Stuffed grape leaves are a delicacy all over the Mediterranean consisting of spiced minced meat and rice rolled into tender grape leaves. This Lebanese version is made with lamb chops, garlic, and lemon.
Rinse the jarred grape leaves and set them aside. Prepare the grape leaf stuffing. Add the ground beef, short-grain rice, garlic powder, allspice, ground cinnamon, salt, and pepper to a bowl.
Mix the stuffing with your hands.
Set up your workstation for rolling grape leaves. It takes about 30 minutes to an hour for one person to roll 100 grape leaves.
Add the meat and rice stuffing to the bottom of a grape leaf.
Fold the bottom of the leaf up, then fold over the sides.
Roll the grape leaf upwards tightly.
The rolled grape leaf should be about the thickness of a finger.
Place all of the grape leaves with the seam down in a container.
Caramelize the lamb chops in a pot.
Add sliced tomato and grape leaves on top of the caramelized lamb chops to form a flat layer.
Place the rolled grape leaves on top tightly all facing the same direction.
Place a second layer of rolled grape leaves facing the opposite direction. Add chunks of cloves of garlic.
Put an inverted plate on top to keep the rolled grape leaves from unraveling while they cook. Add 6 cups of boiling water. Cook on medium uncovered for 30 minutes. Add lemon juice and continue cooking covered on low heat for 30 minutes.
The grape leaves are done when the rice stuffing is tender. Carefully flip the pot over into a large bowl or plate. Serve with pita bread and yogurt.