Hello, lovelies!
This quarantine life got me cooking more and I'm not mad about it. I'm loving how much you are all enjoying these recipes on my stories, It makes me want to share and cook more!
Over the weekend I made Warag Dawali, and it was so YUMMY!! I had frozen grape leaves from my parent's tree.. so they were very sour and soft. The one question I received a lot about whether the grape leaves in a jar and fresh/frozen from a tree tastes the same? Honestly, it depends. Some jars are a little too salty and the leaves are not soft, but when it's cooked, they all taste amazing...
NOW... let's get to the ingredients... I'll say, I'm not one to measure ANYTHING... I've always learned to cook by eyeing things.. so here is exactly what I did. :)
Ingredients:
Grape Leaves- I used frozen.. but these two brands in a jar I ALWAYS USE.
1 1/2 cup of rice
1lb beef, chili cut
1/2 cup Olive Oil
1 small can of tomato paste
A teaspoon of salt, pepper, Tumeric, Paprika
3 spoons Chicken Bouillon
4/5 small ripe tomatoes.
1/2 lemon sliced
Prep:
- Soak the rice with warm water and rinse till the water is clear.
- In a large bowl, mix rice, meat, olive oil, salt, pepper, Tumeric, paprika and the chicken bouillon. Mix very well till all the rice and meat is fully coated with all the spices.
- Heat up water and soak the grape leaves slowly and gently to basically wash them and let them get a little soft... Take them out after 5 minutes of soaking.. you don't want to cook them!
ROLL TIME:
Place one grape leave flat, place a generous amount of the rice and meat mixture and roll... Here is a small video to help. :)
COOKING TIME:
In a pot, place tomatoes and lemons at the bottom.
Assemble all the grape leaves tightly.
In a large mug, heat up water add in tomato paste, pepper and the rest of the chicken bouillon. Mix and drizzle this all over the grape leaves in the pot. I do this to evenly spread the flavor, rather than sprinkling in all the spices... Trust me, It's better!
Once everything is placed in the pot, fill up with cold water till the top.
Put the lid on, heat on high... once it starts to bubble, lower the heat all the way and let it simmer for 35/40 min. Keep checking on the water... you don't want it to dry, we want water left so it stays juicy!
That's IT... enjoy with Plaine yogurt or sour cream!
- I hope this helps, and If you have any questions, please leave them below and send them my way!
Happy Cooking!
Amira Omar