I made these for the first time and we loved them. I happened to be so lucky last week to meet a neighbour who immigrated from Romania. He used to work in a vineyard pruning the grape vines and he came and gave me a few lessons.
Long story short, his wife wrote out the recipe for Romanian dolmas so I could use my grape leaves. Her mother cooks them in a soup broth, we did them with tomato.
It is a good thing I don’t have to spray my grapes.
Let’s see the inside. Does the rice get mushy?
Looks fabulous!
Looks great. Can you share the recipe?
The rice does not get mushy but it calls for long grain rice, not minute rice. Her recipe uses mostly meat.
When picking the grape leaves choose the ones about the size of your hand, not the old darker green leaves but the ones that are slightly brighter green. Put them in a bowl and pour boiling water over them till they turn an olive green colour.
Filling
1 lb. of ground hamburger
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 cup cooked long grain rice
1 egg
fresh chopped parsley ( I used about 1/8 cup, she was not sure of the amount )
pinch of salt and pepper
Lay the leaf with the underside facing up, place about 1 tbsp. of filling at the stem end (remove the stem first), fold in the sides and roll up. Place in baking dish top with soup broth or tomato juice till they are almost covered. I used tomato juice but she recalled her mother using Borsch sometimes as well. You will have to add more liquid as they cook and it evaporates. Cover and cook in 350 degree oven till tender. Her advice was to bake them a long time. I think they should adapt well to a slow cooker, maybe next time.
I apologize for the directions not being precise but she was translating it and trying to remember what her mother and grandmother did, and they did not always follow the recipe as far as I understand. 
