Summers mean Turkish cuisine. My grandmother is the master chef in our family. Everything she cooks is delicious. Dolma or Stuffed Grape Leaves is one of her specialties. We – me and my cousins – wanted her to teach us how to make it.
According to her it is as easy as 1-2-3. Although it is more like 1-2-3-4-5, with a few extra steps in between.
First, you prepare the filling – meat, rice, spices and salt.
Then, you start rolling the dolma: you flatten the leaf on a plate, trim the tough parts and the stem, place the filling in the middle, fold the sides in, and roll. To make sure it’s the right shape you also have to hold the dolma inside your palm and squeeze gently before placing in the pan. Rinse and repeat these steps.
When you are done, place a plate on top of the Dolmas inside the pan to apply pressure, put the lid on, and slow cook.
While I’ve become quite the expert at rolling dolma, I’m still clueless about the exact ingredients and measurements. My grandmother eyeballs everything, so her instructions were like: “A little of this. A pinch of that. Pour some. Cook till its done.”
In the end she just said, “it’s fine, come to Turkey whenever you want some.”
Berk @Nisky 