Onion Dolma

      6 lg Onions, unpeeled
      1 lb Minced lamb
      2 lg Tomatoes,peeled and chopped
    1/3 c  Long-grain rice
      1    Lemon,finely grated & juiced
      1 sm Onion, finely chopped
      1 tb Sugar
      1 ts Tumeric
    1/2 ts Basil
    1/2 ts Oregano
           Salt to taste freshly grd. black pepper
      3 tb Olive oil, for cooking

Put the =unpeeled= onions in a large saucepan. Pour in plenty of boiling water. Boil for about 20 minutes, or until the onions are tender. Remove the onions from the pan, drain them and allow them to cool slightly. In a bowl, thoroughly mix the next 9 ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside. With a sharp knife, slit each onion down one side to the center. Separate the layers, which will slip of quite easily. Discard the outer papery skins and the cores of the onions. Take a small handful of the filling and work into a sausage shape; squeeze out some, but not all, of the liquid. Reserve the excess liquid for use later. Lay the stuffin in one of the onion layers and fold it tightly around the mixture. Fill the remaining layers in this way. Do not overfill the layers as the rice must have room to expand. Heat the oil in a pan large enough to take the stuffed onions in one layer. Add the stuffed onions, packing them in close together. Pour in any liquid remaining in the bowl. Reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer gently for about 1 hour. Halfway through the cooking time turn the stuffed onions over. Carefully remove the dolma from the pan with a spatula and serve immediately or set aside to cool.


Yield: 6 Servings