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Grape Leaves with meat - ورق عنب باللحمة


Makes around 24-25 (I prefer to eyeball or use as much as the filling makes)

This recipe can be served with a green salad and plain yogurt.

Ingredients:
Grapes leaves (24 small or medium, half of that if the leaves are big cause you can cut in half)

Filling:
1 cup of lean minced meat
1 cup of chopped onions or shallots
1/3 cup of small diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of plain white rice
1 teaspoon of allspice
Salt & pepper to taste

2 cups of water, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, 1 teaspoon of flour to be mixed with some water. 2 Cinnamon sticks.

- In a bowl, add the minced meat, onions, tomatoes, wash the rice and drain and add to the bowl too, add the spices and mix the ingredients together.
- If the grape leaves are fresh, soak them in hot water for half an hour, then drain.
- If you are using the ones from the jar, soak in tab water for few minutes, then drain and use. To start filling, take the leaf and spread it on the surface you're using, cut the stem, take a teaspoon or less depending on the size of the leaf and place the filling a bit before the center, fold the sides toward the center and roll tight. In order for them to unravel and fall apart while cooking, I tie them up together. I place three stuffed grape leaves, then two on top, then another one or two like forming a triangle, I tie them up together with a string and place in the pan, add the water and tomato paste, cinnamon sticks and bring to a boil, add the flour mixed with a little bit of cold water then reduce the heat and let them cook slowly for half an hour. Remove the cinnamon sticks and discard when serving the grape leaves.

PS: If you end up with extra filling, keep them in the freezer or stuff a bellpepper, tomato etc... ;)

18 comments:

  1. Looks like I have a new recipe to try out! ;)

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  2. looks awesome. i loved wrapped rice!x

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  3. Hey Jenn,
    I hope you'll like it :)

    Hi Diva,
    Thanks for stopping by!

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  4. Yum! They look great! I like to make big fat ones too.

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  5. Never made anything like this...but my Dad has a grape vine at his place that I could use the leaves of! Hey there MAG, got a small award waiting for you. Drop by when you have time. Cheers Deeba

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  6. Hey Christie,
    Oh I like them this way too! But If have guests I try to make them smaller :)

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  7. Hey Deeba, thanks a lot my dear friend :) You are very thoughtful :) Speaking of fresh grape vine leaves, make a salad out of these leaves too, very healthy! ;)

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  8. If I had a talent in song writing I would write a song dedicated to DOLMA - wrapped grape leaves:) this is how much I love them!!!! Lebanese recipe is very close to Azerbaijani, except for the shape. Yummy picture!

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  9. Interesting version! Because I love dolmathes so much (actually crazy about it... :-D ) I even plant a grape tree! It's growing fine now amazingly in a pot I put out at my balcony. Currently I live 160 M from sea level and sea facing. I think that helps the tree to grow leaves... I'm keeping my eyes on it now from insects because I want it to be organic.

    Thanks for sharing and yummy pictures as well. Keep up the yummylicious work!

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  10. Hey Pixen, thanks for stopping by :)
    We have one growing on our kitchen balcony back in Lebanon too, everytime we make Tabbouli we have fresh vine leaves with it too on the side, it's a tradition. Also we make fresh grape leaves salad. I love it!

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  11. hi Mag,

    Please do share the recipe for Grape Leaves Salad! I bet it's interesting as well... Thanks in advance.

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  12. Hey Pixen,
    I promise I will share the recipe but I can't find fresh grape leaves so I take a picture and post it :( If I lose hope I will post it without the photo. Thanks for stopping by again :)

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  13. Marhaba! So happy to have found another Lebanese food blogger!

    Every time I make warak einab, my leaves turn out very tough. I use the canned ones and soak them. Am I not cooking them long enough? I also like your string method for keeping them together...I usually put a pot filled with water on top, but they get kinda squished that way.

    thanks for posting this!

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  14. Stuffed grape leaves are my favourite snack of all time:D

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  15. Stuffed grape leaves are my favourite snack of all time:D

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  16. - Marhabtayn Wild Thyme Kitchen! Welcome to my blog :) Well you might wanna cook them for like another 2-3 minutes only cause you don't want them to fall apart, but the thing is the canned ones are always hard cause the leaves are too big!

    - Hi Bellini Valli! Thanks for visiting :)

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  17. My favorite grape leaves are those made by Lebanese so I know these must be good, they look amazing. I wish I could have a plate full now.

    I am so glad that I came across this blog, I have linked you to mine "Ya Salam Cooking".. Can not wait to see what you post next..

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  18. Oh thank you Noor :) I am glad you like my blog :) I just checked yours and I am linking to it as well!

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authorHello, my name is MAG. I've been running this blog since 2007. Follow me on Social Media!!!
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