Sarma and dolma are traditional rice dishes wrapped in grape leaves, cabbage, zucchini, really almost anything you can think of. They come in all varieties, including many vegetarian options perfect for Lent. Sarma and dolma made with grape leaves are a classic across the eastern medeterranian.
Taline Sarian is especially fond of summer sarma, which her mother used to make when she lived in Istanbul. She sat down with us to show us her recipe, and some tips on getting the perfect rolls.
Taline’s Summer Sarma Tips
The spices you include in sarma are very important, and the mix of fresh and dry makes a big difference.
As Taline shows us, you make sarma with dry rice, meaning as it cooks it will absorb all of the flavours around it. So, it’s important for summer sarma to use fresh dill, and get all the flavour it holds.
Taline had fresh grape leaves for her sarma. She tells us that in “summertime, if you do it, the leaves get tastier,” but still in the spring they’re very good.
She uses some leaves to cover the bottom of her cooking pot so that the sarma don’t stick to the bottom while cooking.
She takes one leaf, lays it on a plate, and scoops two spoons of her rice filling onto it, just above the stem. She evens it out so that it’s about half the width of the leaf.
With one finger she keeps the rice on the leaf, and fold in the sides before rolling the leaf to keep the rice inside. She sets the roll aside, and makes another.
Sarma just takes some time, but it isn’t difficult. The only trouble Taline has is when her leaves rip. When that happens, she takes another leaf and covers up the gap, then rolls the rice in as if nothing happened.
With all her leaves rolled, Taline puts them in her pot, and juices a half a lemon. She puts the lemon juice, and the rinds into the pot to cook with the sarma, and adds some water.
She puts a plate in the pot, “you can also use another lid, but I don’t have one small enough,” she tells us. The idea is to keep the sarma at the bottom of the pot so they cook.
After a half hour she takes the sarma out, lets them cool, and serves them with lemon on a beautiful plate adorned with dandelions.
Dietary Notes
Dairy free, gluten free, nut free, peanut free, vegetarian, vegan
What you’ll need
3 onions (finely chopped)
1 cup (240 mL) rice (uncooked)
1 cup (240 mL) olive oil
2 tablespoons (30 mL) fresh dill
1 teaspoon (5 mL) dried mint
½ teaspoon (2.5 mL) black pepper
1 teaspoon (5 mL) sugar
½ teaspoon (2.5 mL) salt (and more to cook)
30-40 grape leaves
½ lemon, juiced, and the rind
1 cup (250 mL) water
Steps
Combine the chopped onion, rice, olive oil, dill, mint, pepper, sugar, and ½ teaspoon of salt in a bowl
In the bottom of a deep pot, layer grape leaves to cover the bottom of the pot
Take one grape leaf and spoon 1-2 scoops of the rice mixture into its center, based on the size of the leaf. You want as much rice as it will be easy to roll the leaf up.
Fold the sides of the leaf over the rice, and then roll the leaf into a cylinder so that the rice is completely covered inside.
Set the grape leaf aside and repeat steps 3 and 4 until all of your grape leaves are filled and rolled. If a leaf rips, add a second leaf on top of the ripped section and then roll your rice into the two leaves.
Put your grape leaf rolls into the pot, and add lemon juice, lemon slices, and 1 cup of water to the pot.
Cover the grape leaf rolls inside the pot with any leftover leaves. If you’re out, use parchment paper. Put a heavy plate on top of the leaves to keep them from rising in the water.
Cook covered on low heat for 30 minutes.
Once cooked, remove the sarma from the pot and serve cold.
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