Lebanese beef dolma in tomato sauce

Hello everyone!! Its been quite a while but I am back now,hope everyone had a wonderful summer! I am back again to share some amazing recipes.Today I will be sharing how I made this amazing Lebanese beef dolma in tomato sauce! I learnt this recipe while I was at home for the summer,thanks to my teacher Mr Ishaya and my amazing mum for taking out their time to help me learn this!

So lets start with all the ingredients needed for the dolma! 

• One whole medium size cabbage (depending on the amount you are making)
• 400g of ground beef
• One cup of parboiled rice
• Five chopped scotch bonnets (depending how much heat you want)
• Half a cup of finely chopped green onions
• One small finely chopped red onion
• One tablespoon of finely chopped garlic
• One teaspoon of black pepper
• One teaspoon of white pepper
•  A dash of curry and thyme
• One teaspoon of salt
• Three - four beef bouillon cubes
• Two eggs

So lets get down to the fun part!

Now take your cabbage and cut out the top stumpy part,do it in a circular motion and get the stump out,this is to make it easier to remove the cabbage leaves later.Next up,place your cabbage upside down in a pot with a cup or two of water and let it boil for about five minutes,like so 

 Now,while that is cooking,lets make our filling! Get a bowl,add in your parboiled rice,ground beef,all the chopped vegetables,seasoning,eggs and mix! like so

 For those that want to,you can taste a little bit to check if it needs more seasoning,if not,then its all done.Take the cabbage off the fire and let it cool a bit before removing the leaves one by one.After taking out the leaves,check for the ones that have thicker stalks running through them,use a knife and cut them out a bit,to flatten the leaf more and avoid it breaking while being folded.lay out your leaf,put a bit more than a spoon full of the filling in the centre,fold in the two edges of the leaf and then fold the whole thing in a spring roll-like shape,like so

You will have something like this at the end

 Make sure everything is sealed and a bit tight but not too tight,in order to avoid the contents from getting out while cooking.

 Since that is done,lets make our tomato sauce that the dolma will cook in.The following ingredients will be needed :

• Three cups of  fresh tomato puree
• A cup of red pepper(tatashe) puree
• One small finely chopped onion
• One teaspoon of salt
• Three bouillon cubes
• A cup or two of meat stock (optional)
• Three cubes of sugar (optional! just to balance out the acidity of the tomato if its too sour)

Now heat your pot with some oil,a drizzle will do,add in the onions,sautee for about a minute and then add in all your puree,fry for some minutes and then add in your stock or water,add in all the seasoning,let it simmer for fifteen to twenty minutes,taste and adjust anything.When that is done,pour the sauce over the dolma,close the lid of the pot and let it cook for about thirty minutes,occasionally checking to see if anything needs to be added.When the dolma is done,it will be  more expanded because the rice in it would have cooked by then,and thats it!! serve with some rice or as a side dish and enjoy!

Dont forget you can be versatile with this and make any filling of your choice,hope you enjoy this recipe and do give it a try!