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Dolma

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Dolma

Dolma is a family of stuffed vegetable dishes in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and surrounding regions, including Turkey, Albania, Azerbaijan, Armenia, the Middle East, the Balkans, Greece, and Central Asia. Perhaps the best-known is the grape-leaf dolma, which is more precisely called yaprak dolma or sarma. Common vegetables to stuff include tomatoes and peppers. The stuffing may include meat or not. Meat dolma are generally served warm, often with sauce; meatless ones are generally served cold. Both can be eaten along with yoghurt.

Filling

The filling may be minced meat, rice or grain. In either case, the filling includes lemon juice, onion, parsley, herbs and spices. Meatless fillings are cooked with olive oil and include dried grapes, nuts or pulses.

Names and etymology

Preparing dolma

Dolma is a verbal noun of the Turkish verb dolmak 'to be stuffed', and means simply 'stuffed thing'.[1][2]

Dolma, strictly speaking, is a stuffed vegetable, that is, a vegetable that is hollowed out and filled with stuffing. This applies to courgette, tomato, pepper, eggplant and the like; stuffed mackerel, squid and mussel are also called "dolma". Dishes involving wrapping leaves such as vine leaves or cabbage leaves around a filling are called 'sarma' though in many languages, the distinction is usually not made. Sarma is derived from the Turkish verb sarmak which means to wrap. Other variants derive from the Turkish word for 'leaf', yaprak.

Dolma cooked with olive oil without minced meat is sometimes called yalancı which literally means "liar", "false" or "fake" in Turkish. The reason for which it is described "false" is that it does not contain meat.

In some countries, the usual name for the dish is a phonetic variant of 'dolma' or 'yaprak'; in others, it is a translation, sometimes the two have distinct meanings: Arabic: محشي, دولمه mahshi or dolma, محشي ورق عنب mahshi warak einab (grape leaf); Aramaic: prakheh; Armenian: տոլմա tolma/dolma; Azerbaijani: dolma, Bosnian: dolma; Bulgarian: сърма ; Georgian: ტოლმა tolma; Greek: ντολμάς [dol'mas] (grape-leaf), γεμιστά [yemis'ta] for vegetables; Ladino: yaprakes finos (grape-leaf); Persian: دلمه dolmeh; Romanian: sarma (grape or cabbage leaf); Montenegrin: japraci; Turkish: dolma.

Variants

Turkish style yaprak sarma.
Syrian style, yalangi with baby carrots and potatoes

In Turkey, there are two main categories of dolma; those filled with a meat mixture: minced meat ("kıyma"), onion, rice, oil and some spices and those filled with a rice mixture (without meat): rice, olive oil, pinenuts, currants (or dried figs/cherries), herbs (fresh parsley and mint) and spices (usually allspice, cinnamon and black pepper). Meat dolma is always eaten hot; meatless ones, "zeytinyağlı dolma" (dolma with olive oil) - "yalanci dolma" (false dolma), usually at room temperature, as a meze. Dolma with meat is a main-course and always served with yogurt. An egg-milk based sauce is sometimes used for yaprak sarma with meat in some regions. Common types include peppers (biber dolma), eggplant/aubergine (patlican dolma), zucchini/courgette (kabak dolma), plum (erikli dolma), collard greens (karalahana dolma), grape vine, chard and cabbage leaves (sarma), zucchini flowers (Çiçek dolma) or mussels (midye dolma). Tomatoes, pumpkin and some fruits such as quince or apple are also used for dolma in Turkey. Mumbar dolması is an interesting type of dolma for which the intestines of sheep are filled with rice-meat mixture. In some regions rice is replaced or mixed with "bulgur" (pounded wheat). The inner part of some vegetables or fruits (which is hollowed out) is most of the time added into the filling.

In Azerbaijan, small portions of minced lamb meat (or lamb-and-beef) are mixed with leek and rice. They may be wrapped into grape or cabbage leaves, or be stuffed into eggplants, green peppers, tomatoes, apples or quince. The most common varieties of the Azerbaijani dolma are yarpag dolmasi (grape leaf dolma), kalam dolmasi (cabbage leaf dolma), badimjan dolmasi (eggplant dolma), bibar dolmasi (green pepper dolma), yalanchi dolma (lit. "false dolma"; meat replaced by rice), pib dolmasi (meat wrapped into linden leafs picked up in mid-May), dali dolma (meat mixed with rice, peas, rapontica, dill and/or mint and stuffed into eggplants), lavangi dolmasi (originated in the Talysh region; baby eggplants stuffed with fish), shirin dolma (lit. "sweet dolma"; meat mixed with chestnuts, plums and concentrated grape juice, and wrapped into cabbage leaves). Sour clotted milk is used as a sauce.

File:ArmenianTolma.gif
Armenian tpov tolma and Echmiadzin tolma

In Armenian cuisine, minced lamb meat with rice is wrapped into grape leaves (tpov tolma - թփով տոլմա) or occasionally in cabbage leaves (kaghambi tolma - կաղամբի տոլմա). This dish is condimented with coriander, dill, mint, pepper, cinnamon and melted butter. Sometimes chestnuts and peas are part of the mix. Sour milk is often used as a sauce. Eggplants, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, onions, quince and apples are also stuffed with lamb meat and also called dolma. Echmiadzin tolma utilizes eggplants, green peppers, tomatoes, apples, and quinces.

In Romania, they are wrapped either in grape leaves (sarmale în foi de viţă), in cabbage leaves (sarmale în foi de varză) or in bell peppers (ardei umpluţi). They are often eaten with hot mămăliga and sour cream or yogurt.

In Iran and Afghanistan , the mixture of ground lamb or beef, rice, split yellow peas, and savory herbs is used as the filling, wrapped either in grape vine leaves (dolmeh barg mo - دلمه برگ مو), cabbage leaves (dolmeh kalam - دلمه کلم), eggplant or aubergine (dolmeh bādenjān - دلمه بادنجان), tomato (dolmeh gojeh farangi - دلمه گوجه‌فرنگی), or in bell peppers (dolmeh felfel - دلمه فلفل).

Kåldolmar is a Swedish dish inspired by dolma, probably brought to Sweden by king Karl XII who was held captive by the Turks in Bender after losing the Battle of Poltava against the Russians. It is made of cabbage instead of grape leaves and contains minced pork or beef and rice. It is eaten with boiled potatoes, brown sauce and lingonberry jam.

In Iraq, the mixture of ground lamb or beef with rice is usually made with many different fillings on the same preparing pot, as well as pomegranate juice which gives it a unique taste. The Assyrians of Iraq may either call it Dolma or prakheh which is the Aramaic term for stuffed grape leaves. It is usually served with plain yoghurt (masta) or khalwah which is a yogurt mixture of cucumbers and spices similar to jajeek.

See also

References

  1. ^ Merriam-Webster Online - Dolma
  2. ^ Encyclopedia Iranica. Dolma.
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