Little snippets of what I learned from my two grandmothers growing up in Armenia.
Music: Nare Nare - by Levon Minassian and Armand Amar
Ov Du Gekhetsig - by Ardashes Avedian and M. Sarafian
In this video: Gata, Yogurt, and Tolma/Dolma.
այս տեսանյութում: սուրճ, գաթա, մածուն, տոլմա

Recipes
Grandma's Gata
Ingredients:
The Dough
1.5 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
115 g (1 stick) butter
75 g sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
Method:
Mix all dry ingredients together. Grate cold butter into the mix. Combine with your hands, add egg, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Form into a dough, wrap and refrigerate for an hour or so (up to a day). Filling
1 cup flour
55 g (1/2 stick) butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean powder
Method:
Grate cold butter into the flour. Add sugar and vanilla powder. Combine with your hands and set aside.
Last step:
Remove the dough from fridge, roll out as much as you can. This is the tough part as the dough might break, but patch it up as you go and make it thin. See video for reference. Add the filling, leave some space around the edges for rolling. Start from the edge closet to you and start rolling. Flatten the roll with a rolling pin so it's uniform. Cut the gata with a crinkle cutter (this is the traditional method) or a knife and add an egg wash on top. Make a little design on top with a fork, and bake for 360 F (180 C) for 30-35 minutes.

Tolma:
Ingredients:
2lb ground bison or beef (lean or fatty, your choice. I prefer lean, and add more butter to the pot)
1 bunch of herb mix [cilantro, parsley, basil (+other variety if you prefer)] about a full cup packed tight
1 large yellow onion roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic
Grape Leaves [brined or fresh (if fresh, soak the in boiled water for a few minutes)]. For 2lbs meat I usually use an 30 oz jar but you might need more or less depending on how you wrap them
3/4 cup short grain rice (soak in hot water first)
1 tbsp salt (depending on how salty your brined grape leaves are, if not very salty, use more salt. If fresh grape leaves, you will need a lot more salt)
2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 tsp paprika
1 - 2 tbsp dried basil (or other dried herbs if you prefer)
1 tsp cayenne (or more depending on your taste)
3 - 4 tbsp water
Optional * add about 5 tbsp butter (more or less depending on taste and fattiness of meat)

Directions:
In a food processor combine onion, garlic cloves, and herbs. Pulse until smooth.
Rinse rice
In a large mixing bowl combine contents of food processor to meat, add rice, all the seasoning and water. Mix with your hands to incorporate all the ingredients together.
Rinse the brined grape leaves in cold water (this will remove some of the excess salt).
Cut the stems off the leaves.
Place them flat on your work surface (choose the side you prefer -shiny or matte)
Add about 1+ tbsp of meat onto your leaf
Fold the top over, bring in the sides, and wrap like a tiny burrito (see video)
Once all the meat is used, add the tolma to your pot one by one until every surface is covered (see video)
Add butter if the meat wasn't fatty
Add enough cold water to just about cover the tolma
Cover with a plate (prevents them from moving and floating up), and close the lid. Cook on the stove on low for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Enjoy! Thank you for being here, I appreciate you!