Dolma

Dolma(Turkishfor "stuffed") is a family of stuffed dishes associated withOttoman cuisine, typically made with a filling of rice, minced meat,offal, seafood, fruit, or any combination of these inside a vegetable or a leaf wrapping. Wrapped dolma, specifically, are known assarma, made by rollinggrape,cabbage, or other leaves around the filling. Dolma can be served warm or at room temperature and are common in modern cuisines of regions and nations that once were part of theOttoman Empire.
Stuffed vegetable dishes have been a part ofWest Asian Cuisinefor centuries.Recipes for stuffed eggplant have been found inMedieval Arabic cookbooksand, inAncient Greek cuisine, fig leaves stuffed with sweetened cheese were calledthrion.The word dolma, ofTurkishorigin, means "something stuffed" or "filled".(A Turkishshare taxiis called adolmuşfor similar reasons). In some of the former Ottoman countries, native names have been retained or have blended with Turkish language terms, for example, in theArab states of the Persian Gulfand Damascus, stuffed leaves are calledmahshi yabraqormahshi brag, a combination of the Turkish word for leaf (yaprak) and theArabicterm for stuffed (mahshi).The origins of dolma, as suggested byThe Oxford Companion to Food, likely stem fromArmenian culinary traditionsbefore becoming integrated into Turkish cuisine.William Pokhlebkin, a specialist on culinary history and cookbook author, contends that the dish's inception traces back to Armenian culinary heritage:
Several dolma recipes were recorded in 19th-century Iran byNaser al-Din Shah Qajar's chef, including stuffed vine leaves, cabbage leaves,cucumbers, eggplants,apples, andquinces, with varied fillings prepared with ground meat, sauteed mint leaves, rice andsaffron.Iraqi Jewishfamilies have a version of dolma with sweet and sour flavors that were not found in other versions.Dolma are part ofcuisine of the Sephardic Jewsas well.Jews in the Ottoman Empireused locally grown grape leaves and adopted the Turkish name of the dish.
During winter months cabbage was a staple food for peasants in Persia and the Ottoman Empire, and it spread to the Balkans as well. Jews in Eastern Europe prepared variations of stuffed cabbage rolls withkoshermeat—this dish is calledholishkes. As meat was expensive, rice was sometimes mixed in with the meat. Jews in Europe would sometimes substitutebarley, bread orkasha(barley porridge) for the rice.There are similar Slaviccabbage rolls:golubtsyin Russian,holubtsiin Ukrainian,gołąbkiin Polish.
In the Persian Gulf,basmatirice is preferred, and the flavor of the stuffing may be enhanced using tomatoes, onions andcumin.Cabbage rollsenteredSwedish cuisine(where they are known askåldolmar) afterCharles XII, defeated by the Russians at thebattle of Poltava, returned to Sweden in 1715 with his Turkish creditors and their cooks.
Dolma dishes are found inTurkish,Balkan, SouthernCaucasian,Levantine cuisine,Palestinian,Mesopotamian,Persian,Israeli, MaghrebiandCentral Asian cuisine.
In the cuisine of theCrimean Tatars,dolmarefers to peppers stuffed with minced lamb or beef, rice, onion, salt, pepper. Carrots, greens, tomato paste, and spices can be added to the filling. When grape leaves are stuffed with the same filling, however, they are calledsarma.
In 2017, dolma making inAzerbaijanwas included in theUNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.
There are many varieties of thezeytinyağlı(with olive oil) andsağyağlı(with clarified butter)dolmas. Thezeytinyağlıdolmas are usually stuffed with rice and served cold with a garlic-yogurt sauce, but variations with meat based fillings are served warm, often withtahinioravgolemono sauce.
The origins of stuffed vine leaves are unknown. They can be made with meat or grain fillings, and served with garlic yogurt,tarbiyaor sweet and sour sauces made with pomegranate syrup and sour cherries. They are known asdolmehin Iran,dolmadesin Greece,koupepiain Cyprus,tolmain Armenia and Georgia,yarpaq dolmasıin Azerbaijanandyebrain Syria.Egyptians call this main coursemahshi(also spelledmashiormashy),but traditionally cabbage is used in the winter and vine leaves are used in the summer.Stuffed vine leaves without any meat, calledyalancı dolmain Turkish, are served at room temperature.
In several countries, cabbage rolls are stuffed with beans and tart fruits. It is wrapped with cabbage leaves, and stuffed with red beans, garbanzo beans, lentils, cracked wheat, tomato paste, onion and many spices and flavorings. Cabbage rolls are called Pasuts tolma (պասուց տոլմա) (Lenten dolma) inArmenianwhere they are of seven different grains – chickpea, bean, lentil, cracked wheat, pea, rice and maize.Armenian cooks sometimes userose hipsyrup to flavor stuffed cabbage rolls.Cabbage rolls also known askələm dolmasıin Azerbaijan
Mülebbes dolmais a historic recipe from the Ottoman era.Halep dolması—named forAleppo—is a dish of eggplants stuffed with a meat and rice filling that is flavored with spices and either sour plum flavoring syrup or lemon juice.Şalgam dolmaare stuffed Russian turnips.
Soğan dolması(soğanmeans "onion" in Turkish), or stuffed onions, are a traditional dish inBosnia, considered the specialty ofMostar. Ingredients include onions,minced beef,rice,oil,tomato purée,paprika,vinegarorsour cream,strained yogurt(locally known askiselo mlijeko, literally "sour milk"),black pepper,saltandspices. After the onion's skin is removed, the larger, external, layers (leaves) of onion bulbs are used as containers, so-called "shirts" (Old Turk."dolama(n)" for aspecial kindofOttomanrobe)for the meat stuffing. The remaining part of the onion is also used, mixed with the meat and fried on oil for a couple of minutes, to obtain the base of the stuffing. To extract the separate "shirts", the entire bulbs are cut on the top and then boiled until soft enough to be pried off, layer by layer. In order to prevent a further softening and crumbling, the bulbs should beblanched. The "shirts" are removed from the bulbs by slow and gentle finger pressure. Filled "shirts" ("dolme") are boiled slowly at low heat inbroth. The level of liquid should be sufficient to cover the dolmas entirely. Sogan-dolma are usually served with dense natural yogurt.
Enginar dolmasıis stuffed whole artichoke hearts. They may be stuffed with seasoned riceor ground meat cooked in fresh tomato sauce withaleppo pepper.Celery root may be substituted for the artichoke.
A regional specialty fromMardinis a mixed dolma platter. ThesumacandUrfa pepperseasoned rice filling is first wrapped with onion layers, vine leaves, and cabbage. The remainder of the rice is used to fill eggplant, zucchini, and stuffing peppers. The wrapped onion dolma are added on the bottom of a deep cooking pot and the stuffed vegetables, cabbage rolls, and stuffed vine leaves are layered on top of the onion dolmas. The entire pot of dolmas are cooked in sumac flavored water.
There are also seafood variants of dolma. Stuffed mussels or Midye dolma may be filled with rice, onion, black pepper and pimento spice.
The filling forkalamar dolma(stuffedcalamari) is made fromHalloumicheese, onion, fresh breadcrumbs, garlic and parsley. The whole tentacle is stuffed with the mixture and fried in a butter, olive oil and tomato sauce.For another variation a whole small squid may be stuffed with a bulgur and fresh herb mixture and baked in the oven.
Uskumru dolma(stuffedmackerel) is a staple of Istanbul cuisine. The version that was traditionally prepared by Armenian cooks is particularly well-regarded. After the fish is prepared by carefully separating the skin from the meat, the meat is sauteed with onions, currants, driedapricots,almonds,hazelnuts,pine nuts,walnuts, cinnamon,cloves, allspice,ginger, fresh herbs and lemon juice. The entire mixture is stuffed into the whole, intact skin. The stuffed mackerel is then either baked or preferably grilled long enough to brown the skin.
Sardines(sardalya) may be stuffed with a filling of kashar cheese, tomato, onion, dill and parsley.In Turkey, stuffed sardines may be served as a mezze platter at traditional taverns calledmeyhane.
There are several varieties of dolma made withoffal.Dalak dolması, widely considered a delicacy of Armenian origin, isspleenstuffed with rice that has been seasoned with allspice, salt, pepper, mint, parsley and onion. It may be served anaccompanimentwithanise-flavored liquor likearak,rakı,ouzooroghi.
Mumbardolmais intestine stuffed with a moist mixture of ground meat, rice, pepper,cuminand salt. The stuffed intestine is then boiled in water until it is cooked thoroughly, after which it may be sliced and fried in butter before serving.
There are some fruit-based dolmas as well likeşekerli ayva dolması(stuffed quinceswith a rice and currant filling, flavored withcoriander, cinnamon and sugar)andpekmezli ayva dolması(meat and bulgur stuffed quince flavored with a traditional Turkish syrup, similar to molasses, calledpekmez).Pekmezis also an ingredient in the meat-based variants ofelma dolması(stuffed apples) andsarı erık dolması(stuffed yellow plums).Iranian AzerbaijanisandPersian Jewsmay serve stuffed quince, calleddolma bay, as aSabbathmeal or duringSukkot.
One filling forstuffed applesis made from a high-quality cubed lamb shoulder calledkuşbaşı, ground lamb, and rice. First black grapes are boiled together withsumac—the resulting sumac flavored grape juice is drained and reserved. Thekuşbaşılamb is cooked in this sumac flavored grape juice. The apples are stuffed with a mixture of ground lamb combined with rice, salt, pepper and layered in a pot on top of the cooked chunks ofkuşbaşı. The apples are cooked in the remaining sumac flavored grape juice. Dried apricots and blanched almonds are added to the pot near the end of the cooking process.A meatless variant of the filling is made from a sauteed mixture of diced apples, diced pears, walnuts, hazelnut, currants, cinnamon, cloves, andstar anise. The hollowed out apples are stuffed with the mixture and baked in the oven. This version may be garnished with powdered sugar.
Stuffed melons were part of theOttoman palace cuisine. The recipe survives in modern Yemenite and Armenian cooking.
It is customary for Jewish families to eat stuffed cabbage onSimchat Torah.
Assyriansprepare meatless dolmas forLent.When traditional ingredients are not available, the Armenian Christian community inWest Bengal, India celebratesChristmaswithpotoler dorma, a local variation fromAnglo-Indian cuisine.Stuffed vegetables calledgemistaortsounidisare also common inGreek cuisine.
Muslim families often serve dolma as part of theiftarmeal duringRamadanand during theEid al-Fitrcelebrations that mark the end of the holy month. Large pots of dolma are prepared during theNovruzfestival.