Ramadan Mubarak
Apologies for the delay, I’ve been without an internet connection the first 2 days of Ramadan. I’m back now with this Algerian Dolma – stuffed vegetables recipe.
The Name & Origin of Dolma
Dolma or Dolmak is Turkish for ‘fill, be filled‘ or in other words, stuff.
I think it’s safe to say this Algerian recipe is highly influenced from the Ottoman Turkish rule in Algeria way back in 1515 to 1830.
Algerian Dolma
Possibly the most popular Dolma is stuffed grape leaves. Here in Algeria we like to stuff a number of vegetables such as: potatoes, courgettes, peppers, artichokes and tomatoes – technically fruit.
The stuffing consists of a minced/ground meat and rice mixture.
The stuffed vegetables then cook in a lightly spiced sauce with chickpeas until soft and delicious.
I did have a recipe for Algerian Dolma on the blog previously. I deleted it some time ago, mainly because the photos were no good and the spicing wasn’t authentic.
Today though I’m only adding cinnamon and black pepper, as is traditional. Though, a pinch of ground cumin is lovely if you are using ground lamb in the stuffing.
The tedious coring of the vegetables is totally worth it when you taste the final dish. If like me and you haven’t got a vegetable corer, use a teaspoon.
Eating Dolma maybe the only occassion when I find it acceptable to eat rice with bread.
On to the recipe…
Algerian Dolma
Minced meat & rice stuffed vegetables, in a lightly-spiced sauce with chickpeas.
Stuffing:
- 250 g Halal minced beef or lamb
- 75 g Rice (Long-grain)
- ½ Medium Onion (Red)
- 2 tbsp Fresh Parsley (Leaves, Finely chopped)
- ¼ tsp Salt (To taste)
- 1 Pinch Cinnamon (Ground)
- 1 Pinch Black Pepper (Ground)
- 2 tbsp Egg (Beaten)
Vegetables/Fruit for Stuffing:
- 650 g or 7 Medium Potatoes (White)
- 450 g or 3 Medium Tomatoes (Or a vegetable of your choosing)
Sauce:
- 2 tsp Oil
- ½ Medium Onion (Red)
- ¼-½ tsp Salt (to taste)
- ½ tsp Cinnamon (Ground)
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper (Ground)
- 75 g Chickpeas (Pre-cooked)
Garnish:
- 2 tbsp Fresh Parsley (Leaves, Finely chopped)
Make Stuffing:
- In a medium size mixing bowl add all the stuffing ingredients and mix together with a fork. Set aside in the fridge.
Core Vegetables:
- Place the peeled potatoes in a bowl full of water. Working with 1 potato at a time, with a knife level, then with a teaspoon or corer, hollow out; stick a spoon in the centre of one end of the potato and turn until you almost reach the opposite end of the potato forming a cavity. With the scoop end of the spoon scrape the inner sides of the potato to make a wider cavity. Place potatoes back in the water until ready to stuff.
- If using tomatoes, carefully scoop out the seeds only. If stuffing a vegetable such as courgette, repeat the same method as done with the potatoes.
Stuff Vegetables:
- Stuff the vegetables with the ground meat mixture. Any leftover mixture shape into meatballs.
Cook Dolma:
- In a 20cm casserole pot over medium-low heat, add oil. Saute onion with salt, black pepper and cinnamon until onion has softened. Add stuffed vegetables, chickpeas and enough boiled water to just cover the vegetables. Place the lid on the pot and cook for 30 minutes or until vegetables are cooked through and the sauce reduced. Serve garnished with parsley leaves.
Recipe adapted from The Teal Tadjine
