Stuffed Grape Leaves

Yesterday I made stuffed grape leaves with rice, parsley, zesty mint, allspice, onions, and tomatoes and cooked them in a lovely fresh lemony sauce. I put lots of love into my cooking and because of that my food tastes ……….awful! The rolls might as well have been made from coconut husks as they were fibrous, tough and inedible. I have decided that I will learn how to preserve grape leaves myself and never take a chance with store bought leaves. I think any self respecting housewife should learn how to preserve grape leaves along with learning how to sew on a button and fold a fitted sheet ( perhaps I will never get the hang of folding a fitted sheet or even sewing on a button but preserving grapes leaves are on my agenda). A jar of about 70 leaves (250 grams) imported from Turkey costs $2.50, which is a lot considering I could get them for free as long as I am nice to my neighbors as they have bigger vines than I do.
In anycase, I tried to deviate from my usual family recipe with a Syrian or Egyptian version using the flavorings in Claudia Roden’s and Poopa Dwecks recipes – long grain rice, parsley, dried mint, allspice, cinnamon and onion. My verdict (I made them twice, once with good leaves) was that the long grain rice which tend to stay separate during cooking and this I like less than the glutinous round rice.

My Kurdish relatives are very particular about their stuffed grape leaves. They never make them with any herb except dill, green onions and tomatoes and they also never add any spices to it except salt and pepper and lots of olive oil. They use only round rice which becomes soft and sticky during cooking and this is the texture I am used to. After trying several versions of stuffed grape leaves in the last few weeks, I can say that I still love my grandmother’s simple version the most and of course it should be like that.
Another type of stuffed grape leaf is a Nash Didani recipe from Gil Hovav’s Hebrew language cookbook. Gil Hovav is a celebrity host and chef of numerous food shows on Israeli television, author of numerous cookbooks and also happens to be the great grandchild of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the father of Modern Hebrew. The Nash Didan are one of the smallest ethnic groups in Israel and come from the area between Lake Urmia of Western Iran and Lake Van of Eastern Turkey and follow their own cultural, culinary and linguistic traditions. The Nash Didani stuffed grape leaves have a more dominant sweet and sour flavor, a combination so popular in Persian cuisine with roots from the Babylonian times.

Here is my grandmother’s recipe taught to me by my favorite Aunt Hadasa, who stayed for a week with us during the second Lebanon war and I only wished she stayed longer (perhaps not because that would have meant a longer war)

Stuffed Grape Leaves, Kurdish Style
This recipe is from my Kurdish grandmother, who comes from a village of Koysanjak in North East Iraq. In Turkey stuffed vegetables such as these are called yalanci, meaning fake because it contains no meat. My grandmother calls it Yaphrah. In Turkey it tastes the same but it is called dolma. My grandmother usually stuffs onions, squash and grape leaves and cooks them together.

2 cups round rice such as risotto rice (Arborio), washed
Large bunch of dill, about 1 ½ cups
3-4 green onions or 1 onion grated
1-2 minced tomatoes, about 1 cup
2.5 tsp salt,
½ tsp pepper
4 tbs olive oil
75-100 fresh grape leaves boiled in water until they change color. If the leaves are old and fibrous boil them for 3-4 minutes to soften. You can also use pickled leaves soaked in copious amounts of water to remove the salt.
Sauce
Juice from two lemons, about ½ cup
4-5 tbs olive oil
Enough water to cover the grape leaves
For lining the pot
Sliced carrots, tomatoes or extra grape leaves
If using a low-sided pot (24 cm) this recipe is enough for two layers
Combine all ingredients for the filling. The ratio between the herbs and uncooked rice should be about 1:1. Place a teaspoon of filling on the grape leaf close to where the stem was attached, more or less depending on the size of the grape leaf, and roll. Arrange in the grape leaves in carrot lined pot seam facing down. The leaves should fit snugly together to inhibit them from floating when covered with sauce. Pour lemon juice and olive oil over the leaves and add just enough water to cover the leaves. Use a plate to keep the leaves in place, boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover the pot and cook for another 30-40 minutes, let stand at least 1-2 hours covered. They taste better the following day when the flavors have a chance to mellow. Serve on a bed of labneh (soft yogurt cheese) and toasted pinenuts.