Storage of grape leaves for dolma. Grape leaves: preparation for the winter for dolma. How to salt grape leaves for the winter
Recipes for cabbage rolls and dolma
50 minutes
90 kcal
5/5 (13)
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 that 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
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
Canning grape leaves step by step
leaf preparation
Cooking pickle
Laying vine leaves
The final stage
Video recipe for making canned grape leaves for dolma
In order to better understand how to properly prepare and pickle grape leaves for dolma for the winter, I recommend spending three minutes familiarizing yourself with the selected video material, which is presented below.
- 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 cooking of leaves in water;
- three plastic bags are needed to freeze our dolma blank.
List of required ingredients
The process of freezing grape leaves in stages
Preparation of grape leaves
Packaging of grape leaves
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.
Video recipe for preparing grape leaves for dolma
The video below will tell in detail about all sorts of nuances and subtleties of the correct preparation of grape leaves for dolma.
- Stack the grape leaves in ascending order: the bottom sheet is better to make 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 do not 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. 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 talk about a very simple way to cook. Almost nothing is required of you, just wrap the filling, and the kitchen equipment will do all the main work.
I wish you always a good mood and a brutal appetite! If you use other ways to preserve grape leaves for dolma, write about them in the comments. Also share your recipes for preparing this wonderful dish, tell us which filling do you like best? I look forward to your comments, feedback and impressions!
- an unusual culinary dish reminiscent of traditional cabbage rolls, only grape leaves act as a wrapper. Harvesting grape leaves for dolma is not laborious and has several manufacturing options. These include salting, pickling, freezing and storage in dried form. Any method of storing the future wrapper contributes to the conservation of useful substances, only taste qualities are distinguished. The main thing is to follow all the stages of canning. Below will be presented various descriptions of harvesting grape leaves for the winter for dolma, and which recipe to use is up to you.
Quite well known as an ingredient in kitchen dishes in the East. We are just starting to gain popularity. And not in vain, because the leaf is completely permeated with useful trace elements, and it also has a pleasant aftertaste. Edible culinary masterpieces from such plants relieve the pain of varicose veins, relieve swelling, and improve blood circulation. As an antiseptic, the leaves are able to heal wounds and stop minor bleeding. This gift of nature contains a large amount of vitamins A, B, C and minerals - iron, calcium, manganese, magnesium. The listed positive components must be preserved by closing them in jars for further consumption. Preservation of grape leaves for dolma is the most rational preservation for a long time. It is in the dish with the beautiful name "Dolma" that these green leaves are often used.
Freezing grape leaves
Almost all vegetables and fruits lend themselves perfectly to the freezing procedure. This method requires a good freezer. For those who wish to learn how to freeze grape leaves for dolma, simple steps are provided below.
Freezing steps:
Before freezing, the leaves should not be washed, as the remaining drops will turn into ice and disrupt the storage process.
Preparation and storage of dried grape leaves
Harvesting grape leaves for dolma by drying them is no more laborious than freezing. Such preservation allows you to save all the useful elements in the plant and its unsurpassed aroma.
Option 1:
Option 2:
Pickling grape leaves
Not everyone still knows how to pickle grape leaves for dolma. This method involves storing raw materials for dolma in glass containers filled with marinade. A longer process than salting, but the result is tastier. The leaves, saturated with brine, become more fragrant and piquant.
Pickling steps:
If the tube of leaves blooms, it is better to fix it with a toothpick or thread.
Salting grape leaves
Those who do not like the sweet and sour taste of preservation will look for a recipe on how to pickle grape leaves for dolma. Leaves in this way are stored in glass jars in brine. Therefore, before starting work, glass jars should be sterilized. Your attention is given to two options for salting, one under the nylon cover, the second involves long-term storage under a metal twist.
Option 1:
With this method of storage, the leaves are partially deprived of their beneficial properties, but the aroma remains unchanged.
Option 2:
1 liter jar contains 70 rolled sheets.
Canning grape leaves in tomato juice
Those who are bored with the recipes for canning leaves that have become boring from year to year are invited to store them in a tomato. Harvesting grape leaves for dolma in tomato juice is not at all difficult. For her, you need a freshly squeezed tomato, the amount of which comes from the number of prepared cans. 1 jar is 1/3 of the liquid if the leaves are tightly packed into the jar to the top.
Canning steps:
Tomato juice, in which grape leaves were stored, will perfectly act as a sauce.
Dolma is further prepared from canned grape leaves. Traditionally, it is customary to wrap minced meat with rice in them, but you can deviate from the generally accepted charters and fill it with vegetable filling. For example, dolma with a carrot core will really appeal to vegetarians. Bon appetit!
Dolma is one of the most popular dishes of the peoples of Central Asia and the Caucasus. However, thanks to its delicious original taste and at the same time quite simple preparation, it also occupies a worthy place in our kitchen. The principle of this dish is similar to our cabbage rolls, but grape leaves are taken as the basis instead of cabbage, and there are also some differences in the selection of spices, the preparation and serving itself.
The ideal option for dolma, of course, are fresh young grape leaves, the size of a palm. But the period of their youth is limited and therefore the leaves are plucked and harvested for future use at the beginning of summer in order to use them all year round to prepare your favorite dish.
There are many ways to do this. We will talk about them in detail below in our article.
Harvesting grape leaves for the winter for dolma
Leaves for dolma can be either pickled or kept fresh. To do this, thoroughly wash the freshly torn sheets, lay them out on a clean towel and let them dry thoroughly. Not a drop of moisture should remain on them, this is very important for perfect preservation. Then we stack the leaves on top of each other in a pile of up to ten pieces and turn them into a tight roll. Next, wrap the roll with cling film and put it in the freezer for storage.
If the volumes of your freezer do not allow you to make large-scale blanks, then the rolled leaves can be placed in glass jars very tightly, rolled up with lids and sterilized in the oven for twenty minutes.
Some experienced housewives use another simple and very effective way to store grape leaves. Prepared dense rolls are placed in plastic half-liter bottles. Each will include approximately five bundles of ten sheets. Then squeeze the container to remove air as much as possible and screw it on with a cork. Thus, the leaves remain fresh for a long time. This is possible, of course, provided that their surface is sufficiently well dried from moisture residues, otherwise they may become moldy.
How to pickle grape leaves for dolma?
Grape leaves for dolma can also be pickled. To do this, we thoroughly wash the fresh young sheets, put them in a deep bowl, pour hot water over it and immediately drain it. Slightly softened by blanching, we assemble the leaves in several pieces and fold them into rolls or envelopes. Then we put the bundles tightly in a prepared clean sterile jar and pour hot marinade. To prepare it, heat water to a boil, add three or four peas of allspice, half a teaspoon of mustard powder and a teaspoon of salt. This is a calculation for one liter jar of grape leaves. Be sure to make sure that the brine fills all the voids between the leaves in the jar. Then we twist the containers with boiled sterile lids and determine for storage in the pantry to other blanks.
How to salt and store grape leaves for dolma?
Grape leaves are perfectly stored in a simple saline solution. For such a preparation, we cut off young grape leaves together with the cuttings, wash them well, put ten things together and tie them with a clean thread. We put the bundles in a clean jar and fill them with a simple saline solution. To prepare it, we dissolve in cold water such an amount of non-iodized salt that a raw egg floats on the surface. The leaves must be completely covered with salty liquid, so during storage it is necessary to add it as it is absorbed by the leaves and the level of brine decreases. Jars with such a blank are covered with nylon lids and determined for storage in a cool place.
Properly salted grape leaves can be stored for several years, and must be soaked in clean water before cooking.
Oriental cuisine has long been part of our lives. For example, dolma, beloved by many. It is very similar to our cabbage rolls. Only for its preparation, instead of cabbage, a grape leaf is used. Fans of this unusual dish for our places may be interested in how to store grape leaves for dolma so that it can be cooked even in winter.
There are several ways to store, these are:
- freezing;
- drying;
- pickling;
- salting.
Let's take a closer look at each of them.
Procurement of raw materials
Storing grape leaves implies their proper harvesting. And harvesting, in turn, is impossible without proper collection. Here are some tips for choosing the right ingredients for dolma.
- To keep grape leaves for a long time, they are plucked while still young and green.
- It is better to cut them in the morning, in sunny weather, after the dew has come down.
- They should be of medium size and preferably from white vines.
- Leaves should not be cut from vines that grow near roads. They absorb the exhaust gases of passing cars and are not suitable for use in food.
- Choose green specimens without visible insect damage, which are not interspersed with other colors, and are also not affected by sunburn.
Wet leaves can develop molds and other lesions very quickly, making them unfit for consumption.
Storing grape leaves in a jar
The easiest way to store grape leaves for dolma is to sterilize them and roll them up in jars.
- In order for them to retain their qualities for a long time, they are collected in 10-15 pieces and rolled into a tight roll.
- Then, the leaves folded in this way are placed in a glass jar and sterilized for 20-25 minutes, after tightly closing the lid.
- After the jars have cooled, they are rolled up and placed in a dark and dry place.
In this form, grape leaves can be stored until next summer.
Shared storage table
|
Storage method |
Shelf life |
| No refrigeration at room temperature | 1-2 days |
| In the refrigerator at a temperature of 0 to + 2°C | Up to two weeks, wrapped in a damp cloth |
| Frozen | About a year |
| Dried | 9-12 months |
| Salting and pickling with sterilization | 3-6 months |
Freeze
- Grape leaves are cut without stems and wiped well with a damp cloth. Then a stack of 10-15 pieces is twisted into a tube and fixed in this position with cling film.
- The blanks twisted into a tube are folded into a bag and sent to the freezer.
Before freezing, the shoots are not washed, as the water will turn into ice and disrupt their structure.
In the frozen state, the ingredients for the future dolma will retain their qualities for a whole year. Immediately before use, they are placed in boiling water for 20-30 seconds, and then removed, unfolded and dried.
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How to dry grape leaves
- To do this, the shoots are prepared and placed between the pages of a heavy book or just sheets of paper, which are then pressed down with a press.
- After complete drying, the leaves are placed in small portions in paper bags, which are then folded into the refrigerator.
- When it is required that they become soft again, they are placed for 10-15 minutes in water.
How to pickle
Raw materials pre-prepared for salting are placed in a glass container (enamelled dishes can be used) and each layer is sprinkled with salt.
- Then they put oppression on top and send this dish for 24 hours in the refrigerator.
- After that, the leaves are folded in 7 - 8 pieces, rolled as tight as possible into rolls and then placed as tightly as possible in jars.
- The brine is poured to the top, which remained in the container where the leaves were, and closed with a lid.
- With this method of storage, they can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 months. Salt leaves are well soaked in water before use.
How to marinate
In order to marinate the ingredients of dolma, they are pre-blanched in boiling water.
- Two minutes will be enough for them to be sterilized and become very soft.
- Then they are taken out of the water, and, having previously rolled up 7-8 pieces, they are put in sterile containers in dense rows.
- To prepare the marinade, a tablespoon of salt is stirred in 1 liter of water. You will also need vinegar or mustard (1 teaspoon per liter container).
- Pour the marinade into jars and send the jars to storage in a dark room.
Grape leaves can be preserved even with vegetables or tomato juice, after which they acquire additional taste.
Outcome
Here we looked at several ways to store grape leaves for the winter. Each hostess chooses for herself the option that suits her. Those who want to quickly prepare the leaves use the freezing method. If there is a desire and time for conservation, you can get an unusual taste and aroma of a grape leaf.
You sit in the south, look at the growing grapes and understand that it would be nice later, at home, more than a thousand kilometers away, to make a good dolma. The search for ways to preserve the leaves led to the realization that neither a sufficient amount of boiling water, nor sterile jars and other necessary attributes of salting the leaves are available. I had to twist...
I collected the leaves, as expected, the best. By the way, polarizing dark glasses are great for collecting the sheet you need for cooking. Fresh leaves are clearly visible through them - they shine on the “front side” with a noticeable tint. I did not take them, because they are small in size and often so thin that they are suitable only for preparing dolma right there, "on the spot."
But 2-3 leaves below the shiny ones are great for dolma in terms of size and degree of maturity. They are tender enough not to resemble paper after cooking. They are strong enough to make it convenient to wrap minced meat.
I dried the collected leaves a little, 2-3 hours. In the shade, at 25 degrees.
All the leaves, without washing, I folded in piles.
He rolled the piles tightly into rolls, tied the rolls with a bandage (I didn’t even have threads on vacation).
I put the rolls in clean containers from under some kind of food.
The main task of such packaging was the delivery of leaves in an acceptable form within 2-3 days to the house.
In another container, I tried delivery method No. 2. I sprinkled the leaves with ordinary salt, after rinsing them with cold water and drying them.
Method 2 proved to be less suitable for overexposure of the leaves: the salt absorbed moisture from the leaves and some of the leaves were severely damaged and dehydrated to a dry state.
The sheets in rolls were almost not damaged, only the tips were slightly wilted and darkened.
After 3 days at home, I unwrapped the rolls.
I blanched in small portions (oh, I found such a beautiful and tasty pre-revolutionary word “blanched” in a cookbook!) Leaves.
Put the leaves in a bowl, covered with a colander.
I poured boiling water into a colander and waited 3-5 minutes until the leaves completely changed color from green to "khaki".
Having spread the leaves in dozens, he again twisted them into rolls.
I sterilized glass jars by heating them for 15 minutes in an oven at 150 degrees Celsius. Lids and rubber bands just boiled.
The storage brine made very simple: 1 tablespoon of salt per 600 ml of water.
Dozens of rolls were tightly stuffed into jars and filled with brine up to the very neck.
Closed the lids.
For the second week now, the jars have been standing in the room with no signs of damage to the leaves.
I'm getting ready to eat deliciously and cook dolma nicely!
Cooking time: PT00H15M 15 min.
Approximate cost per serving: 5 rub.
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