Dolma

I was looking forward to this healthy recipe from 'Paris in a basket: markets, the food and the people', by Nicolle Meyer and Amanda Smith. However, it did not work out as planned. 

The de-fleshed aubergine slices were supposed to be rolled and the rice, vegetables and meat mixture was supposed to be stuffed into these 'aubergine-containers' and then steam cooked for an hour. There is no way I would be able to stuff that much mixture into such small containers. How do they do it?

Regardless, very tasty food.

Serves: 5 persons.

Ingredients:

• 2 large aubergines
• 1 small onion, chopped (100g)
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 star anis
• 40g pine nuts, roughly chopped
• 2 tsp dried coriander
• 2 tsp aniseeds (I didn't have these so I did not add)
• 40g raisins
• 250g rice (it didn't specify which, I used long grain)
• 250g tomatoes
• 250g finely diced beef - omit the meat for a vegan dish
• 20g parsley, chopped
• 20g coriander, chopped
• 800ml vegetable stock
• salt & pepper to taste
• olive oil

Method:

1. Cut the extremities of the aubergines and then cut them lengthways. Remove the flesh leaving 0.5cm around the peel. Roughly chop the flesh and reserve.
   
   
   
2. Remove the seeds of the tomatoes and roughly chop them.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Fry the onions, garlic, cinnamon and star anis until the onion is transparent.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Add the pine nuts and the dried coriander and let them cook for 5 min.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Add the fresh herbs, raisins, rice, tomatoes, aubergine flesh and meat. Salt & pepper to taste and let it cook for a further 5 min, stirring frequently until it's slightly browned.
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Fill the aubergines with the mixture, tie them with a cotton string and place them in a wide thick pan. Add the stock to almost cover the aubergines (according to the recipe this would be around 300ml). This is the bit I didn't manage to do. I just added stock to the rice and cooked it normally. I kept adding stock until the rice was cooked. A few minutes before the rice was done, I added the aubergine slices to the top, inside down, and left them cook for the remainder of the time.
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Let it simmer covered for 1 hour. Regularly check it and add more stock as necessary to avoid the aubergines sticking to the bottom.
8. Once cooked, let it cool for 10 min or let it cool completely before serving.
9. To serve, place one aubergine on a plate, drizzle olive oil and mint. If eaten cold, it can be served with a bowl of yogurt. I was too hungry and forgot to read the last instructions of the recipe. I placed an aubergine slice on the plate, added the rice on top and decorated with a parsley leave.