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1
Place rice in a medium sized bowl and cover with 3 cups of cold water.
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2
Let stand for 30-60 minutes.
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3
Drain and rinse grape leaves in a colander.
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4
Cut leaves in half removing the thick center stem.
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5
Save five or six large leaves for bottom of pan- discard any extremely tough or ragged leaves.
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6
Drain all water from rice.
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7
Add lamb, salt, pepper, and cinnamon.
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8
Mix by hand thoroughly.
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9
Line bottom of large kettle or dutch oven with five or six large leaves to prevent scorching.
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10
Lay a leaf flat on a plate, shiny side down.
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11
Put approximately 1 heaping teaspoon of meat mixture towards bottom of leaf.
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12
Roll in one edge to seal, then roll leaf up firmly but not too tight (you need to leave a little room for the rice to expand while cooking).
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13
Place leaves in kettle in circular fashion leaving a small circle in the center for water to circulate.
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14
When you have one full row on bottom of pan, slice two cloves of garlic over the top of the leaves.
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15
Sprinkle with a little of the mint.
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16
Continue rolling the leaves and layering them with the garlic/ mint.
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17
You should have approximately five rows of leaves when you are done.
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18
Place a heatproof plate over the top of the leaves- large enough to hold them in place, but with a little room on the edges.
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19
Put a bowl on top of the plate filled with water to hold the plate down while cooking.
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20
Fill kettle with water over the top of the plate.
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21
Cook on top of stove on high heat until it begins to boil.
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22
Lower heat to medium so that water does not boil over and continue cooking.
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23
Total cooking time after it starts to boil is 16-19 minutes.
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24
Remove bowl.
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25
Carefully drain water from kettle.
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26
Remove plate.
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27
Arrange leaves on a platter.
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28
Serve with lemon wedges.
