The BEST Dolma Recipe and the ONLY How To You’ll Ever Need

This Dolma recipe will blow you away! The flavors are perfectly balanced and the technique is super easy to follow. This is the only tutorial you will ever need! Take a look.

Ester’s Dolma Recipe
Serves 6+ PREP TIME: 1 HOUR Fill Time: 30-45 min COOKING TIME: 2-3 HOURS

DOLMA Filling
1 .25 C White Basmati Rice – rinsed until clear, strained
1.5 lbs grass fed beef – sirloin, strip or other lean, steak style beef (bone-in or boneless)
½ C Dill – finely chopped (2 small bunches)
½ C Parsley – finely chopped (about ¾ bunch)
1 C (heaping) onion – finely chopped
3 Small Tomatoes – cored with the tomato tops reserved, pulp and juices chopped and reserved
7 oz tomato paste
1/3 C lemon juice
1 Tbs garlic (heaping) – grated
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 tsp Seasoning salt
½ tsp Pepper (or to taste)
¼ tsp Cayenne
¼ tsp Coriander
¼ tsp Citric acid
2 tbs neutral cooking oil (avocado, grapeseed, etc)

Dolma Wrappers
1 16oz Jar Grape Leaves – Strained, unrolled and par boiled until slightly tender 5-15 min depending on the brand and harvest. Cool and set aside.
1 White Onion – boiled until transluscent, layers separated
Hollowed out tomatoes from filling
*Optional – Small bell peppers, boiled cabbage leaves, zucchini, baby aubergine

Braising Liquid
2 tbs Tamarind syrup
1 tbs Pomegranate syrup
1 tbs Date syrup
3 tbs Tomato paste
2 tbs veg, grapeseed or avocado oil
¼ C hot water

Yogurt Dip
Yogurt + sour cream 2:1
Salt to taste
*Optional add ins: salt, garlic, dill

METHOD
Step 1: Cut steaks into 1/2’’ strips and then dice into very small cubes… smaller than 1/4” Set a large saute pan on medium heat and cook beef until foamy and liquidy. Strain and brown lightly.Turn off heat and cool.
*bone-in beef: RESERVE THE BONES to line bottom of the pot
Step 2: Chop all filling vegetables and herbs finely and place into a large mixing bowl. Add rice, cooled beef to a large bowl. Add garlic, 7 oz tomato paste, all filling spices and lemon juice to the mixing bowl and mix until all ingredients are combined well. Set aside. (can be made a day ahead. Store in airtight container)
*taste mixture – adjust seasoning/filling ingredients accordingly so all flavors are balanced
Step 3: Peel 1 Onion and create a small wedge into wall of onion. This will make it easy to separate the layers once cooked. Submerge whole onion in boiling water and boil until soft/translucent (10 min). Remove and cool. Once cooled enough to handle, gently separate layers, being careful not to tear or split each shell.
Remove grape leaves from jar, unroll and cut stem if necessary. Boil grape leaves until slightly tender. About 15 minutes depending on the brand purchased or the harvested leaves. (each jar varies) Strain and cool.
Step 4: While your onion/leaves are boiling, make braising liquid. Combine all braising ingredients together and mix well. Set aside.
Step 5: Use an 8-10” pot. Line bottom with reserved bones or thin layer of flat grape leaves.
Step 6: Wrap the dolma. Start with largest vegetables first.
Tomatoes: Stuff tomato shells with dolma filling, leaving about 1/8” at the top. Place tomatoes around outer edge of pot.
Onions: Place onion shell vertically on your hand or a cutting board. Put 1 tbs of mixture at base of onion shell and roll up snugly. Place into pot working from outside edge in.
Grape Leaves: Place grape leaf shiny side down onto cutting board so tip of the leaf is furthest away and the base is closest to you. Place a heaping tbs of dolma mix into the center of leaf. Spread mix slightly to form a horizontal line going across widest part of the leaf about 2-3” out. Fold the sides towards middle. Snugly fold the bottom onto the middle and start rolling the dolma away from you tucking and rolling as you go. The dolma should resemble cigar shape and be snugly wrapped without tearing. Continue to fill and roll all the leaves until you run out of filling mixture placing them in pot as you go working from the outside edges of the pot, in. Brick-lay the dolma bundles so that when they cook, they will properly braise.
Step 7: Once all filling has been stuffed/wrapped and all dolma is in the pot, drizzle braising liquid into the pot in a circular motion. (it may not look like it’s enough liquid but it is!) Gently tap the sides of the pot onto the counter to shake the liquid mix into the dolma.
Step 8: Use a plate that will fit inside the pot and put the plate face down into the pot. Gently but firmly press down on plate, packing dolma in snugly. Cover pot with lid and cook dolma on Medium-High until boiling. Drop temperature down to low simmer for 2-3 hours until leaves and rice are tender and cooked all the way through.
Step 9: Once cooked, carefully remove plate with tongs. Place a platter directly on top of pot and carefuly flip the entire pot onto the platter making sure to hold the handles very securely. Enjoy with pita and yogurt dip!

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