How to make Syrian Yalanji

Mahashi

Mahshi is one of the most delicious dishes that are placed on the dining table for lunch, but it requires more time and effort than the time it takes to prepare regular dishes. One of the most favorite types of stuffing is stuffed grape leaves. The grape leaf is flat in shape and can be rolled up and stuffed with rice. There are different types and sizes, and each type has one. The size of the preparation method is specific to it, as the difference is in the internal filling that is placed inside it, and today we will present the method of preparing grape leaves in the Syrian style, or as they call it ylang-i or liar stuffed in Turkish, because the filling does not contain minced meat.

How to make yalanji

the ingredients

• A kilo of fresh grape leaves.
• a potato.
• A tomato.
• A piece of lemon.

Filling ingredients:

• A cup of medium grain Egyptian rice.
• A quarter cup of olive oil.
• Two crushed garlic.
• Finely chopped onion.
• Two tomatoes, very finely chopped.
• Very finely chopped parsley.
• A teaspoon of dry mint.
• Juice of two lemons.
• Salt and Pepper.
• a spoonful of allspice.

How to prepare

• The rice is soaked for twenty minutes, after which we wash the rice several times until the water becomes clean.
• We peel the tomatoes and chop them finely.
• Bring a frying pan, put olive oil, garlic and onions in it, and stir the ingredients well.
• Now add the tomatoes and rice together to the onions and garlic and stir the mixture well, then add salt, spices and lemon juice to the ingredients, stir the mixture for three minutes over the heat, then remove it and set the filling aside.

Preparing grape leaves:

• At this stage, after washing the grape leaves, water is boiled in a pot.
• We boil the parchment paper, leaving it in boiling water for two minutes after it changes color from green to yellow. The yellow color indicates that the paper is ready for stuffing.

How to stuff grape leaves:

• Spread the grape leaf on a soft surface, cut off the neck of the leaf, if any, and put a teaspoon of the filling in the center of the base.
• When rolling, we start by placing the right side end on the filling, then we apply the left side to the right side. We complete the roll to the top until the crown of the leaf is applied to the entire grape roll.
• This is how we roll up to the full quantity, and the time it takes to wrap the grape leaves or yalanji is a full hour, depending on the quantity and the skill of the hand that is wrapping the yalanji.

How to prepare the cooking pot:

• The potatoes and tomatoes are peeled, cut into slices, and spread on the bottom of the bowl.
• After that, we place the grape leaves in stacked layers, then cut the lemon into slices, and place them on the surface of the ylang-ylang.
• Add an amount of olive oil to give a shine to the paper, and what is more important is the amount of water that should be added.
• The way he determines the amount of water is to pour two and a half cups of water onto the paper after pressing the paper to the bottom with a large plate, and the water should submerge the paper by a distance of three centimeters.
• After putting the water in, we let it boil for a quarter of an hour until the amount of water decreases from the surface, and when we are sure that there is not a lot of water, we reduce the temperature of the gas, and let the yalangi cook on low heat with the lid tightly closed, so that we can benefit from the steam in the cooking process.
• The grape leaves need to ripen for a full hour, after which we make sure that the grape leaves are cooked, and serve them hot with lemon slices and yogurt.

Yalanji with pomegranate molasses

Ingredients

• A kilo of grape leaves.
• Three potatoes.

Filling:

• Three cups of Egyptian rice.
• Four cups of chopped parsley.
• A cup and a half of chopped onions.
• Four cloves of crushed garlic.
• One cup of olive oil.
• Three and a half cups of chopped tomatoes.
• Half a cup of chopped mint.
• Half a cup of lemon juice.
• Half a cup of pomegranate molasses.
• Pinch of salt and black pepper.
• A teaspoon of seven spices.
• A teaspoon of curry.
• A teaspoon of pepper molasses.

Preparation method

• Boil your grape leaves in plain boiling water with nothing added to it.
• Mix all the filling ingredients and set them aside.
• Place the grape leaf where the rough side should be facing up, then put a good amount of the filling, fold the leaf aside, then roll it up.
• Place the potato slices at the bottom of the pot, and carefully place the grape leaves on top of each other so as not to spread the leaves.
• Place a heat-resistant plate on the surface of the grape leaves, preferably a heavy one, then cover it with warm water (enough to submerge it).
• Place on medium heat for two hours in a pressure cooker. Cooking time depends on the type of paper.

Advice

Be careful when using Egyptian rice because it is high in starch, and it is best to wash it repeatedly until you are sure to get rid of the largest amount of starch.