Dolmeh is a common dish in many Eastern-Mediterranean countries. This food can be made with different ingredients and recipes depending on the region that it comes from. Dolmeh Barg-e Mo is a version of this food made with grape leaves, rice, yellow split peas, and meat.

What is Dolmeh Barg-e Mo?

The term “Dolmeh” ( Dolma / Tolma ) is given to a family of stuffed vegetables such as bell peppers, eggplants, zucchinis, etc.

Dolmeh Barg-e Mo specifically means stuffed grape leaves in Farsi.

This Persian dish is usually cooked during the spring as you can find the best grape leaves in this season. It is also good to mention that some Iranians serve Dolme on special holidays such as Nowruz and Yalda night.

The Persian way of making this Dolme is slightly different from the common (Turkish) one in a few ways.

What are the differences between Persian Dolmeh and Turkish Dolma?

Iranians usually cook Dolme in a sweet and sour sauce (usually made with sugar and vinegar or lemon juice) while Turkish people cook it in just water and oil. As for the wrapping, Turkish Dolma is usually rolled but Persians wrap it in a square shape.

Another difference between the Persian and Turkish recipes is that the Turkish recipes for Dolme usually contain nuts such as hazelnuts or walnuts but Persians do not use nuts in their Dolmeh.

Also, the original Persian recipe contains beef and yellow split peas while the Turkish recipe doesn’t.

What kind of grape leaves should we use to make Dolmeh Barg-e Mo?

You can either use jarred grape leaves or get the fresh ones.

It should not be hard to find jarred or canned grape leaves in the international aisle of supermarkets or most of the Mediterranean markets.

If you are using fresh grape leaves, make sure to choose the ones that are at least the size of the palm of your hand so you would be able to wrap them around your filling. Also, make sure to choose the light green leaves that are tender and tart.

If you are going to use fresh grape leaves, you need to blanch them in boiling water and salt, then rinse them in cold water; this way the leaves are going to be softer and easier to wrap around your stuffing.

What are the ingredients for Dolmeh Barg-e Mo?

As I mentioned, grape leaves are the wrappings that we use for this type of Dolmeh.

The main ingredients for the filling are:

• Par-cooked Basmati rice
• cooked yellow split peas
• chopped fresh herbs (such as parsley, dill, mint, and chives)
• dried tarragon and summer savoury
• chopped yellow onion
• crushed cloves of garlic
• Turmeric powder
• Salt and pepper

Even though Persians usually make the sauce by mixing vinegar or lemon juice with sugar, in this version the sauce is made of Pomegranate molasses, fresh lemon, sumac, and honey. You can substitute honey with sugar or grape molasses.

Vegetarian Dolmeh Barg-e Mo

If you want to have a vegetarian Dolmeh, you can replace beef with ground soybeans or simply skip adding the meat.

How to make Dolmeh Barg-e Mo?

Making this dish might be a bit time-consuming but definitely worth it!

First, we start with the filling:

1. Heat some olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
2. Sauté onion and garlic until golden brown.
3. Add in the minced meat and brown it. (Don’t forget to add the Turmeric to the meat.)
4. Remove the meat from the pan and sauté all herbs, or you can stir in the herbs on top of the meat and cook for a few minutes.
5. In a large bowl mix together cooked yellow split peas, par-cooked rice, minced meat, and the herbs.

The sauce:

Simply mix the molasses, sumac, lemon juice, water, and sugar.

The sweet and sourness should be balanced but if you prefer it more sweet or sour, you can adjust the ingredients to your taste.

To wrap:

1.  Soak grape leaves to rinse off the brine. (do this a few times)
2. Remove all the stems, then place one of the leaves on board (The side with the veins showing should be up)
3. Spoon some of the stuffing mixtures in the centre of the leaf.
4. Bring the edges of the leaf from four sides and overlap to cover the stuffing snugly to create a small square bundle. (no larger than 3 cm)

To Cook:

Once you have stuffed and wrap all the leaves,

1. Place some oil at the bottom of a non-stick pot and spread all over, arrange a few grape leaves on the bottom of the pot making sure that all the surface is covered; This would prevent the Dolmeh from sticking to the pot.
2. Now place all Dolmeh very tight against each other in the bottom of the pot, come up layer by layer, making sure there is no space between them; this is to prevent the Dolmeh from shifting and opening during cooking.
3. Pour the sauce over Dolmeh, you can throw in a few golden dried plums too.
4. Place a heatproof plate down over the top of the Dolmeh. (This will keep them from opening)
5. Cover and bring it to boil over medium heat and immediately reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for an hour.

How to serve Dolmeh Barg-e Mo?

Put Dolmeh on a platter; you can garnish them a few drops of the sauce, fried onions, barberries or cooked golden plums.

You can serve Dolme with various side dishes but the most common ones are plain yoghurt or Mast-o-Khiar ( Persian cucumber yoghurt ).

Dolmeh Barg-e Mo can be served both hot and cold. Some people prefer to serve it straight out of the pot while it is still warm while others like their Dolme to be served cold.

Dolmeh Barg-e Mo - Persian stuffed grape leaves

Shirin Tahanan

Dolmeh Barg-e Mo is Persian stuffed grape leaves that usually is cooked during the spring season. This dish can be served as appetizer.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 45 mins

Total Time 1 hr 43 mins

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Persian

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

  

• 1 jar grape leaves in brine

Stuffing

• 200 grams minced meat
• 1 cup basmati rice par-cooked
• ½ cup yellow split peas cooked
• ½ cup fresh parsley chopped
• ⅓ cup dill chopped
• ⅓ cup mint chopped
• ¼ cup chives chopped
• 1 tbsp dried tarragon
• 1 tbsp summer savory
• 1 medium yellow onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• salt and pepper

The sauce

• 2-3 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• ½ cup fresh lemon
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp sumac
• 1-2 tbsp honey / sugar or grape molasses

Instructions

 

Filling

• Heat some olive oil in a pan over medium-heat.
• Sauté onion and garlic until golden brown.
• Add in the minced meat and brown it. Don’t forget to add the Turmeric to the meat.
• Remove the meat from the pan and sauté all herbs, or you can stir in the herbs on top of the meat and cook for a few minutes.
• In a large bowl mix together cooked yellow split peas, par cooked rice, minced meat, and the herbs. 

Sauce

• Mix together the molasses, sumac, lemon juice, water and sugar. The sweet and sourness should be balanced.

To wrap

• Soak grape leaves to rinse off brine. (do this a few times)
• Remove all the stems, then place one of the leaves on a board (The side with the veins showing should be up).
• Spoon some of the stuffing mixture in the center of the leaf.
• Bring the edges of the leaf from four sides and overlap to cover the stuffing snugly to create a small square bundle. (no larger than 3 cm)

To cook

• Pour some oil at the bottom of a non stick pot and spread all over, arrange few grape leaves on the bottom of the pot making sure that all the surface is covered.
• Place all the Dolmehs very tight against each other in the bottom of the pot, come up layer by layer, making sure there is no space between them.
• Pour the sauce over Dolmeh, you can throw in a few golden dried plums too.
• Place a heat proof plate down over the top of the Dolmeh.
• Cover and bring it to boil over medium heat and immediately reduce the heat to medium low and cook for an hour.

Notes

• You can garnish Dolmeh with dried barberries, fried onions , etc
• Serve Dolmeh with side dishes such as plain yoghurt or Mast-o-Khiar ( Persian cucumber yoghurt )
• Some people add golden plums or greengages to their sauce to give it a stronger sour taste.

Keyword Dolme Barg-e Mo