Prepare Grape Leaves for Sarma

Cook on Stovetop. Watch the video here.

Ingredients

• Grape leaves

• 1 cup (240 mL) Salt

• 4 cups (1 L) water to boil, and more cold water off to the side

Finding Grape Leaves

Grape leaves can be found all over the world, often in wine growing regions. However, you don’t usually want to use vineyard grape leaves for sarma or dolma, as specialist wine grapes tend to have less flavourful leaves. Wild plants, or ones grown in your own garden, have the best leaves.

Pick grape leaves only which are free of holes or other imperfections, this will ensure you’ll have less tearing and difficulty later when making your sarma or dolma.

Preparation Directions

1. Rinse your grape leaves so they’re free of any debris or dirt.

2. In a large pot dissolve salt in the water and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat so that the water remains only just boiling.

3. Add 10-15 grape leaves to the pot, and ensure they’re all covered by the water. Boil for 2 minutes.

4. Fill a bowl with cold water.

5. Once boiled for 2 minutes, transfer the leaves to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking.

6. Pat the leaves dry and lay them between sheets of paper towel in a freezer bag. Compress the bag to get as much air out as possible, and store the leaves in your freezer for up to 6 months.

Thawing for Cooking

• The day before preparing a dish with your grape leaves (minimum 6 hours) transfer the freezer bag from the freezer to the fridge.

• Use the leaves immediately after they’re defrosted, boiled leaves will not keep long.

• When using the leaves in sarma, make sure to remove the stem.