Back in my native Azerbaijan, stuffed grape leaves are everyone’s favorite food, making them possibly as common as burgers and fries are in America – a staple at every local eatery and in every home.
Unlike in America, back in Azerbaijan dolmas are a main course rather than an appetizer, served piping hot with cold yogurt-garlic sauce (gotta love the contrast), and needing no other sides than plenty of good bread to soak up the cooking liquid. A complete meal in and of themselves, they are filled with a mixture of rice and meat rather than rice alone, and are flavored delicately with onions and cilantro. And unlike the long American ones, these are shaped into small, round bite-size packages that require no biting or otherwise dividing in half, which is a definite plus.
Click here for the complete recipe.
