This was delicious! It's worth mentioning in the recipe that the rice should go in the bowl dry, however- I was a bit unsure.
Dolma Mahshi (Iraqi Stuffed Onions)
Pomegranate molasses, coriander, and curry powder perfume the filling for these tender stuffed onion rolls from Aladdin's Castle Café. This recipe first appeared in our June/July 2012 issue along with Dana Bowen's story Food of the People.
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Credit: Todd Coleman
INGREDIENTS
2 cups jasmine rice1 cup finely chopped parsley
½ cup olive oil
⅓ cup finely chopped cilantro
¼ cup pomegranate molasses (available from Buy Asian Foods.com)
¼ cup tomato paste
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. ground coriander
2 tsp. curry powder
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 large white onions
1 cup chicken stock
1 (14-oz.) can whole, peeled tomatoes in juice, pureed
2 tsp. ground sumac, plus more to garnish (available from Mama's Lebanese Kitchen)
Greek-style yogurt, to serve
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Make the stuffing: Combine rice, parsley, oil, cilantro, pomegranate molasses, tomato paste, cumin, coriander, curry powder, salt and pepper, and 1 ½ cups water in a bowl; let sit until the rice begins to soak up some of the liquid, about 30 minutes.2. Meanwhile, trim the tops and bottoms from onions and peel outer layer; place in a 6-qt. saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook until onions are tender to the core, about 30 minutes; drain and let cool.
3. Cut each onion halfway around the side and peel off each whole layer to get about 4 to 5 large layers each. Stuff each layer with 2 tbsp. stuffing and roll up into a football-shaped roll; place rolls in a single layer in a 9" x 13" baking dish. Pour stock and tomatoes over rolls and sprinkle with sumac; season with salt and pepper.
4. Heat oven to 375°. Bake until filling is cooked through and sauce is reduced around rolls, about 1 hour. Divide rolls among serving plates and sprinkle with more sumac; serve with the yogurt.
Ratings & Reviews (4)
I really love this recipe, and I followed it exactly, but I was disappointed because the rice didn't cook - it was still hard. I even made more tomato/stock sauce and cooked for another 20 minutes, but there was no change in the texture of the rice. I used organic jasmine rice from Whole Foods, so maybe there's a difference compared to non-organic (although WF recommends cooking the rice for 45 minutes, so 1 hour 20 minutes should be enough to cook it). I'll try this recipe again and either par-boil the rice or try a brown or basmati rice.
The flavor is WONDERFUL, and while a bit time consuming, it's quite easy--so well worth the effort if you have a couple of hours . However, like the other reviewer, my rice was hard. I happened to use basmati rice, as it was what i had on hand--didn't solve the problem. My thoughts on this are to cover the pan for the first 30-45 minutes of cooking to really create a 'steaming' process. I also think there needs to be a little stock (or just water) with the rice for a bit of soaking action (not much soaking going on with really viscous liquids). Or as the other reviewer suggest, par-boiling. Despite the hard rice, we all really enjoyed these. Served it with yogurt, as suggested, and a beet salad with roasted fennel and one of the leftover cooked onions with a balsamic glaze--made for a beautiful plate and worked really well together.
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