Turkish Stuffed Grape Leaves – Zeytinyağlı Yaprak Sarma

About This Recipe

Yaprak sarma are one of the defining dishes of Turkish meze culture — grape leaves wrapped around a fragrant rice filling perfumed with fresh herbs, toasted pine nuts, dried currants, and a generous amount of olive oil. They are served cold, at room temperature, glistening with olive oil and often accompanied by thick yogurt and a wedge of lemon. The zeytinyağlı (olive oil) version is entirely plant-based; the etli (meat) version includes minced lamb and is served warm. The rolling technique takes a little practice but produces deeply satisfying results. The key to flavourful sarma is the rice filling — it must be well seasoned with lemon juice, olive oil, and fresh herbs (dill, mint, parsley), and the currants and pine nuts add a characteristic sweet-savoury complexity that is quintessentially Ottoman. The cooking method is also important: the rolled leaves are packed tightly in the pot and cooked under gentle pressure with a heavy plate on top, which helps them keep their shape. Dolma and sarma (the terms are often used interchangeably, though dolma technically refers to stuffed hollow vegetables) are a labour of love — a Sunday project that yields extraordinary results. The filled leaves keep in the fridge for five days and are often considered to taste better on day two.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 40–50preserved grape leaves(rinsed and blanched)
• 300 gshort-grain rice(rinsed)
• 2onions(finely diced)
• 100 mlextra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsppine nuts
• 3 tbspdried currants
• 1 tspground allspice
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• 1 tspsugar
• 3 tbspfresh dill(chopped)
• 3 tbspfresh mint(chopped)
• 3 tbspfresh parsley(chopped)
• 2lemons(juice)

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the filling

   Sauté onions in half the olive oil until golden. Add pine nuts, toast 2 minutes. Add rice, spices, sugar, currants and half the lemon juice. Cook 3 minutes. Add 150ml water, cook until absorbed. Cool, then fold in herbs.

2. 2

   Prepare the grape leaves

   Blanch preserved leaves in boiling water 2 minutes. Drain and separate carefully.

3. 3

   Roll

   Place a leaf shiny-side down. Put a heaped teaspoon of filling near the stem end. Fold in sides, then roll tightly away from you. The roll should be firm but not overly tight — rice expands.

   Use torn or damaged leaves to line the bottom of the pot — they protect the rolls from scorching.

4. 4

   Cook

   Pack rolls tightly seam-side down in a wide pot. Mix remaining olive oil, lemon juice and 300ml water; pour over. Place a heavy plate directly on the rolls. Cover, simmer gently 45–50 minutes.

   The plate prevents the rolls from unwrapping and coming apart as the rice expands.

5. 5

   Cool and serve

   Leave to cool in the pot. Serve at room temperature with extra lemon and thick yogurt.

Variations

• •

  Etli yaprak sarma: add minced lamb to the rice filling; serve warm.

• •

  Zeytinyağlı biber dolması: the same filling stuffed into sweet pointed peppers.

Storage

Keeps 5 days in the fridge. Can be served cold or at room temperature. Do not freeze.

Frequently Asked Questions