Yaprak Sarma

About This Recipe

Yaprak sarma (stuffed vine leaves) is one of Turkey's most labour-intensive and loved dishes — rolled parcels of grape leaves encasing a fragrant rice filling of pine nuts, currants, allspice, cinnamon, and fresh herbs. The vegetarian (zeytinyağlı) version, made with olive oil and served at room temperature, is a classic meyhane meze and a staple of Aegean cuisine. The filling is a masterpiece of the sweet-savoury balance that characterises Ottoman and Turkish cooking — currants for sweetness, lemon for brightness, pine nuts for richness, and fresh dill and mint for herbaceous freshness. Each sarma is rolled tightly and stacked in a pot, then steamed slowly in olive oil, lemon juice, and water until completely tender.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 40–50grape vine leaves(jarred in brine, rinsed)
• 300 gmedium-grain rice(rinsed)
• 2 largeonions(very finely diced)
• 50 gpine nuts
• 50 gcurrants
• 1 tspground allspice
• ½ tspground cinnamon
• 1 tspsugar
• ½ bunchfresh dill(chopped)
• ½ bunchfresh mint(chopped)
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 100 mlextra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper(to taste)

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the filling

   Sauté onions in 3 tbsp olive oil until very soft, 15 minutes. Add pine nuts and toast briefly. Add rice, allspice, cinnamon, sugar, salt, pepper, currants, half the lemon juice. Stir 3 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in herbs. Cool.

2. 2

   Roll the sarma

   Lay a vine leaf flat, shiny side down. Place 1 tsp filling near the stem end. Fold the stem end over the filling, fold in the sides, then roll tightly forward. Repeat.

   Roll firmly but not too tight — the rice expands during cooking and overly tight rolls will burst.

3. 3

   Stack in pot

   Line the bottom of a wide, heavy pot with a few vine leaves. Pack the rolls tightly in layers, seam-side down.

4. 4

   Steam

   Mix remaining olive oil, lemon juice, and 300 ml water. Pour over the rolls. Place a heavy heatproof plate on top to keep them submerged. Cover and cook on low heat for 50–60 minutes until the rice is cooked and the leaves are tender.

5. 5

   Cool and serve

   Cool completely in the pot — do not attempt to serve hot. Arrange on a platter and serve at room temperature with lemon wedges and yogurt.

Variations

• •

  Add meat to the filling (lamb mince) for the et sarmalı version, served hot.

• •

  Use fresh grape leaves in season — blanch for 30 seconds before using.

• •

  Stuffed with bulgur instead of rice for a wheatier texture.

Storage

Excellent refrigerated for 4 days. The flavour improves as the days pass. Serve at room temperature.

Frequently Asked Questions