Stuffed vine leaves (Dolma)

Dolma is a Turkish word which means stuffed things. This applies to zucchini, tomato, pepper, eggplant, and the like.Dolma is a common dish in the Ottoman heritage region,  Middle East, Russia and Central Asia.  Grape or cabbage leaves wrapped around a filling are called 'sarma', are also often called 'dolma' or 'yaprak dolma'.

Few weeks ago, I happened to be in Istanbul market in Chicago, I bought cans of ready made dolma with different wrappings like eggplant, zucchini, vine leaves. I was taking full advantage of ethnic grocery store and got all kinds of Turkish food. All in a sudden the idea of making my own dolma occurred to me. Right away I asked the cashier where I could find the vine leaves to make dolma myself? He showed me the jars of vine leaves and replied with a laughter " If you have a lot time, you can make your own". Regardless, I still wanted to give it a try.

I looked up Titli's busy kitchen YouTube video on how to make dolma. My first trial worked out good, but not as great as I expected. I made some changes on the recipe the second time. It was great. I will share this new recipe with you. Surprisingly it is actually not that hard to make dolma.

Ingredients
1/2 cup long grain white rice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
1 large onion, diced
juice of 1 lemon
water
15 vine leaves, (you can buy a jar of wive leaves from Turkish store)
1/2 cup of olive oil

Directions
1. Soak the vine leaves in water for 10 min to get rid of vinegar
2. Add 3 tbsp olive oil to the pan, saute onion for few min
3. Then turn off the heat, add rice and herbs to onion, mix well, allow it to cool

4. Take out 1 leaf, add 1 tbsp rice mixture, wrap the rice with the leaf by following the instruction below

First fold the the left side of the leaf to the center,

Then fold the right side to center

Then roll from the bottom to the top. Don't wrap it too tight or too loose.

5. After finishing all the wrappings. Align them in a pot with the folding seam facing down.

6. Pour the lemon juice evenly among all wraps
7. Pour the rest of olive oil on top evenly
7. Pour enough water until it almost covers all stuffed vine leaves
8. Cover the stuffed vine leaves with a plate facing down to prevent them from moving
9. Heat under high heat first
10. Once the water boils, cover the pan with the lid, lower the heat to low, let it steam for 1.5 hours
11. Allow them to cool prior to serve