Dolma

Ingredients

Vegetables to stuff

• 4small courgettes, halved and hollowed
• 4small potatoes, peeled and hollowed
• 2onions, parboiled and layers separated
• 2carrots, thick pieces, hollowed
• 4small aubergines or 2 green peppers

Stuffing

• 500 gminced lamb (or half lamb, half beef)
• 1onion, grated
• 60 gmedium rice, rinsed
• 1 handfulflat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 1egg
• 1 tspsalt

White sauce

• 3 tbspolive oil or smen
• 1onion, grated
• 150 gcooked chickpeas
• 1cinnamon stick
• 1 tspwhite pepper
• 1 litrewater or light broth
• juice of ½ lemon
• salt

Directions

1. Hollow the courgettes, potatoes and carrots with a small spoon or an apple corer, leaving walls about 7 mm thick so they hold their shape through the simmer; keep the trimmings.
2. Parboil the whole onions for 8 minutes until the layers separate cleanly, and hold the hollowed potatoes in cold water so they do not blacken.
3. Mix the minced lamb with the grated onion, rice, parsley, cinnamon, pepper, egg and salt, working it with your hand for 2 minutes until it is sticky and cohesive.
4. Fill each vegetable about four-fifths full, leaving room for the rice to swell; overpacked dolma split open in the pot.
5. Sweat the grated onion for the sauce in the olive oil in a wide, heavy pan over low heat for 8 minutes without colouring, then add the white pepper and the cinnamon stick.
6. Pack the stuffed vegetables into the pan in a single snug layer, hardest ones first: carrots and potatoes on the base, courgettes and onions on top.
7. Pour in the water so it comes about three-quarters of the way up, add the chickpeas, season with salt, bring to a bare simmer and cover.
8. Cook at the gentlest simmer for 50 minutes to 1 hour without stirring; shake the pan by the handles instead if you need to move things. The dolma are ready when a knife slides through a potato with no resistance.
9. Uncover and reduce for a final 10 minutes so the sauce thickens to a light, glossy broth, then add the lemon juice off the heat and rest 10 minutes before serving with bread.

Technique

• This is the Algiers dolma, a white sauce dish with no tomato at all. The colour comes from onions cooked without browning and the aroma from cinnamon and white pepper.
• Uncooked rice in the stuffing is correct: it absorbs meat juices as it swells, which is why the filling stays moist. Pre-cooked rice makes it pasty.
• Never stir the pan. Stuffed vegetables break apart, the sauce clouds, and the filling escapes into the broth.

Substitutions

• Cardoon (khorchef) is the prestige vegetable for dolma in season; blanch it in lemon water first to stop it browning.
• Tinned chickpeas are acceptable; add them 20 minutes before the end so they stay whole.

Variations

• Dolma bel hamra, the red version of the east, builds the sauce on tomato and paprika instead of the white base.
• Dolma kroumb wraps the same stuffing in blanched cabbage leaves, tied with thread.
• A Ramadan version adds small meatballs rolled from the leftover stuffing to fill the gaps in the pan.

History

Stuffed vegetables entered Algerian cooking during three centuries of Ottoman rule; dolma is Turkish for filled, and Algiers adapted it to a white chickpea sauce.

Frequently asked questions

What is Dolma?

Dolma is a main from Algeria: vegetables stuffed with spiced minced meat, simmered in white chickpea sauce. Stuffed vegetables entered Algerian cooking during three centuries of Ottoman rule; dolma is Turkish for filled, and Algiers adapted it to a white chickpea sauce.

How long does Dolma take to make?

Dolma takes 50 min of preparation and 1 hr 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Dolma?

Yes, within limits. Cardoon (khorchef) is the prestige vegetable for dolma in season; blanch it in lemon water first to stop it browning. Tinned chickpeas are acceptable; add them 20 minutes before the end so they stay whole.

What is the most important thing to get right in Dolma?

Parboil the whole onions for 8 minutes until the layers separate cleanly, and hold the hollowed potatoes in cold water so they do not blacken.