Dolma

Dolma

Dolma is a family of stuffed vegetable dishes in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and surrounding regions, including Turkey, Libya, Egypt, Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, the Balkans, Greece, Iraq, Iran, Northern Sudan, Central and South Asia. Perhaps the best-known is the grape-leaf dolma, which is more precisely called yaprak dolma or sarma. Common vegetables to stuff include zucchini, eggplant, tomato and pepper. The stuffing may or may not include meat. Meat dolma are generally served warm, often with sauce; meatless ones are generally served cold, though meatless dolma are eaten both ways in Iran. Both are often eaten with yoghurt.

Filling

The filling generally consists of rice, minced meat or grain. In either case, the filling includes onion, parsley, herbs and spices. Meatless fillings are cooked with olive oil and include raisins, 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".

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. It is "fake" because it does not contain meat.

In some countries, the usual name for the dish is a phonetic variant of 'dolma' or 'yaprak' (meaning leaf in Turkish); in others, it is a translation, sometimes the two have distinct meanings: Albanian: japrak; Arabic: محشي, دولمة mahshi or dolma, محشي ورق عنب maḥshī waraq 'inab (grape leaf); Aramaic: t'urrpeh or yapraghe; Armenian: տոլմա tolma/dolma; Azerbaijani: dolma, Bosnian: dolma; Bulgarian: лозова сърма (lozova sur'ma - grape-leaf sarma) ; Georgian: ტოლმა tolma; Greek: ντολμάς [dol'mas] (grape-leaf), γεμιστά [jemis'ta] for vegetables; Ladino: yaprakes finos (grape-leaf); Montenegrin: japraci; Persian: دلمه dolmeh; Romanian: sarma (grape or cabbage leaf); Serbian: сарма (sarma).

Variants

Azerbaijani yarpag dolmasi and Turkish yaprak sarma style.

Syrian style, yalangi with baby carrots and potatoes

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), pomidor dolmasi (tomatoes 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.

Usually the three vegetables are cooked at the same time in the same pan. The stuffing is delicious on its own. Sometimes people add split peas to the filling, but it is only a matter of taste and is therefore optional. Also, eggplant shells are prepared in various ways before they are stuffed. Some blanch them in boiling water, some fry, some make a slit alongside the vegetable, some simply cut off the hat, scoop out the flesh and fill up the cavity with the stuffing.

In Turkey, there are two main categories of dolma; those filled with a meat mixture: minced meat ("kıyma"), onion, pinenut, 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) - "yalancı 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 (patlıcan dolma), zucchini/courgette (kabak dolma), plum (erikli dolma), collard greens (karalahana dolma), vine, chard and cabbage leaves (sarma), zucchini flowers (çiçek dolma) or mussels (midye dolma). Tomatoes, pumpkin and some fruits such as quince, apple or melon are also used to make dolma in Turkish cuisine. Mumbar dolması is an interesting type of dolma for which the intestines of sheep are filled with rice-meat-bean 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) can be added into the filling.

In Iran, 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).

In Cyprus stuffed vine leaves are called koupepia (Greek). Greek Cypriots call the rest of the stuffed vegetables either gemista (which means something stuffed in Greek) or dolmades (as a plural for dolma). When they stuff with spices and rice, they call them pseftika (fake) and this is done either for fasting or especially when they stuff zucchini flowers.

Among Albanians, minced meat (usually beef), rice and sliced potatoes are cooked in spices (salt, pepper, vegeta (food), paprika), folded into large leaves of steamed or boiled collard greens, then baked. There are other variations depending on personal taste and availability. White cabbage is used mainly among Albanians in Kosovo, whereas Albanians in Montenegro use alternately collard greens or white cabbage. In Kosovo, this dish is known as "sarma."

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. Although there are varying styles of how dolma is made.

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.

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 yaprekh 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.

In Greece there are many different variations of this dish, depending on the region. Some prepare it with an avgolemono (egg and lemon) sauce, others prefer a tomato sauce. Some Greeks cook the dolmathes in a pan in the oven, while others prefer to cook the dolmathes on the stovetop.

See also

• Cabbage roll
• Sarma
• Sogan-dolma

Cuisines

• Balkan cuisine
• Middle Eastern cuisine
• Turkish cuisine

References

• Alan Davidson, The Oxford Companion to Food. ISBN 0-19-211579-0.

External links

Media related to Dolma at Wikimedia Commons