Best Stuffed Grape Leaves Dolmas Recipe

 

Turkish Sarma Dish

Turkish Vegetarian Stuffed Grape Leaves (Sarmas or Dolmas) 

As we mentioned in the earlier posts of the blog; Anatolian (Turkish) Cuisine is well known for its stuffed and wrapped vegetable meals called in Turkish "Dolma" and "Sarma". Because, stuffed vegetables, especially with rice and meat filling, are a unique of Anatolian (Turkish) Cuisine. Actually, stuffed vegetable dishes are very famous through out the Mediterranean region too. They are base vegetarian recipes of Mediterranean diet. 

Sarma refers to very famous Turkish dish that can be prepared with grape or cabbage leaves. Also, chard leaves are used for this dish too. The term "Sarma" derives from Turkish verb "sarmak", which means to wrap or to roll. Sometimes sarma is called dolma. Especially the western part of Turkish people call it "dolma". But, rest of the Anatolian people and we always call it "Sarma". It can be prepared with rice (or cracked wheat - Bulgur) and spices (vegetarian) or with rice (or cracked wheat - Bulgur) and ground meat. Trust us! Both are so delicious.

In this post, we are going to share our vegetarian stuffed grape leaves dish to you. If you are looking for a very special, flavorful, and fun snack idea or dinner recipe, then our Sarmas (Vegetarian Stuffed Grape Leaves) or Dolmas are perfect for you! They’re packed with special and mouth-watering Mediterranean flavors and a very unique blend of spices like dried mint (or fresh mint, parsley and dill) and sumac that makes every bite better than the last!

Good Quality Turkish Grape Leaves grow in 
Tokat city (Erbaa town) 

What is Stuffed Grape Leaves? 

Today, we will look at everything of dolma or sarma; from what they are, what they are stuffed with, how you can make them at home, and even how you can serve them. But, first of all, we try to answer questions about the dolma / sarma. Because we received really so many questions from our friends who live in abroad and our neighbours; these questions are: (What are stuffed grape leaves made of?, Are stuffed grape leaves healthy for you?, What's another name for stuffed grape leaves?, What can you use grape leaves for?, Are grape leaves hard to digest?, How long are stuffed grape leaves good for?, How do you prepare grape leaves to eat? Are dolmades Greek or Turkish (What is the difference between dolmas and dolmades)?, Can you use any grape leaves for dolmas?, How do you store stuffed grape leaves?, What do you eat with dolmas? Patates salatası vesaire, Is Greek and Turkish food the same?). 

So, here it is our general answers for the questions; 

• Sarma dish or Dolma dish (stuffed grape leaves) is made with grape leaves and it is stuffed with rice and is completely meatless. It only contains rice, onions, tomatoes, a few spices and herbs. On the other hand, Grape leaves are stuffed with occasionally meat. 
• Grape leaves are healthy plants for the human organism. According to medical science experts; grape leaves are both low in calories and high in fiber. They also have high amounts of vitamin A and vitamin K. 
• Dolma is a Turkish word that refers to all types of stuffed foods in Turkey. Vegetables and edible leaves are used as the container for the filling, which can be anything from meat to grains or herbs and spicies. For example, “Kabak Dolma” refers to rice stuffed zucchini, "Kabak Çiçeği Dolması" means rice stuffed zucchini blossoms, “Biber Dolması” means rice stuffed green peppers, while “Midye Dolma” means stuffed mussels. Also, sarma refers to dish that can be prepared with grape or cabbage leaves. In Turkish, we call it “Yaprak Dolma” or “Yaprak Sarma”. While western part of Turkish people call it "dolma", others call it "Yaprak Sarma", because “yaprak” means grape leaves and “sarma” means wrapped, or rolled. Also, Greek people consume it as their classic Greek appetizer (or meze), they call it dolmathakia (dol-mah-THAH-kya) dish. It refers to grape leaves stuffed with rice, pine nuts, and fresh herbs. Stuffed grape leaves have different names in several other cultures in Mediterranean and Middle East regions. For example: They are called “dolme” in Iran, “yebra” in Syria, and “tolma” in Armenia. 
• Like many other leafy vegetables such as spinach, leeks and grape leaves are very low in calories because they contain virtually no fat and almost no digestible carbohydrates or sugar. Couple of ( a handful of) grape leaves has less than 30 calories, which is probably less energy than it takes for you to chew, swallow and digest them. 
• "Yaprak Sarma" or "dolmas" / stuffed grape leaves, especially the vegetarian ones, can be kept for a long time. You can keep them in your fridge for 6-8 days or freeze them for months. We mean that, after cooking vegetarian stuffed grape leaves allow them to cool fully, then drizzle with olive oil, then place in a freezer bag, and freeze. Your "Yaprak Sarma" or "dolmas" / stuffed grape leaves will keep for up to six or seven months. 
• If you are lucky person enough to find fresh grape leaves, you should use fresh grapes to make these stuffed grape leaves (dolmas/Sarmas). To use them in this recipe, first be sure to wash them well, then blanch them in boiling hot water. If you have grape leaves in brine, you don’t need to prepare them in any way. Simply wash grape leaves with water to remove the excessive salt. Bye the way our Tokat city / Erbaa town's fresh grape leaves (and grape leaves inbrine) are very famous and very unique. 
• Sarma refers to dish that can be prepared with grape, cabbage or chard leaves. The term "Sarma" derives from Turkish verb "sarmak", which means to wrap or to roll. Also, the word dolma is of Turkish origin from the verb "dolmak = (to fill)". This dish is found in the cuisine of Anatolia (Turkish) and cuisines of the Turkic countries, South Caucasus, the Balkans, Central Asia and Middle East Countries. Turkish Cuisine and Greek Cuisine have very similar recipes. Biggest difference of Turkish cuisine from Greek cuisine is that we eat less fish and other sea products, but they eat them more than the us. According to our historians; in Ottoman Empire era, both countries have had so many cultural and cullinary culture exchange eachother. Also, many Turkish famous cooks (such as baklava dessert experts, Ottoman foods experts) moved to Greece and neighbours countries for introduced Ottoman Cuisine to Greek people and other communities. So that,  it is very obvious that both cuisine shares many similar recipes, and many of the food names in Greece also have kept the Turkish names, for example dolmades from turkish dolma, Turkish baklava dessert or Greek baklava dessert etc. 

Stuffed grape leaves are very nice Snack 

How to Make Stuffed Grape Leaves Dish?

This recipe is surprisingly very easy to make despite looking complex. So, don't worry! 

This recipe is made with grape leaves stuffed with rice (or cracked wheat - bulgur), herbs, spicies and is completely meatless. It only contains rice (or cracked wheat - bulgur), onions, tomatoes/tomato paste, a few spices and herbs, and of course, some grape leaves to stuff. So, it is 100 % vegetarian dish. In Anatolian (Turkish) cuisine specifically, there are two versions of stuffed grape leaves. The first version is completely vegetarian ( if you add yogurt sauce when serving, it turns to maybe nonvegan). The second version is with a ground meat (beef or mutton) filling. Vegetarian Sarma or dolma (sarmas and dolmas, -s makes them plural) are served cold with additional olive oil on top, whereas the meat version is often served warm. 

The base for any sarma / dolma recipe is always the same; rice (or cracked wheat - bulgur), onions, tomatoes (or tomato paste) herbs, spices, olive oil, and lemon. These ingredients might differ slightly in type and ratio, but regardless of the vegetables or meats used with them, sarmas or dolmas remain unchanged. 

To make this dish's easy filling, all you have to do is combine the ingredients in a large bowl (mix them while cooking for a little while, or as raw), leaving out the grape leaves, 1/2 or 1/4 cup of olive oil and water and cook them. Thats it!

Stuffed grape leaves dish is good dinner option

Ingredients: Fresh grape leaves or grape leaves in brine 

Ingredients: White rice or Cracked wheat - we used 
both of them in this recipe

Ingredients: grated or chopped finely onions

Ingredients: one lemon, it is used 1/2 - 1/2

Ingredients: 3 tablespoons good quality olive oil

Ingredients: ground black pepper, red pepper flakes,
Dried mint, Cumin and salt

Ingredients: chopped parsley and dill (optional)

Ingredients: dried mint or chopped fresh mint

Ingredients: tomato paste, 1 tablespoon is used for 
Filling other one is used for sauce

Put olive oil in a pot, add chopped onions, rice
Cracked wheat and cook

While cooking add spices and stir

Add 1 tablespoon tomato paste and water and cook
While stirring (10 minutes)

While preparing grape leaves, 
Don't forget to cut off the stems  

Preparing Stuffing grape leaves are not complicated

As you see in the picture, There are two ways
for the arranging stuffed grape leaves in pot

For cooking, you can use pressure cooker or pot. 
in this post we used pressure cooker

Before cooking, Prepare a tomato sauce (tomato paste
and hot water) if you want add a pinch of dried mint

Don't forget to place a heavy flat plate on top of
stuffed grape leaves, so that they won’t move around

Let it cool completely before serving. Then squeeze 1/2 lemon over it

Recipe of Stuffed Grape Leaves

Serve: 6-7 servings, Prepare Time: 45 minutes, Cooking Time: 45 minutes (or 25 minutes in a pressure cooker), Diet: Vegetarian, Cuisine: Mediterranean / Anatolian Cuisines,  Category: Side dish, 

Very good family favourite;

Ingredients:

• Grape leaves (for making 50-60 stuffed grape leaves), 
• 1/2 Cup white rice and cracked wheat - bulgur, (in this recipe we used both of them, but if you want you can use only rice), 
• 3 Tablespoons Olive oil, 
• 2 medium size onions, grated or chopped finely, 
• 1 Teaspoon Ground black pepper, red pepper flakes and salt, 
• 1/2 Teaspoon Cumin, (it is optional), 
• 1/2 Teaspoon Dried mint, (it is optional), 
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley and dill, (it is optional), 
• 2 Tablespoons Tomato paste, (1 Tablespoon tomato paste for filling, rest of the tomato paste for tomato paste sauce), 
• 1/2 Lemon juice, 1/2 lemon slices for serving, 

Preparation:

1. First of all put your all ingredients on the work table. Then, lets prepare to grape leaves. If you have fresh grape leaves, boil water in a pot. Cook grape leaves for 1 or 2 minutes in boiling water. Take out them and let them cool. If you are using the grape leaves in brine, soak them in cold water for an hour; they tend to be salty. (In this recipe, we used grape leaves in brine). Don't forget to cut off the stems as close to the leaf as possible. Bye the way, save the broken, faulty leaves. Use them to cover the bottom of a pot with grape leaves to prevent them from burning. 
2. Then put olive oil in a pot, add your chopped onions and cook. When your onions are transparent, add the 1 tablespoon tomato paste and stir gently. Then, add your rice and cracked wheat (bulgur) and all the rest of your ingredients (ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, dried mint, cumin, salt, parsley and dill,). Stir mixture 5-7 minutes. Then, add 1 cup of hot water. Lower heat and simmer your rice - cracked wheat (bulgur) mixture for about 10 minutes. Then, remove your mixture to a bowl and let it cool. 
3. Then, take one leaf of grape and place it on a smooth surface the vein side up and shiny side down. Place a spoonful of stuffing (mixture of filling) at the bottom center of the leaf close to the stem. Then, fold in two sides first and then the bottom. Then roll it neatly like a cigarette. Keep rolling until all the grape leaves are gone. If there is any leftover stuffing (mixture of filling), place it in a cup or glass and then in the center of the pot so it can cook along with the leaves. This is what most our moms and grandmoms do, but if you want, you can freeze the leftover filling for a later use as well. 
4. Then, place the stuffed grape leaves in a pot for cooking; there are two methods for this. You can either arrange the stuffed leaves in the pot leaving the center empty or place them in rows without leaving any space at the bottom. In this recipe we prefered first way. then add a few layers of grape leaves and top with sliced tomatoes. This protects the stuffed grape leaves touching the bottom of the pot from scorching. 
5. Then take an another bowl and put rest of the tomato paste and hot water in it. And mix them well. Then, pour this mixture and olive oil over the rolls. Bye the way, don't forget to place a heavy flat plate on top of stuffed grape leaves, so that they won’t move around. Then, allow them to cook over the lowest heat for 45 minutes, or until the rice has completely cooked inside the rolls or 30 minutes in a pressure cooker. Because, we used pressure cooker in this recipe. 
6. Once cooked, remove your stuffed grape leaves dish from the pot/pressure cooker and allow them to cool before serving. Cool completely before serving. Squeeze lemon over it. 
7. They are often served with our Turkish style potatoes salad, plain yogurt, mint yogurt sauce or a cucumber and yogurt dip (Turkish cacik, very similar to tzatziki). Also garnish to sliced lemon pieces on top of serving plate.  

Enjoy

Please let us know how this "Stuffed Grape Leaves Recipe" turns out for you in the comments. We are always so eager to hear from you.

Garnish to sliced lemon pieces on top of the serving plate.

This dish got 10th degree from "TasteAtlas"
Best Traditional Dishes in the world

You may like our these recipes, because they go well with stuffed grape leaves dish;

• Yoghurt-and-cucumbers-dip-Tzatziki-recipe,
  
• Traditional-turkish-ayran-beverage-recipe, 
  
• Turkish-shepherd-salad-recipe,
  
• Mediterranean-orzo-chicken-salad-recipe,
  
• Mixed-cabbage-slaw-recipe,
  
• Turkish-tabbouleh-salad-recipeml,
  
• Best-potato-salad-recipe,
  
• Homemade-yogurt-recipe.

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