Egyptian warak enab (stuffed vine leaves)
Stuffed vine leaves is a dish I found quite intimidating to recreate at first. They are usually made for huge gatherings and honestly the whole process just sounded long and exhausting, but once I broke it down It really wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. The rolling part takes the longest, so grab a few friends and turn it into a party!
I wanted to make sure the recipe was easy to follow so I kept it as simple as possible. Let me know what you think in the comments below or how you usually make them.
Stuffed vine leaves are popular all over the Levant but like all the other dishes, everyone has their own way of making them. In Egypt, the stuffing usually contains mince meat but you can make them veggie by omitting the mince and replacing with more rice and herbs.
Recipe
Egyptian warak enab (stuffed vine leaves)
For 6-8 people:
500g vine leaves in brine, rinsed
1 large onion, cut into 1 inch rings
500g mince meat
350g Egyptian rice
1 large white onion, minced
1/2 cup (120g) room temperature ghee
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp boharat (seven spice)
400ml vegetable stock
Juice of 1 lemon
Directions
Wash and rinse the rice in a fine mesh strainer until water runs clear.
In a large bowl add the rice, mince meat, minced onion, ghee, salt, pepper and boharat and mix with your hands until well incorporated. Set the stuffing aside.
In a deep casserole pot (18cm/7in), place the sliced onion rings so they cover the base.
Now set up your vine leaves stuffing assembly line! Take a vine leaf, rough side up, and spread it on to a plate and remove the tiny stalk. Add a teaspoon of the stuffing and place in the middle of the leaf towards the bottom, shaping it into a cylinder. Fold the sides of the leaf inwards over the stuffing and roll, going as tightly as you can.
Repeat until you run out of the stuffing mix, then pack the rolled vine leaves into the casserole pot, again as tightly as you can, as shown above.
In a small sauce pan, bring the vegetable stock to a boil adding salt if necessary. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice.
Pour stock over the vine leaves until submerged. Take a smaller plate and flip upside down, use to cover vine leaves to keep everything compact by pressing down.
Add the lid and place the pot on a high heat. Once it starts to boil, bring to a simmer and cook for 1 hour. The leaves should be tender, soft to the bite and rice cooked through.
Place a large serving plate over the pot and flip in one quick motion (perhaps over the sink if it’s your first go!) and serve. Bel hana!
'Bel hana' is a shorter version of 'bel hana wel shefa' which roughly translates to 'with happiness and good health' and the Egyptian way of saying Bon Appetit.
Don't forget to use #EgyptianEpicurean and tag me in your creations on Instagram!
