Iraqi dolma

Ingredients

Filling (hashwa)

• 400 gshort or medium-grain rice, rinsed and soaked 30 minutes
• 400 gminced lamb, not too lean
• 1large onion, finely chopped
• 1 bunchflat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 bunchdill, chopped
• 3 tbsptomato paste
• 2 tbsppomegranate molasses
• 3 tbsplemon juice
• 1 tbspbaharat (Iraqi seven spice)
• 1 tspground turmeric
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 80 mloil or melted lamb fat

Vessels

• 250 gvine leaves in brine, rinsed, or fresh, blanched 30 seconds
• 4small onions, boiled 10 minutes and separated into layers
• 4small aubergines, hollowed
• 4small courgettes, hollowed
• 2peppers, tops cut off and deseeded
• 4tomatoes, hollowed, pulp reserved
• 300 glamb ribs or chops, to line the pot

Cooking liquid

• 600 mlwater
• 3 tbsppomegranate molasses
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 3 tbsplemon juice
• 1 tspsalt

Directions

1. Mix all the filling ingredients together with your hands, including the reserved tomato pulp. The rice goes in raw; it swells and cooks inside the vegetables, drinking the sour liquid.
2. Lay the lamb ribs flat across the base of a wide, heavy pot. They protect the dolma from the direct heat and flavour the whole pot from below.
3. Fill the hollowed vegetables about two thirds full, no more, tapping each one so the rice settles but leaving room to swell.
4. Roll the vine leaves shiny side down, a spoon of filling near the stem end, sides folded in, rolled tight but not straining, into cigars the thickness of a finger.
5. Pack everything into the pot in tight layers, heavier vegetables at the bottom, vine leaf rolls wedged into every gap so nothing can move or unroll.
6. Whisk the cooking liquid ingredients together and pour down the side of the pot until it just reaches the top layer.
7. Weight the surface with an upturned heatproof plate, cover, bring to a simmer and cook on the lowest heat for 1 hour 30 minutes. It should barely tremble.
8. Check a vine leaf roll at 75 minutes: the rice should be soft with no chalky centre and the liquid nearly gone, leaving a red syrup at the base.
9. Rest 15 minutes off the heat. Place a large tray over the pot and invert the whole thing in one movement so the dolma comes out as a mound, ribs on top.
10. Serve warm with lemon wedges and plain yoghurt.

Technique

• Iraqi dolma is soured with pomegranate molasses and lemon rather than the olive oil and mint of the Levantine version, and it is served as a hot main course, not a cold meze.
• Underfill everything. Rice roughly doubles, and a tightly stuffed vine leaf will burst and cloud the pot.
• The plate weight matters. Without it the rolls float, unwind and cook unevenly.
• Inverting the pot (qalb al-dolma) is the traditional presentation and requires the pot to have rested; do it too soon and it collapses.

Substitutions

• No vine leaves: chard or young cabbage leaves, blanched, roll well and are used in Iraqi homes in spring.
• Pomegranate molasses can be replaced by tamarind water plus a little sugar, common in the south around Basra.
• Lamb ribs at the base can be replaced by a layer of sliced potato or tomato to stop sticking.

Variations

• A Kurdish version omits the tomato and leans on dried mint and more onion.
• Some families add whole garlic cloves and dried apricots between the layers.
• In summer, small round courgettes and green peppers dominate; in winter, onion and cabbage.

History

Mixed stuffed vegetables and vine leaves packed into one pot upside down and soured with tamarind or pomegranate.

Frequently asked questions

What is Iraqi dolma?

Iraqi dolma is a main from Iraq: vegetables and vine leaves stuffed with rice and meat, pomegranate-soured. Mixed stuffed vegetables and vine leaves packed into one pot upside down and soured with tamarind or pomegranate.

How long does Iraqi dolma take to make?

Iraqi dolma takes 1 hr 15 min of preparation and 1 hr 45 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Iraqi dolma?

Yes, within limits. No vine leaves: chard or young cabbage leaves, blanched, roll well and are used in Iraqi homes in spring. Pomegranate molasses can be replaced by tamarind water plus a little sugar, common in the south around Basra. Lamb ribs at the base can be replaced by a layer of sliced potato or tomato to stop sticking.

What is the most important thing to get right in Iraqi dolma?

Lay the lamb ribs flat across the base of a wide, heavy pot. They protect the dolma from the direct heat and flavour the whole pot from below.