Here are the leaves I picked a few days ago after it stopped raining.
From the vine in our Assos garden.
It’s been a very wet spring and this past week was punctuated by thunderstorms and pouring rain. But the garden has loved it. The leaves on this vine were perfect for rolling: young and fresh. This is ideal as later on they toughen up and become difficult to roll.
You can also buy these leaves preserved in brine. If so, soak them thoroughly in hot water and leave for ten minutes to remove the salt. Rinse under cold running water. If you buy fresh leaves which aren’t necessarily the first ones of the season, do the same to soften them up: just a few minutes in hot water will suffice before rinsing.
These are called sarma in Turkish because they are rolled and not stuffed. If they were, they would be dolma!
So we have cabbage and chard sarma but tomato, aubergine and courgette dolma.
This recipe is with meat so they are eaten hot with yogurt as the main course. When the filling comprises only rice, they become a zeytinyağlı or olive oil dish, and always eaten cold without yogurt.
The idea of this filling is basically minced lamb or beef with onion and a little rice, with other flavours added to the mix. Personally I think lamb is better here. As with all these savoury dishes, I wouldn’t worry too much about exact quantities.
One of the several recipes for this that I browsed through happened to mention that if those little sour greenplums are available – which they are – scatter a few on top of the sarma. Their taste changes dramatically in the cooking and I really recommend following this tip! TT remembers his mother doing this.
One last point: to be honest, rolling these vine leaves is a bit fiddly especially the small ones. Not difficult but a little time-consuming until you get the knack. But if you have made sigara börek or rolled up chard leaves, you’ll find it very similar. And practice makes perfect! After the first 10 or so, you’ll be rolling like a pro!
I started out with 32 vine leaves. I ran out so had to pick another 10, still had extra filling so had to rush out into the garden for the third time! In the end I must have made about 50 sarma.
- Before starting, line the base of a heavy saucepan with some torn or otherwise spoilt vine leaves (this is to prevent sticking)
- Prepare the vine leaves as above and then snip off the stalks and the main vein if tough. If left, the leaf will tear when rolled.
- Place the minced beef or lamb in a bowl and stir in the onions, herbs and spices. Add the grated tomato and tomato paste if using. Season, combine with 1 tablespoon olive oil and knead well.
- Lay one of the vine leaves with the matte side facing you on a flat surface and spoon some filling in the middle of the leaf.
- Pull the leaf over the filling, fold in the sides, then roll into a tight log (try not to overfill, as the filling may ooze out).
- Arrange the vine leaves, seam side down, in a deep wide pan.
- Pack them tightly together, layer by layer. Scatter the green plums if using.
- Mix the remaining oil with 1 cup (8 fl oz) water, then pour over the vine leaves. The water should almost cover the top layer, so you may need to add more.
Place a heavy plate over the rolls and put the pan on medium heat.
- Once it starts to bubble, lower the heat, cover and cook gently for about 40 minutes, until the rice and meat are cooked.
- Serve hot with yogurt and a slice of crusty bread.
i haven't made grape leaves in quite a while. i can't wait to make these and i can use my grape leaves too. do you mix the uncooked rice into the meat mixture when you add the onions and seasonings? i assume you do but i wanted to make sure. thanks for another terrific recipe!
oh Joyce, you are fab. Yes, exactly: mix in the uncooked rice. How do you get hold of your vine leaves?
Oh this looks and sounds so good. I love that you use ground lamb. Your garden looks beautiful, it sounds like we had a similar spring to you – lots of rain and storms!!
Mary x
Hello Mary! How lovely to find your comment! I seem to have been on the go so much that I have hardly had a chance to look at all the other lovely blogs ….what do you think of the Jubilee celebrations? For us expats, these things are always v nostalgic!!
This blog always makes me hungry and I love these when I come to Turkey. I made the koftas and they were lovely my house was smelling like Turkey .
I am so happy you have such a good feeling about my blog and Turkey! Smells are always so evocative, aren't they? Thanks for coming by!
Merhaba Claudia 🙂
Many thanks for the mention for the yaprak sarma, mum will be delighted to see it's in good use:) I love this sarma, and sometimes put some runner beans on top, like you did with plums, yummy:)
We are all in great festive mood in the UK for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, London looked amazing with the flags and party spirit – thought of you!
Enjoy Assos!
xx Ozlem
Hi there Özlem!! Your mum's recipe did the trick – honestly I looked at quite a few but liked hers the best. Runner beans would be really different! Do you ever get the chance to make these sarma in the UK?
I was glued to the TV yesterday and am about to run and turn it on again for the concert!!! But your weather is dismal :(((. What a shame. Thanks again for the super recipe. x
hi claudia…i have grapevines in my lower garden so i can just pick them. i can't wait to make these. do you ever add lemon or is that greek? i can't get the green plums here so maybe i will use lemon!
You are always so creative with your cooking! How come you have vines??? Where do you live exactly? I only know that lemon doesn't feature in these sarma so yes, maybe Greek. Look at Özlem's comment above re the plums: she uses runner beans!
You are lucky you have vine leaves in your garden……..I usually use the ones in a jar from the supermarket. I do see some lil' ladies picking those leaves in some public green areas around the city here…I don't, b/c I'm not sure what they are.I would think they are Greek, b/c we have a big population of them.
Your recipe is very similar to mine except I never seen those green plums put on top. Are they Eriks???
Thanks for sharing your recipes…I like how you put your pics up of the steps.
Thanks, Erica, for your lovely comments. They are always informative and you SHARE your experiences! That's great. I had never seen those plums on top either, I just read about them, mentioned that to my husband and here he goes and says YES he remembers his mum adding them!!! It was really odd how that really sour taste just disappeared in the cooking. I can't bear them normally.
Of course I could never resist sting several dozen of these in one sitting. These are my absolute favourite thing to snack on.
Gosh Val, you are fantastic – how do you know about things like stuffed vine leaves??? Yes hubby ate more or less the lot …. :))
I love these stuffed vines We call them Dolmatas. I will have to try your recipe and share with my family.
Hello Ellen B! I see you have become a follower – how kind. I will certainly check out yr blog asap …. 🙂 Thank you for coming by.
I haven't eaten stuffed vine leaves for years and wouldn't have had the first clue how to prepare them. Hope all is well with you Claudia. x
Hey Froggie! How nice to find a comment from you! You are such a great follower and I am so erratic…. Thank you so much. Can you get vine leaves in Reading??
Gorgeous garden and I love all of your photos! Just curious, are vine leaves and grape leaves the same? Do you call them vine leaves in the UK? I'm always fascinated by the differences in British English vs. American English.
Never seen plums on top before. Can't wait to get back to Bodrum to try this. I watched a tv program where a chef dipped vine leaves in a tempura batter and deep fried them. I've never tried this, have you?