Kelem dolmasi Made Easy

1

First bubble the rice for eight moments.

2

Meanwhile, skin and finely chop the bulb veggie.

3

Then chop the herbs.

4

The procedure didn't really say what to do with the chickpeas (also known of course as garbanzo beans), beyond soaking them overnight and rinsing them.

5

I used canned chickpeas, since I've never actually seen them dried.

6

I decided to chop/mash them slightly so they would better incorporate into the filling.

7

Chickpeas (or garbanzo beans) roughly cut up Now mince the lamb (I used my mini food processor).

8

Here's where I ran into another problem: what to do with the lamb fat this procedure calls for? Mince it? thaw it? Does lamb fat even thaw? I decided to mince mine.

9

Thankfully, my husband doesn't actually read this blog because he'd be horrified if he knew I put fat in the dolma on purpose.

10

Minced lamb and its good friend, minced fat.

11

Ew.

12

The fixings for the dolma stuffing include bulb veggie, cilantro, chickpeas and turmeric.

13

Anyway, now get your hands into all that slimy raw protein and combine in the bulb veggie, spices, chickpeas, rice, cut up herbs and fat.

14

empty in a little table salt and pepper for good measure.

15

In fact, based on my results I would say to err on the side of a little extra table salt and pepper.

16

combine well with your hands until the stuffing looks something like this.

17

Fill the biggest saucepan you own with salted moisture and bring it to a bubble over high bring to temperature.

18

Now pull the outer leaves off of the cabbage (save them) and drop the rest of it, whole, into the moisture.

19

Let it bubble for three or four moments, turning it if the moisture level isn't quite high enough to completely put a lid on it.

20

The reason you are doing this is because it's difficult to get whole cabbage leaves off of an American cabbage.

21

The cabbages you typically buy in our supermarkets come in very tight round balls, and because the leaves are brittle they will snap and crack when you try to pull them off in an un-blanched state.

22

Blanching them for a few moments makes it so they will come right off without tearing.

23

Now carefully take the cabbage out of the moisture (but keep the moisture boiling) and let it cool for a minute or two so you don't overcook your fingers.

24

Carefully pull the leaves off the cabbage, cutting them at the base if you have to do so to loosen them.

25

Try to get them off in one piece.

26

If the inner leaves are still brittle, return the cabbage to the boiling moisture for another three or four moments.

27

Repeat until all of the useable leaves are free.

28

Blanched cabbage leaves Now put the leaves on a cutting board and cut out the tough stalks (save them).

29

Cut the largest leaves in half.

30

Remove the tough inner stalk and set aside.

31

Cut larger leaves in two.

32

Put a heaping tablespoon of the filling in the middle of each leaf, making a short cylinder shape.

33

Fold the ends over the filling, then roll tightly (as if you are making a tiny burrito).

34

This is not much of a cylinder, but you get the idea.

35

Fold the edges over ...

36

Then roll, as if you were making a really small burrito.

37

Your finished dolma should look kind of like this, only without the hole in the middle.

38

Put all of the discarded cabbage leaves, stalks etc.

39

into the bottom of a stockpot.

40

I know, this seems a little strange.

41

What you're basically going to be doing is steaming the dolma, with the discarded cabbage pieces forming the base of your steamer.

42

Carefully place the dolma on the bed of cabbage leaves.

43

These dolma are resting on top of discarded cabbage leaves.

44

empty in moisture to the stockpot up to about the top of the discarded leaves.

45

Don't put a lid on the dolma.

46

Now here's where you have to get a bit creative.

47

The dolma needs to be weighted down so it doesn't unwrap during preparing.

48

I used a metal pie skillet, and then I put my mortar on top of it.

49

You could also use a dessert plate with something heavy on top of it, but it would need to be an oven-safe one.

50

The dolma need to be weighted down during preparing so they don't unwrap.

51

Just improvise.

52

Bring the moisture to a bubble, then bubble gently for 25 moments.You might have to use your ears to figure out if the moisture is actually boiling; I personally couldn't see what was in my pot after I weighted it down.

53

Meanwhile, make a simple tomato gravy out of the tomato paste and moisture.

54

bring to temperature it up for a few moments over a medium flame.

55

After the dolma have been preparing for 25 moments, empty the gravy over them and make for another five moments.

Kelem dolmasi Made Easy

5 Min Prep

25 Min Cook

2 Servings

Non-Vegetarian

Ingredients

Instructions

Recipe Information

Recipe Time chart

Preparation Time

Cooking Time

Total Time

Master Chef

Kelem dolmasi Made Easy

5 Min Prep

25 Min Cook

2 Servings

Non-Vegetarian

Ingredients

Instructions

Recipe Information

Recipe Time chart

Preparation Time

Cooking Time

Total Time

Master Chef

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