Welcome to Culinary Compass! In this video, we’re diving into the absolute best way to make Zeytinyağlı Sarma (Olive Oil Stuffed Grape Leaves). Forget everything you thought you knew about these classic Mediterranean appetizers—this practical, raw-filling method ensures every dolma is perfectly flavored, tender, and incredibly satisfying.
We skip the lengthy step of pre-cooking the filling (a common approach) and instead focus on mastering a flavorful mixture of rice, bulgur, fresh herbs, and plenty of olive oil. We also share professional cooking techniques for rolling them pencil-thin on a cutting board, maximizing yield and presentation, and discuss how to layer them correctly in the pot for optimal cooking (a key piece of culinary education!). If you love authentic Turkish meze or are looking for a delicious, healthy, and naturally vegan dish, this is the recipe you need.
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⭐️ FULL RECIPE: Zeytinyağlı Sarma ⭐️
FILLING INGREDIENTS:
* 2.2 pounds of brined grape leaves (Tokat leaves recommended)
* 1.5 cups of rice
* 1.5 cups of bulgur
* 1.5 tablespoons of tomato paste
* 0.5 tablespoon of pepper paste
* 2 medium-sized onions (finely chopped)
* 0.5 bunch of parsley (finely chopped)
* 1/4 cup of olive oil
* 1 tablespoon of dried mint
* 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
* 1 teaspoon of salt (adjust based on leaf saltiness)
* 1 teaspoon of black pepper
* 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
* 1/2 cup warm water (for filling mixture)
COOKING SAUCE:
* 1 cup of vegetable oil
* 0.5 tablespoon of tomato paste
* 0.5 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
* 3 cups of boiled water
* 0.5 tablespoon of sumac
* 0.5 teaspoon of salt
INSTRUCTIONS HIGHLIGHTS:
1. Wash rice and bulgur. Combine with pastes, chopped onions, parsley, spices (heavy on the mint), and olive oil. Knead until well combined. Add warm water and knead again.
2. Roll the leaves thinly, rough side up, placing filling near the stem end, folding sides, and rolling tightly.
3. Line a wide pot with extra grape leaves. Arrange the rolled dolma tightly, alternating layers (flat then upside down) for even cooking. Top with lemon slices and protective leaves.
4. Prepare the sauce by sautéing tomato paste and pepper flakes in oil, then adding boiling water, sumac, and salt.
5. Pour boiling sauce over the dolma. Give the pot a gentle shake. Cook on medium heat until boiling, then reduce to the lowest heat and simmer until rice and bulgur are tender.
Hello everyone. Welcome to my channel. In today’s video, I have an incredibly delicious and very practical olive oil-based stuffed grape leaf recipe that will make you forget everything you thought you knew about stuffed grape leaves. Let’s just say you absolutely have to try it with my recipe, folks. Let’s jump right into the recipe with all the details. For 2.2 lbs of brine grape leaves, let’s take 1.5 cups of rice and 1.5 cups of bular into a mixing bowl. After washing the rice and bular with plenty of water, let’s add 1.5 tbsp of tomato paste in half. a tablespoon of pepper paste. Next, let’s add two medium-sized onions and half a bunch of parsley finely chopped for cooking. Finally, we’ll add the spices, everyone. The absolute must- have spice here is mint, so we’re using plenty of it. 1 tbsp of mint, 1 tesp of red pepper flakes, 1 teassp of salt, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, and 1 teaspoon of dried oregano. And finally, after adding 1/4 cup of olive oil, let’s start kneading. Make sure to adjust the salt in your filling based on the saltiness of your leaves. Folks, since I soaked the leaves overnight, they released a good amount of salt. So, I used just enough salt. This is different from the classic sweet dolma with currants and pine nuts that we usually make. This is a much more practical recipe compared to cooking the filling first. For our stuffed grape leaves, I highly recommend you try this way, too. After adding about 1 2 cup of warm water, let’s knead it again like this and then start wrapping our stuffed grape leaves with the filling we just prepared. Let’s get started with wrapping. For my stuffed grape leaves, I chose tet grape leaves. Of course, as you know, they are much prettier, much thinner, and easier to roll. As you know, let’s arrange the leaves with the stem removed on our cutting board or any flat surface like this. Of course, you can also roll them by hand if you’re comfortable doing that. I don’t know how you prefer to roll your stuffed grape leaves, but I personally prefer them rolled thinly like this on a cutting board. Let’s gather the rolled grape leaves beautifully arranged to your liking until your wrapping is done before placing them in the pot. When rolling the stuffed grape leaves, first let’s take the leaves with the stem removed and lay them on a flat surface with the rough side facing up. Then in the area where the stem was, let’s place a little bit of the filling there. And now folding in the sides like this. Let’s roll them up thinly. And let’s continue rolling until all the leaves are used To cook our stuffed grape leaves, let’s choose a wide pot. Let’s cover the bottom of our pot with grape leaves like this. And let’s start arranging our pencil thin rolled grape leaves in the pot there. If we lay the bottom layer flat, we should definitely try to lay the top layer upside down. You’ll see that they cook much better this way. After filling the pot with all the leaves, let’s place thinly sliced lemon slices on top here. And to prevent them from darkening, let’s cover the top with our grape leaves as well. Yes, for my stuffed grape leaves which I prepared raw, I always prefer to make the sauce with tomato paste. If you prefer, you can also cook your leaves by simply sprinkling sumac and salt on top and drizzling with olive oil. I’m going to prepare the tomato paste sauce. Now, in a suitable saucepan, let’s add about one cup of vegetable oil. After adding half a tablespoon of tomato paste, let’s add half a teaspoon of red pepper flakes and saute the paste until fragrant. To the well sauteed tomato paste, let’s add about 3 cups of water that we boiled separately. While our tomato paste sauce is simmering, let’s add about half a tablespoon of sumac on top. And finally, after adding half a teaspoon of salt, let’s pour this boiling sauce over our stuffed grape leaves. Later I added a little more water. Folks, the cooking time for each leaf is different. Check for dness and add water if necessary while cooking. Try to cook them. Let’s give the pot a gentle shake to make sure the water has reached the bottom. Right. First let it boil on medium heat. Then reduce to the lowest heat and cook with the lid on.
Dining and Cooking