Can dolma be frozen for the winter? What products are included in the dish? How to properly defrost dolma. Step-by-step recipe with a photo. Video recipe.
Dolma is an eastern version of Ukrainian cabbage rolls, where young grape leaves are used instead of cabbage leaves to wrap the filling. They have a pleasant, moderately sour taste and an amazing aroma. Therefore, the dish turns out to be spicy. As far as cooking is concerned, twisting "dolmushki" is a pleasant and exciting business. And it turns out an appetizer in grape leaves is more tender than its counterparts in cabbage leaves. If we talk about the filling, then for stuffed cabbage it can be any, incl. and vegetarian, but for dolma rice and minced meat are always used.
It is worth noting that for dolma you need to collect grape leaves in early spring. At this time of the year, the grapes release their first juicy, bright and delicate leaves. Only such leaves are suitable for harvesting. Therefore, in order to cook dolma all year round, it is necessary to prepare leaves in early spring. They are pickled, frozen or sprinkled with salt in plastic bottles. You can also freeze the finished product. This is a great way to store ready-made dolma, because at the right time, literally in half an hour you can make a hot and appetizing dish. It will be very nice to see such a dish on the New Year's or Christmas table!
- Caloric content per 100 g - 274 kcal.
- Servings - 50
- Cooking time - 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- Grape leaves - 50 pcs.
- Meat - 700 g (any variety, but lamb is used in the original recipe)
- Ground black pepper - a large pinch
- Onions - 2 pcs.
- Greens (cilantro, parsley, basil) - large bunch
- Butter - for frying
- Salt - 1 tsp or to taste
- Rice - 100 g
Step by step cooking and freezing dolma for the winter, recipe with photo:
1. Peel the onions, wash and dry with a paper towel. Cut the onion into small cubes and sauté in a skillet in butter until transparent.
2. Rinse the rice under running water, changing the water several times to remove the gluten. Pour it into a saucepan, salt, add water in a 1: 2 ratio and boil until almost cooked. When the rice has absorbed all the moisture and has increased in volume, it is considered ready.
3. Wash the meat, cut off the film, veins and excess fat. Dry it with a paper towel and twist it through a meat grinder.
4. Add fried onions and boiled rice to the twisted minced meat.
5. Wash greens, dry and finely chop. Add it to the minced meat, which season with salt, black pepper and mix well. You can add minced meat with garlic passed through a press and spicy herbs.
6. Spread the grape leaves face down on a plank and put a teaspoon of minced meat in the middle. The amount of filling can be added more or less depending on the size of the leaves.
If you use fresh leaves, then pre-pour boiling water over them, which pour over for 5 minutes. Defrost the frozen leaves completely. Do this carefully as they are very fragile when frozen. Drain the canned leaves and dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.
7. Roll the grape leaf into a roll.
8. Place the formed dolma in a container for freezing. Close it with a lid and freeze it by setting the “fast freeze” mode. Freeze portions of the correct and correct size, as dolma cannot be re-frozen for the winter. If there is no such form, then pack each dolma in plastic wrap, put it in a bag and send it to the freezer. Or put the dolma on a plastic-wrapped board and freeze it separately without plastic wrap, and then put it in a convenient container. In the freezer, such a blank can be stored for a year.
How to cook frozen dolma?
Put the frozen dolma without preliminary defrosting in a saucepan, fill it with water, you can boil it and cook it as if it were fresh. As oppression, turn over the plate on which you put a weighting agent, for example, a can of water. Boil frozen dolma for 45-50 minutes for the winter.
See also a video recipe on how to cook dolma for the winter.
