Armenia: Dolma

Lauren Toutikian
Dolma: Armenia

Dolma is considered to be a classical main dish in the Armenian culture. It consists of a variety of vegetables such as red and green peppers (hot or sweet), zucchini and baby eggplant and tomatoes, stuffed with a mixture of white small grain rice and ground beef. The ground beef is optional and this makes Dolma a very versatile dish because it is suitable for vegetarians as well.  Once ready to serve, each plate of Dolma is usually topped with plain yogurt.  Dolma is a very respected Armenian dish because of the amount of time it takes to prepare and it consists of meat and vegetables all rolled into one meal. Therefore most appreciate this and will savor every bite. Variations in vegetable selection and taste are not uncommon. Dolma is a dish that is very special to me because of my paternal grandmother. My father’s family lives in Cambridge Ontario which is about 6 hours away from Montreal. Because of this we do not get to see them as often as we’d like to. When we visit, usually for a weekend, my grandmother will always prepare this dish for us. She does this for a couple of reasons; firstly because she knows it is a dish we don’t eat often because it takes too much time to prepare. By her preparing it for us it is her labor of love. Secondly, as you can see from the ingredients this is a large meal and suitable for large family gatherings. She has always done this so it has become a tradition for us to eat this dish when we visit my grandparents. The meal is normally ready the day we arrive and we eat it right away.

THE RECIPE

·         Ingredients

§  1 red pepper, chopped finely

§  1 green pepper, chopped finely

§  2 large onions chopped finely

§  6-8 cloves of garlic

§  1 lb ground beef

§  ½ lemon (squeezed)

§  4 tomatoes: chopped finely

§  ½ cup white rice (Italian),

§  Salt & pepper

§  1 tbsp hot pepper paste ( can be found at any Mediterranean grocery store/ can also be homemade)

§  2 tbsp tomato paste(found at any grocery store/supermarket)

§  1 tbsp pomegranate or sumac molasses ( can be found in any Arabic or Mediterranean grocery store).

Vegetables

• -8 zucchinis
• -6 red peppers
• -8 baby eggplants
• -3-4 tomatoes (optional)

·         Procedure

To prepare vegetables for stuffing:

1.      Hollow out all vegetables using spoon or utensil specifically intended for this purpose. Place aside. The removed parts can be retained to prepare a stew if so desired.

To prepare stuffing:

2.      finely chop the peppers, onions and tomatoes. Remove seeds from tomatoes as well.

3.      mince the garlic

4.      combine the rice and all of the above ingredients with the ground beef and mix together by hand. This is the best way to make sure all ingredients get combine
d
thoroughly.

5.      add tomato and hot pepper paste, lemon, salt and pepper to taste.

6.      Once these ingredients have been mixed you can begin to stuff each hollowed vegetable. Only fill up to ¾ the length to allow room for expansion when the stuffing is cooked.

7.      place the stuffed vegetables in a large pot or pressure cooker.

8.      to avoid any vegetables becoming stuck to the bottom of the pot, place cleaned and sliced potatoes to cover the base of the pot.

9.      arrange vegetables in pot as closely together as possible to help keep their shape and form during the cooking process.

10.  add 3 cups water mixed with pomegranate or soumac molasses.

11.  cover top and place on stove cooking on high until contents are heated.

12.  reduce heat to medium and cook vegetables for 1 hour or until stuffing and vegetables are soft.

Source

 www.ianyanmag.com/?p=901

Enjoy your meal!