Vine leaves for the winter: recipes for pickling with photos and videos

Traditionally, dolma is cooked with grape leaves. Unlike similar cabbage rolls, the ingredients for which can be found at any time of the year, it becomes problematic to cook dolma in winter and spring. If cabbage is sold in stores all year round, then grape leaves can only be found in summer. To cook dolma, you need to harvest grape leaves for the winter. There are several options for harvesting grape leaves for the winter.

Features of harvesting grape leaves for the winter

To prepare foliage for the winter, you first need to decide on the timing. For dolma, young leaves are suitable, which begin to appear before the flowering of the vine. And given that the vine grows continuously throughout the growing season, the collection of leaves begins in late spring and ends in autumn.

Only the foliage of white grapes is used to prepare this dish. Such leaves are juicy and tender, perfect for dolma. In red varieties, the leaves are dry and sinewy. The minced meat in them will be dry, and the leaves themselves will be tough after cooking.

Selection and preparation of grape leaves

For preparations, grape leaves are used, which grows far from the roads. Leaves for dolma should be juicy and young, light emerald hue. They are easy to distinguish from the old ones. In addition, they must be free from damage, insect marks, stains or plaque. Leaves are chosen he althy and elastic. If the plants have recently been treated with chemicals, then you should refrain from collecting foliage for several weeks.

Before harvesting foliage, it must first be prepared. The cut leaves are placed in a deep container and poured with cool tap water. Then each sheet is thoroughly washed and re-examined. After everything is washed, they are laid out in a thin layer in the shade and dried. It is not necessary to dry it strongly, the main thing is that only the water dries up, and they are not wet.

Methods of harvesting grape greens at home

There are several ways in which you can prepare grape leaves for the winter. Each method has pros and cons. To choose the only one that is ideal for every housewife, it will turn out only if you try all the ways of harvesting green grapes for cooking this Armenian dish.

Freeze

The easiest way to prepare grape greens for cooking dolma is to freeze it in the freezer.Before freezing the greens in the freezer, they are washed and dried. The main thing is that the leaves are dry, otherwise the water will freeze on the leaves, and they will not be as tasty. Greens are stacked in piles of 15-20 pieces and put in a plastic bag. Then put in the freezer.

The main disadvantage of this method is the difficulty in defrosting and using greens for cooking. Frozen leaves are very fragile and tear with any wrong movement.

Marinating

Grape greens can also be pickled for the winter. First you need to prepare the marinade. For him you will need:

• 1 liter of water;
• spices (cloves, peppercorns);
• lavrushka;
• 1 tbsp l. regular s alt and sugar;
• 1-2 tbsp. l. acetic acid.

First, jars are sterilized.Then spices and lavrushka are laid on the bottom, grape leaves are laid out. Pour boiling water over and after 3-4 minutes the water is poured into a container. Then this water is put on fire and brought to a boil. Add s alt, sugar. After the s alt and sugar have dissolved, add the vinegar and immediately pour the marinade over the jars. Close jars with lids. This method will keep the leaves intact. Spices use any. They will add aroma to the leaves and a pleasant spicy aftertaste. This should be taken into account, because such a dish is not for everyone, and not everyone will like it.

S alting in jars

You can close grape greens in glass jars. The process of preparing pickles in jars is as follows:

• Twist the leaves into tubes (no more than 10 sheets in one tube).
• Sterilize jars.
• Boil water.
• Put the tubes in a jar and fill with water, drain the water after 10-12 minutes.
• Then pour boiling water into the jars again.
• Drain water again, add s alt and boil.
• Pour brine over the leaves and close the jars with a lid.

Wait for the jars to cool and put them in the fridge.

Dry canning

Preserving grape leaves for dolma for the winter using the dry method is quite simple. Leaves are folded into envelopes. You need to choose greens of the same size, then it will evenly fold into a jar. Each envelope contains no more than 10 pieces.

This recipe does not require spices, s alt or even water. Full jars are covered with lids, wrapped in a warm towel and left in a cool dark place for a day. After 24 hours, you need to get the jar. If the lid is a little swollen, then it's okay, the leaves have not disappeared. It is necessary to redo the workpiece if the lid is swollen strongly.Here is a simple way to prepare grape leaves for the winter to prepare juicy Armenian dolma.

Keeping dry cured

Another way to make harvesting green grapes for the winter is with the help of dry s alting. There are many recipes for greens, but this one is one of the simplest. It's easier just to freeze greens in the freezer.

Grape greens are washed under running water and dried for several hours in a cool room.

It is important to ensure that the foliage is completely dry when putting it into jars. Jars for s alting are sterilized.

The leaves are folded into tubes or envelopes. The main thing is that they are not too thick. Then the blanks are stacked in jars in layers. When the first layer is at the bottom, it is covered with s alt. Then spread the second layer and sprinkle with s alt again. So you need to do until the bank is full.After that, close the blanks with a lid and put them in a cool room.

Storage

As a rule, it is most convenient to store jars of grape preparations for the winter in the refrigerator or cellar. After the containers with greens have cooled, they are removed to the lower shelves of the refrigerator or lowered into the basement. The choice of this or that place is not fundamental, the main thing is that they be stored in a cool room where bright sunlight will not fall. You need to store blanks for no more than one year. If they stand longer, they lose all the taste, and dolma based on such greens turns out to be tasteless.

The least stored blanks that are in the freezer. Their shelf life is only six months. If they lie longer, then they are safely thrown away. They are no longer suitable for cooking. They are watery and slimy when thawed.

Of course, even if you observe the ideal storage conditions for grape preparations, Armenian dolma based on them is not as tasty and juicy as fresh ones. In this case, cabbage leaves will be the best option. After all, cabbage rolls and dolma are not much different. And dolma is better to feast on in the warm season, when grape leaves are plucked directly from the vine. Many housewives note that leaves prepared for the winter become hard and rough, no matter how they are pickled.

Recommended