No. 14 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azerbaijan!

Bidding farewell and good riddance to the A’s we finish up running scared from Azerbaijan.*

This meal was relatively uneventful and passed without any particularly mentionable anecdotes. Apart from maybe Ronan, my most helpful helper turning up just in time to help with the tasting of these little unpronounceable yarpag dolmasy’s. Use of vine leaves in this recipe, means yet another opened jar in the back of the fridge that I won’t ever use again but can’t bear to throw out. There is a chance I would finish them off if I didn’t have so many other unusual ingredients to buy and waste half of. So ya, that’s about as exciting as it gets I’m afraid.

*running scared was the winning Eurovision song this year by the way, in case my brilliant wit was undeterred by anyone. It also ties in with running scared from Azkaban - I think I'm on a role here. 

Yarpag dolmasy’s

I halved the (altered) recipe to serve two (and a half) people. You could probably add more rice if you wanted to bulk it up a bit - they were pleasantly and surprisingly meaty. Halved, tinned chickpeas are an additional option. Opening a can of chickpeas for a mere tablespoon or so didn’t seem worth it to me, but if you already have them open in the back of the fridge, why not? The vine leaves were jarred in brine and had a slightly pickled taste before they were rinsed. Afterwards they had the tang of black olives.

Yarpag dolmasy’s are tasty little mouthfuls and they really grow on you, different but in a good way – I think maybe it’s the cinnamon. Wrapping the meat in the vine leaf parcel and lining them in neat concentric circles in a saucepan is highly satisfying, at least for me anyway. They’re cooked for an hour and a half and then – loaded with garlicky yogurt, they’re gone in a mouthful.

1 bundle of vine leaves, rinsed and separated in cold water

250g of minced beef

1 small red onion, chopped finely

¼ tsp turmeric

¼ cinnamon

a handful of chopped parsley

2 tbsp of rice, rinsed in cold water

40g of butter, room temperature

salt and pepper

Garlic Yoghurt

5 heaped tbsp of greek yogurt

½ clove of garlic, minced

salt

Mix all of the ingredients except the vine leaves in a bowl with your hands to ensure everything is evenly distributed. Lay out the vine leaves on a work surface and place a dollop meat mixture in the centre. Fold the leave over and over again, to create a little round parcel (the circular shape is unique to Azerbaijan). Line a saucepan with the parcels and layer them up on top of one another. Place a plate in the pan with a heavy weight on top, this stops the parcels from unraveling, Cover with water up until the plate and simmer for an hour and a half.

Remove with a slotted spoon and serve with greek yogurt mixed with half a clove of minced garlic and some salt. Add a green salad, crusty bread and a punnet of ripe cherry tomatoes and you’re sorted.