How to freeze grape leaves and is it possible to freeze dolma

An oriental dish - dolma - is made from minced meat, which is wrapped in grape leaves. The dolma season is very short. The leaves age, become unsuitable for food, and then completely fall off. Therefore, dolma lovers try to preserve grape leaves. From my own experience, I can say that dolma made from canned leaves is not as tasty as we would like: the leaves are harsh, over-salted, and the delicate sourness is lost. I started freezing dolma and grape leaves in the freezer. I’ll tell you how to properly freeze grape leaves for the winter. And you will be happy to cook dolma at any time of the year.

Which leaves are suitable for dolma

A simple and convenient way of freezing allows you to enjoy your favorite dishes all year round. When choosing raw materials, pay attention to the young leaves of the Lydia grape variety. They have juicy flesh and a nutmeg taste. The foliage of green grape varieties is also suitable. Choose healthy, shiny, undamaged, medium-sized specimens.

Choosing leaves

Remember the rules for discarding raw materials for freezing:

We select young leaves. The season for collecting raw materials begins before the grapes bloom (this is approximately May-early June) or during flowering. At this time, the juice actively circulates through the vine, and it is full of energy.

Choose medium-sized leaves (about the size of your palm). This size is the most suitable, it is convenient to work with while preparing a dish.

Do not take old, large leaves. The darker they are, the older they are. They are more stringy and can taste bitter.

Pay attention to the veins: they should be small and delicate.
The leaf shape must be correct.
It is better to collect raw materials on a dry day, because... droplets on the leaves can contribute to the appearance of spots.

Advice: Winegrowers advise plucking the fifth or seventh leaf from the top of the vine.

We pick the most suitable “wrappers” for dolma from the vines of light grape varieties.

Foliage should not be eaten:

after chemical treatment of vines against pests;
from a vine growing near a highway: the leaves absorb exhaust gases;
old foliage, because it can accumulate substances harmful to human health;
affected by pests, fungus, mold;
with an unnatural (whitish, cream, yellow) color;
from girlish, decorative grapes.

The vine grows throughout the summer. Therefore, you can freeze the raw materials for dolma at the end of summer.

The leaves are tastier and more tender on light grape varieties. However, they are also suitable from red or dark grape varieties, if there are no others. By priority, we choose the foliage of light, then red, and lastly blue grapes.

⊕ Information: The difference between the leaves of light and red grapes is that the leaves of red grapes are tougher with jagged edges.

Preparing to Freeze

Be sure to wash the raw materials collected for harvesting;
dry;
Take the cuttings - you won't need them;
Wither the leaves: they will become less brittle.

Packing

It is better to store frozen grape leaves in tight bags, because cling film and thin plastic bags crumble when exposed to low temperatures for a long time;
determine approximately the number of leaves for one preparation; that’s how many of them should be in the roll;
attach a sticker to the roll, indicate on it the date of preparation and quantity;
try to ensure that there is no air inside the package - this will help protect the workpiece from foreign odors;
Frozen grape leaves are fragile, so it is advisable to store the rolls in a solid container.

How to prepare a freezer for freezing?

This process seems elementary: I cleaned the freezer, turned on the refrigerator and that’s it. But soon, when frozen products acquire an unusual smell, lose their taste, and their packaging crumbles from the cold, the mistakes made at the preparatory stage become obvious.

The following rules will help you avoid such consequences:

Before storing the products, the freezer compartment is defrosted manually or automatically. When manually defrosting, a layer of frost up to 3 cm thick should be removed using a special scraper. If an ice crust up to 6 cm thick has formed on the surface, complete defrosting will be required by disconnecting the unit from the power supply. Freezers with automatic defrosting do not require defrosting, but they must be cleaned every six months.
The freezer compartment is washed after disconnecting it from the power supply and completely emptying it. The remaining moisture is collected with a sponge and the surfaces are wiped with a sponge soaked in a solution of baking soda (1 tablespoon of powder per 1.2 liters of warm water). Then rinse all chamber compartments again with clean water and wipe dry with a kitchen towel.
If an unpleasant odor appears while storing food in the freezer, it can be eliminated during defrosting by wiping the walls with a vinegar solution (prepared in a ratio of 1 glass of table vinegar to 4.5 liters of cold water). As an alternative, you can use commercial antibacterial aroma absorbers. Today, jelly-like products based on charcoal and bamboo powder are popular. To start their action, you need to remove the lid from the plastic container, remove the foil and close the container. When its volume decreases, the absorber needs to be replaced.
In a network-connected freezer, it is important to initially select the correct freezing mode. Pay attention to the “Freeze” and “Storage” options. The first involves freezing a large volume of fresh products and is set manually for at least 24 hours before loading the chamber. After the specified time, fill the freezer with packages of stickers and set the second mode, which ensures high-quality preservation of the contents, provided that its weight does not exceed 4 kg.
When adjusting the temperature inside the chamber, keep in mind that the freezing intensity increases in the reverse order. That is, the value “1” is the maximum, and “7” is the minimum. The choice of temperature depends on the location of the refrigerator, the features of the room, the total weight of the stored products and how often the freezer door is opened.

Important! Do not pack the freezer tightly. There should be space between the contents for air circulation

Is it possible to freeze dolma?

It is not recommended to keep raw grape cabbage rolls in the refrigerator for more than a day.

I will tell you how to properly freeze dolma for a long time.

Preparing the container

Best suited:

thick freezer bags;
boxes made of thick plastic;
containers for freezing.

How to freeze dolma for the winter: step-by-step recipe

We prepare minced meat according to any recipe you like. Below we present one of the recipes. The simplest and most beloved.

Boil grape leaves in boiling water for several minutes.

We wrap the dolminki.

Place the dolminki on a tray or any board so that they do not touch.

Place the pieces in the freezer for 2-3 hours to pre-freeze. If you immediately put the dolma into bags, it will stick together.

Divide the pre-frozen dolma into portions and place them in prepared containers. And put it in the freezer for storage for the winter.

⊕ Features of preparing frozen dolma: Before cooking, take out the frozen dolma. Without defrosting, put the semi-finished products in a saucepan, add the sauce and simmer. The cooking time will increase slightly. But you will be pleased with the finished dolma - the taste of the delicate, aromatic leaves will be preserved.

Expiration date and defrosting

The shelf life of the products is no more than 6 months. The leaves can be used in a variety of recipes. It is enough to defrost them correctly.

They do this in three ways:

Remove the required number of rolls from the freezer and place in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.
Leave at room temperature - it will take no more than 2 hours to completely thaw.
Place the ice rolls in a container and let them sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Then immerse the container in hot water for a few minutes or pour boiling water over the container. This way the leaves will defrost much faster and will not lose beneficial vitamins.

We recommend: 3 cool things made from plastic bottle caps

Dry storage

Preparing grape leaves for dolma can be done according to a dry recipe. To do this you need to do the following:

Collect grape leaves of suitable size and condition at the required time period.
Rinse them under running water.
Place on a linen or cotton towel to allow moisture to evaporate.
When they are completely dry, take liter or two liter jars and sterilize them. Achieve complete evaporation of moisture and place 10 pieces unfolded on the bottom.
Sprinkle with a little salt and repeat layers.
Perform this alternating procedure several times until the jar is filled to the top.
Next, in order to properly prepare such dry preservation, you need to place the jars open in the oven at a temperature of 180°C. Let sit for 10-15 minutes, remove and close with metal lids.

Store as usual canned grape leaves, that is, in a cool, dark place away from sunlight.

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Canning

When choosing whether to pickle or pickle grape leaves for long-term storage, you can use any canning method. This method of cooking has its advantages - the leaves do not need to be scalded, you can immediately wrap minced meat in them.

There are many options for conservation. Let's consider the most popular and traditional for Armenian cuisine.

In tomato juice

Here's how to marinate dolma leaves with tomato juice. This recipe requires the following ingredients:

Grape leaves.
Tomato juice.
Salt.
A set of spices - to taste.

The cooking process consists of the following steps:

Sort and soak them in clean drinking water for 3 hours.
Then stack them, tightly rolling them into tight rolls.
Fold tightly vertically into the jar. Add spices to taste evenly into each jar.
Pour boiling water over it and let stand for 5-10 minutes.
Drain the water.
Boil tomato juice and pour it into the jar to the top.
Place for sterilization for 10-15 minutes.
At the end of cooking, screw the lids on the jars tightly.
Turn them upside down and wrap them tightly with something thick so that the preservation cools slowly. When it has cooled completely, store the jars in a cool, dark place.

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In Armenian

To marinate grape leaves in Armenian style, you need the following products:

Young grape leaves – 60 pcs.
Fine salt – 1 tsp.
Dry mustard – 1 tsp.
Allspice – 5-6 pcs.

You need to do the following:

Collect and soak them in clean water for 3 hours.
Take them out, stack them in stacks of several pieces and roll them into tight rolls.
Sterilize the jars. Place dry mustard, salt and allspice on the bottom.
Fold the cylinders vertically, pressing them tightly together.
Pour boiling water over it.
Before screwing, put the jars to sterilize for 15-20 minutes.
Then you can close the lids.

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Bottled

You can also prepare grape leaves according to the following recipe in plastic bottles:

Properly process freshly picked grape leaves.
Dry them on cotton towels until droplets of moisture from the surface have completely evaporated.
Pack in stacks of 10 pieces, not forgetting to salt each layer with finely ground salt. Roll each stack into a tight tube.
Place the tubes tightly in plastic bottles. Please note that they must be clean and dry from the inside. This is quite troublesome to do, since the size of the cylinder must fit through the neck. And to prevent the tubes from unfolding inside, you can carefully wrap them with clean white cotton thread.
Such plastic containers are filled completely with leaf blanks.
Close the plastic cap on the neck.

Such preparations of grape leaves in plastic containers should be stored exclusively in suitable conditions. A constant cool temperature and no direct sunlight is required.

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