Vine Leaf Parcels - 'Yaprak' / 'Dolma'

Vine leaves have beautiful distinctive taste. In country where I was born, they're mostly used as wrappers for mince and rice stuffing. Young leaves are picked, then cooked in salty water for some time, before using them. Already cooked (preserved) leaves are available (in Australia) from Turkish or Lebanese grocers.

Ingredients:
600 g mince (beef preferably)
1 large onion,  diced
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup short grain rice
vine leaves already prepared (or fresh, young leaves from your vine)
olive oil
2,5-3 cups beef or chicken stock
1 can of diced tomatoes in juice (optional - see note*)
Method:
Dice onion finely, add mince, garlic, rice and salt and pepper. Add water, mix again.
Rinse vine leaves really well (if using already prepared). Lay each leaf (shiny side down), place 2-3 tbs of stuffing (slightly squeezed in your hand), and make a parcel as shown in pictures. Place them into an oiled pan. Add stock, place a plate (slightly smaller than pan) upside-down over the parcels, cover and cook slowly for 1-2 hours (older leaves need more time).
*Note: Traditionally, Yaprak is served either with sour cream (Greek yogurt) and lemon juice, or in tomato sauce. If you're going to add tomatoes ( at the end of cooking; remove plate and bring to boil again), omit 1 cup stock.









 

Japrak / Dolma / Sarmice u vinovoj lozi

Listovi vinove loze imaju divnu aromu. Najbolje je koristiti mlade, koji se uberu i kuhaju u slanoj vodi, ali mogu posluziti i kupljeni.
Naziv Japrak (od Turskog Yaprak = list) se koristi u vecem dijelu Bosne. U mom kraju smo ih zvali 'Sarmice od vinove loze', a evo pronadjoh i podatak da se i za njih kaze 'Dolma'.

Potrebno:
600 gr mljevenog mesa (govedina, po mogucnosti)
1 veci crveni luk
1-2 cena bijelog luka
1 k crnog bibera
1/2 k soli
3/4 vode
3/4 solje rize, krace zrno
listovi vinove loze (kupljeni ), ili mladi listovi sa vase loze
maslinovo ulje
2,5-3 solje temeljca / supe
1 konzerva sjeckanog paradajza u soku (opcionalno- vidi napomenu*)
Nacin:
Isijecite luk veoma sitno, dodajte meso, bijeli luk, so i biber. Uspite vodu, dobro izmijesajte.
Isperite listove vinove loze (ili prokuhajte u slanoj vodi ako koristite vase). Stavite listove na povrsinu (sjajna / glatka strana dole), uzmite 2-3 K punjenja, stisnite blago u ruci i zamotajte kako je prikazano. Smjestite sarmice u nauljenu posudu, uspite temeljac. Preokrenite tanjir, nesto manji od posude, preko sarmica, pokrijte i kuhajte na slaboj vatri 1-2 sata (stariji listovi trebaju nesto duze vrijeme kuhanja).
*Napomena: Tradicionalno se serviraju ili sa kiselim vrhnjem i limunom, ili u paradajz sosu. Ako cete dodati paradajz (na kraju kuhanja - skinite tanjir, uspite paradajz i ponovno prokuhajte), smanjite temeljac za 1 solju.