuffed e.g just use bell peppers. Vine leaves might not be easy to get but you can use cabbage leaves.
Dolma, Iraqi or other, is just a great tasty meal. Preparation can be a bit involved but it can be a low budget tasty meal or it can be a meal for a feast, feeding many.
Dolma is one of those freestyle meals where you can use up vegetables that can be stuffed. You add herbs and spices to your liking, there isn’t really anything “set in stone” but it should always have the rice and vegetables to stuff. You can actually go meat free if you want and maybe use mushrooms finely chopped to give a similar texture to meat.
You can have a lot of fun with Dolma. The main theme is stuffed vegetables like bell peppers, cabbage leaves or vine leaves. The meat bit is usully minced / diced but can be any meat or poultry.
It might be interesting to try fish, think Kedgeree (fish and rice).
How about shell fish like crab, prawns, lobster. mix with rice and stuff whatever veg you want.
How about “Loaded skins”, Jacket spuds with the spud scooped out and then filled with the rice and meat mix.
You could stick to the traditional Dolma recipes but wheres the fun in that 🙂
Cooking should be enjoyable and maybe fun. The results on the plate should be tasty and nutritious. Don’t be a slave to recipes because they are only a guideline. We are all different and have different tastes, the herbs and spices that you use should enhance the taste of the food and not overpower it. Most of the time a bit of sea salt and black pepper is all you need. Other times garlic, spices and maybe herbs are needed to give that kick.
Hopefully, I’ve given you some ideas to make tasty meals and still have fun in the kitchen.
Update Nov 2024.
Decided to make an Iraqi Dolma for 4 of us (2 adults and 2 late teen boys) I had in mind that :-
- I wanted the supermarket beef mince (20% fat) to be really tender.
- I didn’t want to overcook the rice.
I put the mince into a pan along with finely chopped onion, bell pepper, mushrooms and the juice of a lemon. I cooked this for about 10 / 15 mins and kept stirrring to break the mince up. I then added beef stock (roughly the same amount as I would add for boiled rice) e.g. 1 “cup” of rice to 2 – 2 1/2 “cups” of water and brought to the boil. Then I popped the pan in the oven (lid on) Gas 1 for about 2 hours.
The mince was lovely and tender and I just needed to cool and strain it to separate it from the stock.
Once the mince combo was cool enough, I added the uncooked rice to make the “stuffing”.
After stuffing the peppers etc, I put them back in the pan along with the “stock” and crushed garlic and tomato paste. I then cooked / simmered the Dolma on the hob for about 90 mins. Served it with a Greek Salad and crusty bread.
I’m not sure if “stewing” the mince for 2 hours made much difference but the taste of the Dolma was awesome. I didn’t use any herbs or spices. I just used Beef stock cubes and salt & black pepper. Maybe the mushrooms added that Umami taste.
Watching it being devoured along with the sounds of “pleasure” and the compliments made it well worth the effort. Everyone helping themselves for more untill it was all gone was very satisfying. Yes preparing the “veg” for stuffing takes longer than you think but once its all in the pan, the aroma is awesome. The taste is wow, I want more!
Give it a go.
TIP
Aubergines are costly, if you can’t get the small ones leave them out. Courgettes are just as good. Try the cabbage leaves and onion – use cocktail sticks to hold in place. Don’t forget to put the crushed garlic in about 30 mins before end of cooking time.
If you’re going to stuff tomatoes, put these in the pan about 30 mins before end of cooking.