Warek Kunabeet (Rolled Collard Greens)
- hmohammad321
- Feb 28, 2021
- 5 min read
My absolute favorite dish in the world is warek diwali---rolled grape leaves. You might know them as dolmas or something else, but trust me when I say you haven't had rolled grape leaves unless you've been invited to dinner at an Arab household and eaten them after the leaves were picked fresh off a neighbor's fence for that dinner.
As it turns out, we really like to roll things in leafy greens. And this recipe is one I turn to for a lot of reasons: you can purchase fresh collard greens in stores, you can make it in the winter time when fresh grape leaves are only a fantasy, and they're easier to roll than warek diwali. It's an absolute winner in my book. Enjoy!
Standard Ingredients
Makes 6-8 servings
1/2 pound ground beef.
1/2 pound ground lamb.
3 bunches of collard greens.
2 cups of Egyptian white rice (or another short grain white rice).
3 Roma tomatoes, finely diced (~ 1 cup).
1 cup finely minced Vidalia/yellow onion (~ 1/2 a large onion or 1 medium onion).
1 bunch of fresh parsley, finely chopped.
1 whole head of fresh garlic, finely minced (optional, but recommended).
3 Tablespoons of Arab Seven Spice mix.
1 Tablespoon of black pepper.
1 teaspoon of paprika.
1 teaspoon of cumin.
1 teaspoon of ground ginger.
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder.
1/2 teaspoon of onion powder.
2 teaspoons of salt, divided.
3 Tablespoons of olive oil.
1 6oz can of tomato paste.
1 Tablespoon of chicken stock concentrate or 2 chicken stock bullion cubes.
Possible Substitutions
Beef & Lamb: This recipe is usually made with lamb or a beef & lamb mixture. You can use all beef or all lamb. If using all beef, I'd go with 85/15 or 90/10. You can also make this vegetarian by omitting meat and add 2 more cups of rice to the mixture instead.
Rice: any short-grain rice.
Olive oil: vegetable oil.
Parsley: I used curly parsley, and you can use flat-leaf/Italian instead.
Vidalia/Yellow Onion: any onion variety except green onions.
Roma Tomatoes: Any tomato variety that's firm enough to finely dice.
Chicken Stock Concentrate: you can use beef or vegetable stock concentrate or cubes, or simply omit this if you don't have it.
Directions
Put the 2 cups of rice in its own bowl and cover it with hot tap water. Leave it to soak for at least 30 minutes, and no longer than two hours.
Finely dice the 3 Roma tomatoes and add to a small, separate bowl. Set aside.
Finely mince 1/2 a large onion, one head of garlic, and finely chop the bunch parsley--the smaller, the better for all of these ingredients. You can also do this in a food processor if you have one. Add to a large, separate bowl.
To the onion, garlic, & parsley, add the 3 Tablespoons of Arab Seven Spice, 1 Tablespoon of black pepper, 1 teaspoon of paprika, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 1 teaspoon of ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 3 Tablespoons of olive oil. Add the 1/2 pound of ground beef and 1/2 pound of lamb and mix well.
When the rice has soaked for at least 30 minutes, drain & rinse it a couple of times. Then add the drained rice AND the diced tomatoes to the meat mixture and mix well. Cover the bowl and leave it to marinate on the counter.
To prepare the collard greens, we'll need to slice the leaves off the stem. You'll notice a thick stem at the center of the leaf. For big leaves, we want to totally remove the middle stem, so you'll slice the leaves off both sides of it and end up with two long leaves. If you have small & tender leaves, we still need to slice off the thickest part of the stem at the bottom. Slice off enough of the stem that the leaf is flexible at the bottom. With small leaves, you'll keep them intact as one leaf.
Grab the pot you'd like to cook the rolled leaves in. It should be one that has some height to it. To the bottom of this pot, add enough of the discarded stems to cover the surface area. This will create a buffer against burning the leaves.
Once you've de-stemmed your leaves, we need to thoroughly wash them. Place the leaves in a colander that's in a bowl of cold water. Swirl the leaves around for a couple minutes, dump the water, and repeat the process.
Now we must blanch the leaves. Get a wide-mouthed pot--separate from the one we prepared with the discarded stems--and fill it with at least 6 inches of water. Bring it to a low boil.
Grab stacks of leaves, maybe 10-12 at a time, and carefully place it in the water. Use a spatula to push the bunch underneath the water. Blanch for 30 seconds, then flip the pile over (as best you can, it doesn't have to be perfect). Remove the stack of blanched leaves and place them on a towel lined plate. Repeat until all the leaves are blanched.
Now it's time to roll the leaves.
INTERMISSION: Before we proceed, please note there's no right or wrong way to do this. Some people roll the leaves thinly and leave the ends open, some folks like the leaves a bit chubby and closed, or any combination. Here, I am talking about thin rolls with closed ends, and there are photos at the bottom of this post to provide visual guidance.
To roll the leaves, place a leaf flatly onto a plate. Take a small scoop of filling and create a thin line of filling along the wide edge, leaving a few centimeters open on both ends and away from the wide edge. With the ratios we're using, the mixture will be primarily meat, so you should be able to create a pretty solid thin line of filling.
Once the filling is in, fold the two sides of the leaf into the middle---they do not have to cover the filling entirely. Then start firmly rolling the leaf from the wide end until the leaf is full rolled. You don't want the leaves to be too tight because the rice needs room to expand, but firm enough that you can pick it up without the filling falling out.
Add the rolled leaf to your pot prepared with the stems on the bottom. Repeat this process until you're done with all the leaves, layering them in the pot as you go.
Let's prepare the stock. To a clean pot, add the contents of the 60z can of tomato paste, 1 Tablespoon of chicken stock concentrate, and 1 teaspoon salt. Slowly add one cup of hot tap water (or water boiled in a separate pot or electric kettle) while whisking to dissolve the paste and stock. Add 8 cups of water in total and bring to a boil.
Once the stock is boiled, it's ready to add to the leaves. To avoid squishing the leaves when pouring in the stock, place a small saucer plate, upside down, over the center of the leaves (see below). Slowly pour the stock over this plate to help distribute it and to avoid squishing the leaves. You do NOT want to fully cover the leaves. The stock should just touch the top layer of the leaves. (See below for an image of the stock level.)
Bring the stock to a boil and leave to boil for 5 minutes, uncovered. Reduce the heat to medium and allow it to simmer for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, check on the leaves by pulling one off the top layer. If it's tender and the rice is cooked, they're ready. If not, allow them to continue simmering and check for doneness at 5-10 minute intervals. They shouldn't need more than an hour in any scenario.
Let the finished leaves sit for five minutes. You can either serve them out of the pot, or flip the pot onto a sheet pan to release all the leaves at once. Add salt to taste.
Sahtein!
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