Dolma is a family of stuffed vegetable dishes in Turkish cuisine and the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and surrounding regions, including, 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
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 "yalanci" which literally means "liar", "false" or "fake" in Turkish. It is "false" because it does not contain meat.
In some countries, the usual name for the dish is a phonetic variant of 'dolma' or 'yaprak' ; Montenegrin: japraci; Turkish: dolma.
Variants
In Turkey, there are two main categories of dolma; those filled with a meat mixture: minced meat can be 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.
In Armenian cuisine, minced lamb meat with rice is wrapped into grape leaves . 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 . They are often eaten with hot mamaliga 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 .
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.
