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.

Mediterranean Stuffed Vine Leaves

Ingredients:
Vine leaves (40+)
1,5 cups rice (Basmati)+ dry stock
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large or 2 small capsicums, finely diced
1 small eggplant, diced
2 onions, diced
1/2-1 tbs 'Vegeta', or other dry stock
salt, black pepper
Method:
Cook rice half way through (3/4 water + 1 teas stock powder - 10 minutes in microwave). Let it cool.
Salt eggplant let it rest for 20 minutes, then squeeze the moisture out.
Heat oil, fry diced onions until translucent, add capsicum and eggplant. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Mix with rice and add spices.
Put a tbsp of filling onto each vine leaf; roll as you would spring rolls or similar. If leaves too small or broken, you have to place 2 together.
Place rolls into an oiled pot (2-3 layers), cover with a upside-down dinner plate, cover with water and boil for 20 minutes. Take care not to over salt it; some vine leaves are very salty (before stuffing them, you need to rinse them in that case). If you use fresh vine leaves, you need to precook them before stuffing.
Serve with thick yogurt or sour cream.

Mediteranske sarmice od lisca vinove loze

Potrebno:
Listovi vinove loze (40+)
1,5 solja rize + Vegeta (ili sl.)
1/4 solje maslinovog ulja
1 velika ili 2 manje crvene paprike, isjecene na kockice
1 manji patlidzan, isjecen na kockice
2 crvena luka, sjeckana
1/2-1 kasika 'Vegete'
so i crni biber
Nacin:
Skuhajte rizu u pola (sa 3/4 solje vode i 1 kasicicom Vegete - 10 min u mikrovalnoj). Neka se prohladi.
Posolite patlidzane, ostavite ih 20 minuta, pa onda stisnite da se tecnost ocijedi.
Zagrijte ulje, prodinstajte luk, dodajte ostalo povrce; dinstajte jos nekoliko minuta, zacinite i pomijesajte sa rizom.
Ako su listovi usoljeni, saperite ih; ako su svjezi, prokuhajte ih prethodno.
Na svaki list stavite po 1 kasiku mjesavine, pa in zamotajte kao sarmu. Slazite u nauljenu posudu, 2-3 sloja. Poklopite sa preokrenutim tanjirom, prelijte vodom i kuhajte 20-ak minuta.
Sluzite sa kajmakom/ pavlakom/ vrhnjem/ gustim jogurtom.