1. Which grape leaves are suitable for dolma
2. How to preserve grape leaves for dolma
3. How to freeze and store grape leaves for dolma
4. Cooking and filling options

Dolma is a rather unusual dish for our latitudes, which has a unique taste and amazing aroma, very reminiscent of our native cabbage rolls. The only difference lies in the fact that not cabbage, but grape leaves are used to wrap the filling. The product has already conquered many hearts, because it is relatively easy to prepare it.

I suggest you learn how to prepare grape leaves for the winter so that you can cook delicious Moldavian cabbage rolls at any time. In fact, the canning process, as well as freezing, does not take much time, but as a result, you get a complete blank for experimenting with stuffing.

Which grape leaves are suitable for dolma

• The optimal time for harvesting grape leaves is when the vines begin to bloom.
• , because they favorably differ from others in their sweet and sour taste, which will positively affect the taste properties of dolma, giving the dish a wonderful piquancy. If you decide to use red grape leaves for harvesting for the winter, remember that their disadvantage is an uneven surface and rigidity.
• Only young leaves are suitable for dolma, while it is important to cut them from the vine, which is located as far as possible from the roadway.
• Never use damaged or torn grape leaves for preservation. Take only even, whole leaves, preferably the same size.

How to preserve grape leaves for dolma

kitchen utensils

• the first step is to prepare scissors;
• for cooking brine you will need a large volumetric pan;
• also nothing will work without lids for cans;

• of course, we will not do without glass jars with a volume of 0.5 liters, but you can use larger jars.

List of required ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
grape leaves	200-240 pcs.
salt	60 g
cold water	3 l

Canning grape leaves step by step

leaf preparation

First of all, we get rid of the thick stems of grape leaves with scissors.

Now thoroughly wash each leaf on both sides with plenty of running water, trying not to tear the ingredient.

We put the clean young leaves aside and leave for a while so that the glass has excess water and they dry out a little.

Cooking pickle

We fill a capacious pan with cold water and add salt to it in the proportion of 20 g of salt per 1 liter of water.

Then put the pan on the fire and bring the water to a boil, while stirring the brine from time to time so that the salt is completely dissolved.

After we let the brine brew and cool slightly.

Laying vine leaves

We lay out young leaves of grapes in stacks of ten pieces on top of each other.

Then we wrap each batch of leaves in a tube.

After that, we tightly and tightly lay the rolls of grape leaves in a jar.

The final stage

Now carefully fill the jars with warm brine so that it fills all the voids between the tube leaves.

After we leave the jars alone for about five minutes and, if necessary, pour the brine under the very neck of the jar.

Then we roll up the jars with lids and allow the brine to cool to room temperature.

Next, we lower the resulting blanks into the cellar or put them on a darkened shelf.

Tips & Tricks

• During the preparation of the brine, you can add a few peas of allspice to the liquid - this will significantly improve the taste and aroma of your future dish.
• The number of leaves in the tube can be changed in any direction, if your leaves are too thin, you can make a stack of 15-20 pieces.
• It is not at all necessary to roll up the jars with leaves with iron lids, you can simply close them tightly with rubber or plastic ones. However, using iron lids, you don't have to worry about air getting into the jar and spoiling the blanks.
• To cool the jars of brine faster, send them to the refrigerator for half an hour.

How to freeze and store grape leaves for dolma

• Cooking time: Approximately 35-50 minutes.
• Number of blanks: 3 blanks of 20 leaves.

kitchen utensils

• be sure to prepare ordinary scissors, but you can get by with a knife;
• a large pot is necessary for boiling the leaves;

• a skimmer is very useful for convenient boiling of leaves in water;
• three plastic bags are needed to freeze our dolma blank.

List of required ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
grape leaves	60 pcs.
water	3-5 l

The process of freezing grape leaves in stages

Preparation of grape leaves

First, remove the stems from the grape leaves with scissors. Then thoroughly rinse each leaf under running water.

After a little dry the ingredients and put in three piles of twenty pieces.

We put a pot of water on the stove and bring the liquid to a sluggish boil.

We take the first stack of leaves and carefully lower it into boiling water and keep it in the pan for about a minute.

When the leaves change color, remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate to drain excess water.

In the same way, boil the remaining two piles of grape leaves.

Packaging of grape leaves

Carefully place a stack of still hot leaves in a plastic bag.

Then carefully close the bag, while trying to get less air into it.

After that, we bend the ends of the bag so as not to damage the edges of the grape leaves.

We put the first batch aside and pack the second and third piles in the same way.

Next, stack the bags on top of each other and send them to the freezer.

What to do with frozen leaves

You can store grape leaves in the freezer for up to a year.

To prepare dolma, frozen leaves should be poured over with boiling water or left to defrost in a warm place.

https://youtu.be/mWG1-aXeeYE

Tips & Tricks

• Fold the grape leaves in a stack in ascending order: the bottom sheet is best made the largest in size.
• Grape leaves can also be frozen fresh, but in this case it is likely that they may tear when defrosted and become unsuitable for making dolma.
• In no case sort out a stack of already boiled leaves, their structure is very delicate, and they can tear.
• In order for the leaves to take up less space in the refrigerator, they can be rolled up and then wrapped in a plastic bag.

Cooking and filling options

If you have already learned how to make preparations for the winter from grape leaves, then be sure to look at the dolma recipe in grape leaves. Why not please your family and friends on a cold winter evening with such a fragrant and amazingly tasty dish? I also can’t help but tell you about a very simple way to cook dolma in a slow cooker. Almost nothing is required of you, just wrap the filling, and the kitchen equipment will do all the main work.