Dolma is a family of stuffed vegetable dishes in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and surrounding regions. Common vegetables to stuff include zucchini, eggplant, tomato and pepper. The stuffing may or may not include meat. The meat dolmas are served warm as main course and the meatless ones are served cold, usually as appetizers. In either case, the filling contains onions, parsley, herbs and spices.

The widely known dolma is the grape-leaf dolma with olive oil, which is also known as "yaprak dolma" and "sarma". It is usually served with lemon wedges and/or yogurt as appetizer.





Here is a recipe if you would like to try it at home:

Zeytinyagli Yaprak Sarma (Stuffed Grape Leaves with Olive Oil)

- 1 jar of grape leaves (prefer Orlando California Grape Leaves)
- 4 yellow onions
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)
- 1 cup white rice
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh or dried mint
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup currants
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3/4 cup hot water
- juice of a freshly squeezed lemon
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 2 cups boiling water

Preparation

Place the rice in a bowl, add cold water to cover and let stand for 20 minutes. Chop the yellow onions and start sauteing in a pan with 1/2 cup of olive oil and pine nuts until the pine nuts turn to a pinkish color. Drain the rice and add to the mixture of onions, sautee for 1-2 minutes more and then start adding, mints, pepper, cinnamon, sugar, currants, lemon juice, parsley and finally the hot water. Cook with very low heat until the water is absorbed. Then leave for cooling.

Rinse the grape leaves in cold water and cut off the stems. Lay them out on a table or flat dish with the shiny side down. Place a tablespoonful of the rice filling, roll up one end to cover the filling then fold over the left and right part of the leaf and continue rolling forward. Do not roll too tightly as the rice will expand during cooking.

Select a deep pan and cover the bottom with a spread of leaves so that the bottom doesn't burn the first round of grape leaves, then arrange the grape leaves in the pan, seam sides down. Pour the remaining olive oil, cover the leaves with a heavy plate on top to keep the leaves from unrolling, then pour the boiling water and let it cook gently over very low heat until the rice and leaves are tender, approximately 30-45 minutes. Remove from the heat and remove the plate. Sprinkle with lemon juice, let cool and serve with lemon wedges. Stuffed grape leaves can stay in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, if covered.

Enjoy!