Stuffed vine leaves – Dolma or Sarma

Dolma (Turkish for “stuffed”) is a family of stuffed dishes associated with Ottoman cuisine, typically made with a filling of rice, minced meat, offal, seafood, fruit, or any combination of these inside a vegetable or a leaf wrapping. Wrapped dolma, specifically, are known as sarma, made by rolling grape, cabbage, or other leaves around the filling. Dolma can be served warm or at room temperature and are common in modern cuisines of regions and nations that once were part of the Ottoman Empire.

I am from Romania and we call them “sarmale” and usually they are stuffed with a mix of minced pork and beef meat, and we serve them with sour cream or yoghurt.

Let’s make this delicious dish together 💜.

Ingredients: (for approx. 100 dolmas/sarma)

• pickled vine leaves (I buy them from the Turkish store)
• 4 eggs
• 200 g rice (round rice – not basmati, long grain rice or other types of rice)
• 2 big onions
• 400-450 g tomatoes in own sauce
• 200 g smocked bacon
• 800 g minced beef meat
• 800 g minced pork meat
• a large bunch of dill
• 4 medium carrots
• 30 ml sunflower oil
• salt + pepper
• sour cream or yoghurt to serve them

Start by peeling and grating the carrots. Then wash the dill and chop it finely. Peel the onion and chop it finely.

In a large frying pan, add the oil. When it is hot, add the onion and cook until soft, then add the grated carrot and mix well. Cook for about 1-3 minutes or until the carrot is soft. Turn off the heat.

In a large bowl, add all the meat, chopped dill, washed rice, and the onion and carrot mixture.

Mix well with a large spoon, and when everything is well mixed, add the eggs, a little salt and pepper to taste. Mix everything well again.

Prepare the grape leaves: rinse them well under cold running water and cut off the long stems.

Put a little mixture on the leaf, as shown in the picture, then roll it up tightly. Tuck the ends of the leaf in, on both sides.

In a pot prepared with grape leaves as a first layer, start adding the dolmas one by one as you roll them.

Proceed like this until you have obtained a first layer of dolma.

Add some smoked bacon, some of the chopped tomatoes and tomato juice.

Continue rolling the dolmas until you have a new layer again and do the same – put bacon and tomatoes on top of the new layer.

When you have finished the composition and finished rolling the dolmas, cover with water and cook over medium heat, with the lid on, for ~ 2 hours.

If the water decreases a lot, you can add more from time to time.

After they are cooked, transfer them to an ovenproof dish and cook them on the grill function. Leave them in the oven to grill for about 20 minutes until they are nicely browned and the vine leaves become a little crispy.

Serve them with yogurt or sour cream.

They are much better the 2nd or 3rd day, after the flavours have time to blend with each other, but they are still absolutely delicious and ready to serve right after you finish cooking them.

If you try the recipe, let me know how you liked it ☺️

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