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Egyptian Stuffed Grape Leaves

Grape leaves stuffed with rice, onion, parsley, dill, mint, and spices, simmered until tender.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Egyptian Stuffed Grape Leaves

Time45 minutes to 1 hour

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot.

  2. Blanch grape leaves in boiling water for 1–2 minutes.

  3. Drain and set the leaves aside.

  4. Combine rice, onion, parsley, dill, mint, olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper in a bowl; mix well.

Roll the leaves

  1. Place a grape leaf on a clean surface, shiny side down; trim the stem if needed.

  2. Put about a tablespoon of the rice mixture in the center of the leaf.

  3. Fold the sides inward and roll the leaf tightly.

  4. Repeat until all filling is used.

Cook and serve

  1. Line the bottom of a large pot with a few grape leaves to prevent sticking.

  2. Arrange the stuffed leaves in layers, placing them closely together.

  3. Add enough water to cover the stuffed grape leaves.

  4. Place a heatproof plate or lid on top to keep them pressed down.

  5. Cover the pot and simmer over medium-low heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the rice is cooked and the leaves are tender.

  6. Remove the stuffed grape leaves and transfer them to a serving dish.

  7. Serve warm or at room temperature, optionally with yogurt or a dipping sauce.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

462Calories
8 gProtein
15 gFat
78 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 12 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Dill5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Peppermintnot in our table0
Coriandernot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Parsley + dilltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together669 recipes

    Shared aroma: p-mentha-1,3,8-triene (camphor, herbal).

  3. Dill + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together976 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Mint + lemontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,998 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Dill + minttop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together177 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Long-grain rice
Forms the bulk of the filling and turns tender and fluffy as it simmers.
Olive oil
Adds fat that carries flavour and keeps the filling moist.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the herbs and balances the richness of the oil.
Fresh parsley, dill and mint
Provide fresh aroma and flavour that make up most of the filling's character.
Grape leaves
Wrap the filling and become tender during simmering, holding the rolls together.

The step that matters

Roll the leaves tightly and pack them closely in the pot. Tight rolls keep the filling from falling out, and closely packed layers under a weight stop the rolls from unfurling or floating as the water simmers.

Swap the grape

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, onion, parsley, dill, mint, olive, lemon):

  1. Limefits better
  2. Avocadofits better
  3. Orangefits better
  4. Grapethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, onion, parsley, dill, mint, olive, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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