This delicious stuffed vine leaf dish (sarma) is not the quickest one to make. Yet, it is so delicious! Made with tender blanched vine (grape) leaves and flavoursome rice stuffing, homemade sarmas are wonderfully fragrant and juicy and taste so much better than the ready-made ones that you can buy in-store. The trickiest part of making sarmas is rolling them. However, when you get the knack for it, you will find out that it’s not that difficult. Vine leaf parcels are great to serve as an appetiser or a main course. Although my recipe calls for chicken, sarmas can be prepared easily without meat, as a vegetarian meal.

HISTORY OF THE STUFFED VINE LEAF DISH (SARMA).

Although many give credit for this dish to the Ottomans, Byzantine historians and archaeologists found evidence that similar dishes existed even before the Ottoman Empire in Ancient Greece. 

Sarma (Stuffed vine leaf) is commonly known as a Balkan dish, but there are similar dishes in the Azerbaijanian and Armenian cuisines as well. Even today, the two neighbouring countries argue over the origins of this dish.

Regardless of where the Sarma dish originated, the fact remains that the stuffed vine leaves dish was deeply rooted in Ottoman cuisine. In the 17th century, the sultan employed an army of chefs in his palace in Istanbul to create and improve recipes, and the sarma dish was one of the recipes they improved. 

The name of the dish sarma comes from the Turkish verb sarmak, meaning to wrap around. Another name for this dish in Turkey is dolma or tolma. They come from the Turkish verb dolmak and translate as to fill or stuff (something). Although there are arguments that dolma refers to stuffed vegetables, not stuffed leaves, both names of the dish are common in Turkey.

Greeks call this dish dolmade, and the rest of the Balkan countries have adopted the Turkish name sarma. 

Stuffed vine leaf parcels are authentic food in Iran and Azerbaijan. While in Iran, the recipe is pretty similar to the Turkish one and contains rice stuffing, in Azerbaijan, dolmas have bulgar wheat and/or lentil stuffing.

Recipes for RICE DISHES ON MY BLOG:

• One-Pot Chicken & Rice
• One-Pot Sauerkraut & Rice

VARIATIONS OF STUFFED LEAF RECIPES.

In the Balkans, vine leaves are commonly stuffed with rice and meat, and although there are recipe versions in which the rice is substituted with beans, they are not that common.

You can stuff leaves with pork, beef, chicken or lamb. And, even though not that common, another intriguing variation of the Stuffed Vine Leaves recipe calls for fish meat.

Recipes can vary by the use of different vegetables, like carrots, celery, garden peas, tomatoes and leak. Not that common are sarma recipes made with nuts, raisins and pomegranate seeds. They have a strong Middle Eastern link.

Other authentic Balkan leaf parcel recipes, similar to the stuffed vine leaves, are made with sauerkraut, courgette/ zucchini blossoms, linden and dock leaf.

In Bulgaria, where I come from, it is customary to stuff vine leaves in summer and sauerkraut leaves in winter. They both are delicious dishes, but my favourite is the Stanimashki Sarmi, made with sauerkraut. That is probably because my granny used to make them for me and her sarmas were always so delicious, small and juicy.

HOW TO PRESERVE VINE LEAVES?

Always preserve healthy, tender and large leaves.

METHOD 1: sterilise vine leaves in brine

To do that, first, soak the leaves in a large bowl of cold water for 20 minutes. You can add a drop of washing liquid to the water which will help loosen dirt or pesticides on the leaves. Then rinse the vine leaves very well under running water.

Boil water in your kitchen kettle. Dissolve two tablespoons of salt per 500ml of boiled water to make the brine. Pour the brine into the jar of vine leaves.

Arrange ten well-washed vine leaves on top of each other, then fold them into a roll. Place the vine leaf rolls inside a sterilised jar. Stuff the jar with as many rolls of vine leaves as you can fit inside the jar.

Use a plastic cap to keep the vine leaf rolls submerged in the brine.

You can keep the jar of vine leaves in brine in the fridge for up to a month without sterilising them. However, if you plan to keep them for longer, process the closed jars in a water bath. Canned jars of vine leaves are good for up to one year.

METHOD 2: freeze vine leaves

Before freezing the vine leaves, wash them well and place them flat inside a freezer bag. Keep in the freeze and consume within a couple of months.

HOW TO MAKE STUFFED VINE LEAF (SARMA)?

📋 INGREDIENTS IN MY RECIPE

Rice: This recipe calls for large-grain white rice, like everyday rice. Brown rice can be used but it will change the taste and the texture of the stuffing because it is denser than white rice.

Vine leaves: Fresh vine leaves or canned vine leaves work well with this recipe. For the best taste and texture, vine leaves must be picked up young and tender. Older vine leaves have thick veins, unpleasant to eat.

Meat: Sarmas can be made with minced meat or with meat cut into small pieces. In this recipe I use chicken meat, diced into small pieces, but you can substitute the chopped chicken meat with minced meat.

Vegetables: Although some recipes omit carrots and celery, they will add to the flavours and texture of the dish.

Spices: Common spices used in Balkan sarma recipes are sweet paprika, black pepper, cinnamon, cumin and savoury.

Fresh herbs: Traditionally, the most commonly used herbs in this dish are parsley and dill, but you can replace the parsley with coriander.

📖 STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Making this recipe is not difficult but it does takes time to make the parcels. You can cook the sarmi in a clay pot, a cast iron casserole dish or any large pot with heavy bottom and a lid.

Step 1: GET READY THE ingredients for the STUFFING

Peel and chop the onions finely and mince the garlic in a garlic press. Peel and grate the carrots with a large size grater. Wash and grate the celery. You can mix the grated celery with the carrots. Wash, dice or grate the tomato.

What meat to use in this recipe?

You can use ready-made chicken mincemeat or chicken breast for the stuffing. I prefer using chicken breasts because they don’t shrink much and you can taste the meat in the stuffing better.

Prepare the rice for the stuffing: Let the rice soak for 15-20 minutes in a bowl. Transfer it to a colander and rinse it well under your tab. Rub the rice between your fingers under the running water until the water passing through the rice is clean.

Step 2: Prepare the vine leaves for stuffing

Wash fresh leaves well before use. It is a good idea to soak the vine leaves in water as soon as you have picked them so they do not dry out. The water helps to loosen dry dirt particles on the leaves and makes it easier to wash them.

Next, blanch the clean vine leaves in boiling water. To do that, boil water in your kitchen kettle. Place the leaves in a large bowl and pour the boiling hot water inside the bowl. Leave the leaves to soak in hot water for a few minutes until their colour changes.

Leave the blanched leaves in cold water to prevent them from drying out.

Canned vine leaves are ready to use straight away. Defrost frozen vine leaves in warm water and then blanch them for a few minutes in boiling water.

Step 3: Make the SARMA stuffinG

Heat oil in a large heavy-based pan and saute the chopped onion until transparent, for 2-3 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Add the grated carrot and celery to the pan with the onions and sauté the vegetables for extra 3-4 minutes, then add the garlic to the pan. Stir occasionally to make sure the vegetables cook evenly.

If you are making the vine leaf stuffing with chicken breasts: Cut the meat into small pieces to fit easily inside the vine leaf. Place the meat in the pan and stir well to coat it with the vegetables.

Add the dry spices to the pan, and stir to combine with the meat. Saute the meat with the spices for a couple of minutes, stirring regularly to ensure the spices do not burn. If burned, the spices leave a bitter taste in your dish.

Add the diced tomato to the pan, stir and let them sauté for 5-10 minutes with the meat. When the juices from the meat and the tomato are reduced, add the rice to the pan and mix well to combine with the rest of the ingredients. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the rice is par-cooked. Stir occasionally.

If using fresh herbs, chop them finely. Add them to the pan with the rice.

Step 4: Stuff the vine leaves

Stuffing the vine leaves is the most challenging part of making these parcels. It is a fiddly job. Ensure the vine leaf parcels are closed tightly to avoid the stuffing falling out during the cooking. See instructions on how to pack the leaves below:

Place 1-2 tablespoons of stuffing into each leave. Then fold the bottom of the leaf over the stuffing and tuck it in. Fold in the sides of the vine leaf neatly on the top, then close the parcel by folding the top of the leaf tightly over the vine leaf parcel.

Use a clay pot dish with a lid to cook the STUFFED vine leaf.

If you do not have a clay pot dish, you can use a casserole dish with a lid.

Arrange the ready-made vine leaf parcels along the wall of the clay pot first and continue placing the stuffed vines in small circles from the walls to the centre of the pot until the bottom of the pot is covered.

Ensure the vine parcels are packed tightly and stay in place when you pour the liquid into the pot. This will also prevent them from opening and falling apart during cooking. You can arrange two or more layers of sarmas inside the pot. Position tightly the second layer directly on top of the first one.

Pour the salted water and oil into the pot and ensure the stuffed vine leaves are fully submerged in the water.

To prevent the vine parcels from moving when the water starts boiling, place a plate on top of them in the pot. The weight of the plate will keep them in place.

Step 5: Cook the vine leaf parcels

Preheat the oven to hot, 220 °C/428 °F. If you are using a fan oven, reduce the temperature accordingly. Fan ovens are hotter than conventional ovens.

Place the clay pot with the stuffed vine leaves in the middle of the hot oven. When the water in the pot starts bubbling, reduce the heat to 170 °C/223 °F. That will take roughly 5-10 minutes. Cook the stuffed parcels for 25 minutes from the moment the water starts boiling.

🍲 SERVE THESE MOUTH-WATERING VINE LEAF PARCELS

Sarmas taste best warm, straight out of the oven.

The Greeks serve their Dolmades (Stuffed vine Leaves) drizzled with fresh lemon juice, the Turks have them topped with a yoghurt dip and the Iranians make a special tahini sauce to go with this dish. But, my favourite way to serve stuffed vine leaf parcels is with a dressing of sweet paprika sauteed in melted butter and topped with garlic and yoghurt sauce.

How to make garlic and yoghurt DIP for this dish?

This sauce is really easy to make and brings a wonderful piquant flavour to the dish making it very appetising. To make the sauce, press 1-2 garlic cloves in a garlic press, then stir the garlic into 1 cup of yoghurt. Serve the sauce in a sauce dish for everyone to add as much sauce as they like to their plate.

Bon Appétit! 👨‍🍳👨‍🍳👨‍🍳