CHARD LEAVES SARMA

I usually prepare this dish with vine leaves, but I wanted to experiment a bit,  so I used chard leaves which I picked myself from the garden in my village. It turned awesome and took less time for cooking than with vine leaves.
This dish is easy to made, it takes about 30 minutes to prepare and about 30 minutes to cook. 

Ingredients:
  • 50-60 chard leaves (if larger, cut in half)
  • 500 g minced meat
  • 150 g rice
  • 1 tsp mixed spice
  • 1 tsp red paprika
  • pinch of salt
  • parsley
  • oregano
Preparation:

  1. If leaves are fresh and young, they are ready for use. Just remove the white hard part and wash them with warm water to soften. If you keep leaves in the freeze, then just put them in some water to unfreeze and to soften.
  2. Then cook the meat in a pan with some olive oil, add rice, spices, red paprika, salt, parsley and oregano in the end and mix well.
  3. Put a little of the meat mixture into each leaf and wrap them. Wrap them so that you first fold one side over, then the other side, then roll. Put them in a pot and add water to cover them. 
  4. Cook for about 30 minutes. You can prepare a mix of some water, 5 tsp of ketchup and 1 tbs of flour and add it in the end for better taste and for some sauce. 
Serve with fermented milk on top.

Enjoy!