Imad Alarnab’s stuffed vine leaves — a recipe to cook with all the family

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I come from a family of 14 uncles and at least 98 cousins — probably more, but I stopped counting. When we lived in Syria, the family would often gather together to make food, particularly at this time of year. We’d peel beans and wilt spinach and put them in the freezer. We’d can 80kg of tomatoes in an afternoon. We’d pickle cucumbers. If we didn’t, you wouldn’t have any of these things come winter.

I recently watched the 2002 film My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and I realised that everyone is meant to be laughing at this big weird family that does everything together. But for me, it’s the other way around. The American groom, who doesn’t have any of this, is the weird one. Now, my family is spread out in different countries, and I feel sorry for my three daughters because they can’t experience these times we had, making food all together. This is one of Bashar al-Assad’s crimes, he has forced Syrians to live apart.

When I came to the UK as a refugee, I travelled through 10 countries and ended up spending a long time in Calais. I cooked there, on the steps of a church, and everyone would come and ask what they could do to help. We had to work with what we had, scrubbing potatoes instead of peeling them, using soy sauce rather than tamarind. It made me realise that I can create my own recipes.

I live in London now with my wife and children, and I don’t want my daughters to miss out on the small family activities in the way they’re missing out on the big ones. Wrapping vine leaves together is a great activity because it would take me ages to do it by myself, and I’d get very bored and have a sore back. But for four people, it’s a fun 30 minutes sitting together and using our hands.

Stuffed vine leaves with lamb neck

You can buy jars of vine leaves in the supermarket. Drain the liquid, and remove the stems. Fresh vine leaves are better. Simply trim the stem and dip them in boiling water with a teaspoon of salt. This makes them a little softer and easier to roll.

For the stuffed vine leaves

1. Wash the rice until the water runs clear, then add to a bowl with the oil and mix thoroughly. Add the cumin, black pepper, baharat, lamb and salt, and mix with your hands. (Wear gloves to stop your hands going yellow.)

2. Lay out one prepared vine leaf, and spoon one tablespoon of the rice and lamb mixture into the middle. Fold the left, right and bottom sides inwards like an envelope, then roll away from you to make a neat little tube. Repeat with the rest of the leaves and filling.

For the sauce

1. Add the lemon juice and water to a bowl, then add the garlic, black pepper, baharat, salt and tomato purée, and mix together until combined.

For the lamb dish

1. In a 30-35cm-wide, heavy-based pot or flameproof casserole, layer the potato slices to cover the base. Now add the lamb neck in a layer, placing the slices so they fit tightly together. Next add the stuffed vine leaves on top, laying them tightly around the edge of the dish in concentric rings and stacking on top of each other. For the final two layers, leave a gap in the middle.

2. Place the garlic bulbs into this gap, along with the artichokes if using, then place a weight on top of everything. I have a traditional weight that is meant for this dish, but if you don’t, stack three to five plates on top.

3. Pour over the sauce once the plate is in place to just cover the cooking food (if you try and do this before the plates are in place, things might float to the surface). You might not need all of it, so set aside the rest for topping up later. Tightly cover the pot with foil or a lid, and place over a high heat. Boil for 10 minutes, then turn the heat down to low and simmer for between an hour and 75 minutes. Check occasionally to see if it is dry, and add more liquid as necessary. The vine leaves are cooked when they are no longer chewy.

4. Remove the lid, put a little pressure on the weight or plates, tilt and carefully drain as much of the liquid as you can into a bowl. Most of it should have been absorbed. Remove the weight and garlic (and artichokes if using), then place a serving platter or tray on top of the pot. Very quickly and carefully flip the pot over so it’s upside down on the platter.

5. Gently lift the pot to reveal the layers of potato, meat and vine leaves.

6. Place the garlic and artichokes back on top of the potatoes, and serve with the liquid you drained off earlier (use it to dip the vine leaves in) and yoghurt.

Recipe adapted from “Imad’s Syrian Kitchen”, out now from HarperCollins

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