PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

Grape

Grape / عنب

As the second most abundant crop in Palestine, grape vineyards are part of Palestinian agriculture and food tradition. Hebron governorate is the major location where grapes are produced and hosts every year a grape festival. Jandali, Bairouti, Zeini, and Halawani are among the varieties of grape that are harvested from Hebron.

Grape has a lot of nutrition qualities and is used to ease digestion, migraine and fatigue, heart disease and diabetes .

An example of recipe

Warak Dawali - Stuffed grape leaves

Ingredients

- White medium or short grain rice 1 1/2 cups
- Potatoes 5 or 6 medium
- Fresh parsley One bunch
- Fresh tomatoes 4 or 5 medium
- Yellow onion 2 medium
- Fresh lemon juice 2 or 3 medium lemons, or about 3/4 cup of juice
- Extra virgin olive oil 1/3 cup
- Ground sumac 1 tablespoon
- Ground allspice 1 tablespoon
- Pomegranate molasses 2 tablespoon
- Grape leaves Half a jar
- Salt and black pepper To taste

Instructions

Wash and drain the rice.
Chop the parsley, finely
Dice onions
Dice tomatoes
Mix the rice, parsley, onions, tomatoes, molasses, and spices together in a large bowl. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil and lemon juice at this point as well.
Wash, peel, and slice the potatoes into thin discs.
Oil the bottom of a large pot and line it with the potatoes.
Cut each leaf in half as you make each roll and be sure to remove the heavy stem and central vein from each leaf before you roll it.
Put about a teaspoon, maybe less, of the filling into each leaf and roll it into a thin cigar. Be careful not to add to much as the rice expands a lot when cooked.
As you roll, fold the sides in towards the center to keep everything in place. It takes some practice! If you’re struggling, give Jonnie a call and she’ll talk you through it since she’s a born natural, it turns out.
Place each roll side by side all around the pot. It doesn’t really matter how you put them in there, but it’ll look nicer if you fan them out of the center.
Cover and cook on high heat for about 20 minutes, until you hear it boiling.
Add half of the lemon juice and about half the olive oil to the pot.
Lower the heat to low and let it cook for another two to two and a half hours. About an hour into it, add the rest of the oil and lemon juice.
Take the cover off and turn the heat up to medium to make sure all the moisture boils out and that the potatoes crisp.
To serve you can turn the entire pot upside down on a plate and the entire dish should slide out with the crisp potatoes on top. Don’t worry if that doesn’t work for you, it’ll still be delicious. Be sure to serve it at room temperature