Method

• 1.
  Wash the rice in cold water to rinse out any excess starch. Drain well and place in a bowl with the lamb and allspice. Season to taste and mix well to combine.
• 2.
  Rinse the vine leaves to remove all salty brine. Drain well. Place a vine leaf on a clean work surface with the stalk end facing you. Place a large teaspoon of the rice mixture on the leaf just above where the stalk would be. Arrange into a line horizontally across the leaf. Fold the sides over the mixture and roll up the leaf from the bottom, keeping it as tight as possible, into a cigar shape. Repeat with the remaining rice mixture and vine leaves. Mixture should make approximately 34 warak arish.
• 3.
  Cover the base of a medium nonstick saucepan with the remaining vine leaves. Arrange the tomatoes in a layer and place the warak arish on top. Depending on the size of your pan, you can layer them up. Add garlic and pour over the lemon juice and stock. The stock should cover everything.

• 4.
  Place pan over high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and cover the warak arish with a heatproof inverted plate to keep them submerged in the stock. Simmer gently for 1 hour 30 minutes to cook the rice and meat. Take the warak arish out of the liquid and stand to cool. Serve at room temperature.