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Dolma (Turkish language for "stuffed") is a family of stuffed dishes associated with Ottoman cuisine, typically made with a filling of rice, minced meat, offal, seafood, fruit, or any combination of these inside either a leaf wrapping or a hollow or hollowed-out vegetable (e.g. a bell pepper). Stuffed leaves, specifically, are known as sarma, and are made by rolling grape leaves, cabbage, or other leaves around the filling. Less commonly, both fruits and meat (particularly offal) may also be stuffed with similar fillings and termed dolma. Dolma can be served warm or at room temperature and are common in modern cuisines of regions and nations that once were part of the Ottoman Empire.
"From the 17th to the early 19th century, Armenia was divided between Turkey and Iran. During this period, Armenia's economy, its human and material resources declined, but its spiritual and material culture remained unchanged, and Armenian cuisine did not perish. On the contrary, Armenians contributed to the cuisine of the Seljuk Turks, so many truly Armenian dishes later became known in Europe through the Turks as, allegedly, Turkish cuisine (for example, dolma)."
Dolma in Western Armenian and Georgian is tolma in Eastern Armenian. Several dolma recipes were recorded in 19th-century Iran by Naser al-Din Shah Qajar's chef, including stuffed vine leaves, cabbage leaves, , eggplants, , and , with varied fillings prepared with ground meat, sauteed mint leaves, rice and saffron. Iraqi Jewish families have a version of dolma with sweet and sour flavors that were not found in other versions. Dolma are part of cuisine of the Sephardic Jews as well.
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 with kosher meat—this dish is called holishkes. As meat was expensive, rice was sometimes mixed in with the meat. Jews in Europe would sometimes substitute barley, bread or kasha (barley porridge) for the rice. There are similar Slavic : golubtsy in Russian, holubtsi in Ukrainian, gołąbki in Polish.
In the Persian Gulf, basmati rice is preferred, and the flavor of the stuffing may be enhanced using tomatoes, onions and cumin. Cabbage rolls entered Swedish cuisine (where they are known as kåldolmar) after Charles XII, defeated by the Russians at the battle of Poltava, returned to Sweden in 1715 with his Turkish creditors and their cooks.
In 2017, dolma making in Azerbaijan was included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists. Dolma making and sharing tradition, a marker of cultural identity . UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Stuffed peppers (, , ) is a dish common in many cuisines, while mostly popular in Armenia, Greece and Turkey. It consists of hollowed Bell pepper filled with rice, herbs, onions, currants and optionally Raisin. While the Armenian version adds tarragon, Mentha, Walnut and/or Pine nut to the stuffing. In the cuisine of the Crimean Tatars, dolma refers 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 called sarma.
() is a turnip dolma popular in Jordan and the West Bank (notably in Hebron and as-Salt). The turnips are stuffed with spiced rice and minced meat and are lightly fried before being cooked in a tamarind sauce.
Mülebbes dolma is a historic recipe from the Ottoman era. Şalgam dolma are stuffed Russian turnips.
Enginar dolması is stuffed whole artichoke hearts. They may be stuffed with seasoned rice or ground meat cooked in fresh tomato sauce with aleppo pepper. Celery root may be substituted for the artichoke.
Eggplant dolma is a dish popular in a few countries. In Armenia, It is called lts’onats smbuk or smbukov dolma () and is traditionally made with hollowed eggplant that is filled with rice, meat, herbs (tarragon, mint, parsley, coriander) onions, currants, walnuts or pinenuts and optionally Raisin. While another version prepares the filling with onions, garlic, tomatoes, Cinnamon, allspice, cumin, turmeric, black pepper, Prunus armeniaca and Pomegranate. There also is an Armenian cuisine version making this dish using the dried skin and outer layer of an eggplant. In Turkey, this dish is called Halep dolması, named after Aleppo. It 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.
A regional specialty from Mardin is a mixed dolma platter. The sumac and Urfa pepper seasoned 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.
Different forms of stuffed carrots are popular in some cuisines in West Asia, such as Armenian cuisine and Palestinian cuisine, usually they stuffed with rice and ground meat, and are cooked in tamarind sauce.
The filling for stuffed squid is made from halloumi cheese, onion, 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.
Stuffed mackerel (, ), or stuffed trout () are staples of Armenian cuisine and Turkish cuisine. While the trout (typically sevan trout) version is more specific to Armenia. The version that was traditionally prepared by Armenians 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, dried apricots, almonds, hazelnuts, pine nuts, walnuts, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, fresh herbs and lemon juice. The entire mixture is stuffed into the whole, intact skin, or grape leaves. The stuffed mackerel is then either baked or preferably grilled long enough to brown the skin.
Stuffed sardines () are often filled with Kasseri, tomato, onion, basil and parsley.In Greece and Turkey, stuffed sardines may be served as a Meze platter at traditional eateries called taverna, or meyhane.
Mumbar dolma is intestine stuffed with a moist mixture of ground meat, rice, pepper, cumin and 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.
Stuffed apples (, , ) is a dish mostly popular in Armenia, Iran and Turkey. Turkish cuisine stuffed apples are made from cubed lamb, ground lamb, rice, black pepper and sumac flavored grape syrup. Dried apricots and blanched almonds are added to the pot near the end of the cooking process. Armenian cuisine stuffed apples are made with apples stuffed with minced meat, parsley, Mentha, tarragon, black pepper, salt, Raisin, Prunus armeniaca, Walnut, allspice, cinnamon, sumac, cumin, sumac flavored grape syrup, sautéed onions and garlic. This type of stuffed apples is called Vagharshapat Dolma as well. Iranian cuisine stuffed apples are made with apples that are stuffed with onion, turmeric, Clove, butter, minced meat, rice, cinnamon, pepper, grape syrup, lemon juice, and brown sugar. A meatless variant of the filling for stuffed apples is made from a sauteed mixture of diced apples, diced pears, walnuts, hazelnut, currants, cinnamon, cloves, and star anise. The hollowed out apples are stuffed with the mixture and baked in the oven. This version may be garnished with powdered sugar. This version is most popular in Armenia and Turkey.
Stuffed melon were part of the Ottoman palace cuisine. The recipe survives in modern Turkish, Yemeni cuisine, Iranian and Armenian cooking.
Stuffed mallow (; Arabic language: خبازة محشية; Hebrew language: עלי חלמית ממולאים, romanized: Aley Ḥalmith Meemou'laim; Turkish language: Ebegümeci sarması) is a generic name for dishes made of Malvaceae leaves, stuffed with meat (lamb) and rice, or, more rarely, rice only. Other names are Mallow Sarma or Mallow Dolma. It is mostly popular in Kurdistan (Kurdish populated regions) Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Palestine and the Balkans, where it may be served with yogurt.
Assyrian people prepare meatless dolmas for Lent. When traditional ingredients are not available, the Armenian Christian community in West Bengal, India celebrates Christmas with potoler dorma, a local variation from Anglo-Indian cuisine. Stuffed vegetables called gemista or tsounidis are also common in Greek cuisine.
Muslim families often serve dolma as part of the iftar meal during Ramadan and during the Eid al-Fitr celebrations that mark the end of the holy month. Large pots of dolma are prepared during the Nowruz festival.
(2011). 9780538734974, Cengage Learning. ISBN 9780538734974 Jews in the Ottoman Empire used locally grown grape leaves and adopted the Turkish name of the dish.
Distribution
Dolma dishes are found in Balkan cuisine, West Asian, Maghrebi cuisine and Central Asian cuisine.
Variants
There are many varieties of dolma with olive oil and clarified butter. The olive oil based dolmas are usually stuffed with rice and served cold with a garlic-yogurt sauce, but variations with meat based fillings are served warm, often with tahini or avgolemono sauce.
Stuffed vine leaves
The origins of stuffed vine leaves, or sarma, are unknown. They can be made with meat or grain fillings, and served with garlic yogurt, tarbiya or sweet and sour sauces made with pomegranate syrup and sour cherries. They are known as dolmeh in Iran, dolmades in Greece, koupepia in Cyprus, tolma sardu or terevor tolma in Armenia, yarpaq dolması in Azerbaijan, and yebra in Syria. Egyptians call it mahshi waraq enab (محشي ورق عنب), this version of dolma, or mahshi as it's called in Egypt, is typically eaten during the summer season. Stuffed vine leaves without any meat, called yalanchi dolma in Turkish and Western Armenian, are served at room temperature.
Cabbage rolls
In several countries, cabbage rolls are stuffed with beans and tart fruits. It is wrapped with Cabbage, and stuffed with Red bean, garbanzo beans, Lentil, Wheat, tomato paste, onion and many spices and flavorings. Cabbage rolls are called Pasuts tolma (պասուց տոլմա) (Lenten dolma) in Armenian where they are of seven different grains – chickpea, bean, lentil, cracked wheat, pea, rice and maize. Armenians cooks sometimes use rose hip syrup to flavor stuffed cabbage rolls. Cabbage rolls also known as kələm dolması in Azerbaijan During winter in Egypt cabbage is traditionally used to make mahshi, these cabbage rolls are called mahshi kromb (محشي كرمب).
Vegetables
Soğan dolması ( soğan means "onion" in Turkish language), lts’onats sokh (; meaning “stuffed onion”), or stuffed onions, are a traditional dish in Turkey, Armenia and Bosnia. The ingredients include onions, minced beef, rice, oil, tomato purée, paprika, vinegar or sour cream, strained yogurt, black pepper, Edible salt and spices. After the onion's skin is removed, the larger, external, layers (leaves) of onion bulbs are used as containers, so-called "shirts" 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 be blanched. The "shirts" are removed from the bulbs by slow and gentle finger pressure. Filled "shirts" are boiled slowly at low heat in broth. The level of liquid should be sufficient to cover the dolmas entirely. Onion dolma are usually served with dense natural yogurt.
Türkiye Ekonomik ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı (1994). 9789757306061, Kültür Bakanlığı. ISBN 9789757306061 In the Arab world, this dish is known as makdous (). It is a dish of oil-cured Aubergine. These are miniature, tangy eggplants stuffed with Walnut, Capsicum, garlic, olive oil, and salt. Sometimes chilli powder is added.
Seafood
There are also seafood variants of dolma. Stuffed mussels (; ) may be filled with rice, onion, black pepper, allspice, lemon juice, Pine nut and salt.
Offal
There are several varieties of dolma made with offal. Stuffed Intestines (), widely considered a delicacy of Armenian cuisine origin, is spleen stuffed with rice and meat that has been seasoned with allspice, salt, pepper, mint, parsley and onion. It may be served an meze with anise-flavored liquor like arak, rakı, ouzo or oghi.
Fruit-based dolmas
There are some fruit-based dolmas as well like stuffed quinces (, , ). There are many variations of this dish. One has a rice and currant filling, flavored with coriander, cinnamon and sugar. Another variation uses meat and bulgur to stuff the quince thats then flavored with grape syrup. (2025). 9789759521653, Birlik Matbaacılık. ISBN 9789759521653 Armenian cuisine stuffed quinces specifically are made with quince, minced meat or cubed meat, onion, rice, Pine nut or Walnut, Raisin, Prunus armeniaca, cinnamon, grape syrup, allspice, Clove, Black pepper, salt and butter. This type of stuffed quinces is called Vagharshapat Dolma. Iranian cuisine stuffed quinces are made with quince, minced meat or cubed meat, almond, pistachio, Berberis, butter, cardamom, coriander, tarragon, plum, onion, saffron, salt, pepper, turmeric and cinnamon. Grape syrup is also an ingredient in the meat-based variants of stuffed apples. and stuffed yellow plums. Persian Jews may serve stuffed quince, called dolma bay, as a Sabbath meal or during Sukkot.
Other variations
Stuffed sorrel (, ) is a generic name for meals made of Sorrel stuffed with meat (lamb) and rice, or more rarely rice only.
Religious celebrations and customs
It is customary for Jewish families to eat stuffed cabbage on Simchat Torah.
See also
Notes
Sources
Categories: Stuffed Vegetable Dishes, Arab Cuisine, Armenian Cuisine, Assyrian Cuisine, Azerbaijani Cuisine, Balkan Cuisine, Greek Cuisine, Iranian Cuisine, Iraqi Cuisine, Georgian Cuisine, Kurdish Cuisine, Levantine Cuisine, Ottoman Cuisine, Uzbek Dishes, Algerian Cuisine, Tunisian Cuisine, Turkish Cuisine, National Dishes, Sephardi Jewish Cuisine, Mizrahi Jewish Cuisine, Lenten Foods, Iftar Foods, Swedish Cuisine, Syrian Cuisine, Albanian Cuisine, Offal Dishes, Seafood Dishes, Fruit Dishes
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