Chef John , i'm an Arab guy and we're doing this stuff for years , i can say that you're doing it just right , that's unbelievable ! It takes many many times to practice .. Thank you for making it Chef.
OMAR we have a similar dish here in the balkans. the difference is mostly in the spices used, but i can confirm that chef john's recipe is 10/10. my granny would approve :)
I have a couple of suggestions for you: - try unwrapping the grape leaves in the soaking water - line the bottom of the pot with sliced potato instead of the grape leaves they come out amazingly delicious (some people use carrots or tomato instead) love seeing you making middle eastern food :)
Those look really good. In Turkey, they are one of the mostly appreciated dish. They are made on special occasions, and they will disappear in few minutes. They are so light, so tender. A great balance of olive-oil, lemon and the amazing smell from the leaves... For those who never ate it should definately try chef John's recipe as it is almost the same as we do here in Turkey. Just a fun fact, we call them Sarma - meaning "to roll". Dolma means - to be filled - or something like that, and that is actually another dish that has almost the same filling with 'sarma' but utilizes green peppers, zucchini or eggplant instead. Keep up the good work Chef John. You are THE best!
Random suggestions: You don't need egg to bind anything here. It's not going to fall apart when cooking or eating. You will have a much easier time separating the leaves if you put them into the bowl of water BEFORE trying to separate them. You want smaller leaves, not bigger ones - the smaller ones are more tender. The big ones (tough) can be used to line the pan. We always used bulghur instead of rice when mixing with meat, but most people use rice. Using 50/50 lamb and chuck produces exquisite results. I've never tasted an "excellent" dolma/sarma without parsley and onions added to the meat mixture. And finally, if you put lamb breast at the bottom of the pot on top of the grape leaf lining but under the dolmas, you'll have the most excellent meal you can imagine.
We always make them like you just did just without the pine nuts and herbs - it tastes delicious! These are typically made with small zucchini squashes stuffed with the same stuffing. To avoid the leaves from sticking or burning to the bottom of the pan - my mom cuts potates or tomatoes in circles and puts them on the bottom.
Sic Lusifer Exactly. Eggs is a bit unnecessary in that recipe. I mean, grape leaves, pine nuts, lamb, olive oil and spices sounds delicious in that way. Finely chopped tomato would be great too.
TheGatesofDelirium even pine nuts are not traditional to this recipe ! You cant put tomatoes as the broth has lemon, there are other east european variants that use tomato sauce instead of lemon juice for the "rolls" but they call them sarmale or at least in Romania thats how they call them, in the middle east .. there are other vegetables like zucchini, bell peppers, carrots and egg plants that have tomato sauce added to the broth instead of lemon juice !
In Middle East, if you roll the grape leaves well and in an organized way it shows that you are a good cook! I've had it before many times with tomatoes and pomegranate sauce, they were DELICIOUS!
Wizkid490 It depends where are you from, but I suppose you are from eastern europe, as they mostly do filled vegetables with tomato sauce, but in the middle east they use pomegranate syrup , tomato sauce or lemon juice but then it depends on the vegetable and the type of food and how it is served cold or hot, pomegranate is usually served cold ..
I'm always interested in your recipes Chef John. Never had stuffed grape leaves with currants and pine nuts. I definitely want to try it!! Your video is to drool over specially when you squeezed the lemon at the end... yuumm. I'm sure some Arab people commented negatively on this video because "it's not how we do it" but chef John himself said that he doesn't know how authentic these are. I am Arab and my mom never done them like this before but that doesn't undervalue other recipes. I will actually tell her to try this recipe. Cooking is fun. It's about finding new flavors and combinations that go together. And I'm sure this tastes delicious cz chef John has a great taste. BTW chef John, you did amazing job cooking something that is totally foreign to your culture.
One of my favorite treats! A Greek friend of mine makes them occasionally...always with the lamb though...just not the same without it. And you're right...they're addictive!
My mom is from damascus syria. We call it yebra She makes the filling with beef rice oil and allspice ( baharat in arabic) and the sauce simply lemon olive oil and salt ( water instead of the broth ) and then simetimes to make it sweet fir the sauce she uses pomegranted molasses and dried apricots
Dear chef john , im an arab girl and we do this all the time , you did a pretty good job !!! i have a suggestion for you that you can use ,,, we add slices of potato on the bottom and serve it with the dolmas sometimes we add molasses and another way we add in the bottom lamb and stuffed zucchini and dolmas on top Please try them and enjoy :)
I used ONE Jar and made a double batching using your recipe - I doubled everything except the chicken stock (4 cups) was enough for all 64 stuffed grape leaves. Very delicious! Thank you XOXOXO
I've been making these many years. Your recipe is, as they say across the pond, "spot on"! Usually serve them room temperature or cold - also great to take to work for lunch (if any are left!).
I just had to make this today. I am so popular with my family and friends. I heated some fresh pita bread in the oven and served some superb hummus from my favorite middle eastern deli in Oakland. All gone. I now love you more than my luggage. Thank you!
Dolma دولمة It's a traditional meal in Baghdad and my favorite too but we do it with onion pepper and chard leaves besides the grape leaves and we fill the bottom of the pot with lamb ribs every country has his method but you nailed it
They are actually more authentic than you think! Great rolling technique too! I married into a Jordanian family and it's been let's say 'interesting' mastering all techniques involved in making these! lol Lovely recipe, thanks!
Being of Mediterranean Descent, my grandfather served them several different ways. He would drizzle lemon sauce over them and sometimes added them to a generous portion of Greek salad. Your recipe is perfect.
I'm Turkish and I approve of these dolmas, or sarmas! "Dolma" (means stuffed) is generally used for stuffed bell peppers, and sarma (means wrapped) is used for stuffed grape leaves. We have two kinds of sarmas (or dolmas, as the recipes work for both), one with meat and one without. The one with meat is a dish and is served hot with cold yoghurt on top, while the other is an appetizer and is served cold with thinly sliced lemons on top. The cold one is supposed to have a tangy sweet taste so it does contain raisins, but the hot one should have a tangy but savory taste so it shouldn't contain anything sweet like raisins. And finally, the hot sarma usually has a shape like how Chef John made them, but the cold one should ideally be as thick as your index finger and a little longer than your middle finger. Cheers!
Great that this recipe makes 32 grape leaves....I use your recipe and also use it in my slow cooker as well, and it works great with no worries using it both ways. Then I make my egg lemon sauce very thick and ladle that over the cooked grape leaves stuffed with meat rice and spices. Thanks Chef John!!!
My mom doesn't know how to cook Dolmas with rice and lamb in them. I'm so glad to hear that you uploaded this cooking video on UA-cam to give me some pointers. My friend told me that Trader Joe's sells them for a good price.
These are great garnished with a garlic + yogurt sauce. In my country (Georgia), we make it with Matsoni, which is sorta like our local yogurt, but it can be done with plain yogurt too, I think. You just grate some garlic and mix it in with the cold yogurt, that's basically it. You should try it, it's delicious.
You liked Faulty Towers too. Yes, one of the funniest shows ever. My husband and I used to watch that when we first were married, and still do, when I can find it. I’ve seen a few videos on stuffed grape leaves. Yours sounds the best. I’m going to make them real soon. Thank you.
As an Englishman, I'm deeply impressed by the Fawlty Towers reference, as the grandson of a Greek Cypriot, the recipe brings back very happy memories. Win-win
Great Recipe!! I made this and it was great! One change I did was I put potatoes at the bottom instead of grape leaves. The potatoes were a little too soft right after cooking, but after a few hours in the fridge, they were really good and lemon-y, and really flavorful.
Chef John you rolled them very well my grandma would be proud. If you like the addition of meat you would love our Jordanian version. We just mix rice and minced lamb, salt pepper oil and spices and add lamb neck or oxtail to the bottom of the pot with tomatoes and simmer on med-low in a lemony broth until there’s no more water in the pot and the lamb on the bottom has caramelized. Delicious! Also in the future if you have any old Italian neighbors that grow grapes in their yard you can ask them for some leaves the fresh ones are far superior to the jarred stuff.
I'm a Turkish guy and you do it just like my family. I wasn't gonna comment it until you added the cinnamon! I can already smell it, god it's so good. :D Well done our Chef John. :)
These look scrumptious and you actually impressed me when you put the plate to hold them in. One of the essentials of the lebanese mezza. Some are vegetarian and even better!!! Stuffed with rice, parsley, mint, tomatoes, onions and lemon with olive oil, S & P and you can add chickpeas to it as well. To die for.
This is one of those recipes that anyone who has made them or watched their mom/grandmom make them will give their recipe. It's a labor of love, pure labor ! It's your choice to either grind up the meat or to small cube it. It's your choice to either pick fresh leaves or used the quart jar leaves. Your choice to either make it w citrus/olive oil or tomato based. If you use the jar leaves you can separate them by running them under dribble of water. Your choice to use rice or bulgar wheat. Also this recipe doesn't use onions, garlic or other ingred. that we use. Also, rather than using expensive things to line the pot so the dolma doesn't burn, instead use the outside celery stalks on the pot bottom. Make a broth using the fat/bones from the meat along w tomato paste to add to pot and put it in the oven for 45 min to 1 hr @350*. Also your choice of lamb or beef.
My grandmother is Syrian, and we've been making these my whole life. We put a rock on top of the plate for extra pressure. So if you go to a middle eastern persons house and there's a rock in the kitchen drawer, don't be surprised!
I love them!! In Cyprus will call them "koupepia"! It is one of my favourite foods! My grandma does them all the time! She cooks the chopped onions with minced pork, then adds lemon, parsley, olive oil, mint, salt and paper and rice and then rolls everything into the freshly (slightly boiled) grape leaves from her grape tree, then into the pot to boil with lemon, olive oil, water and chicken stock! DELICIOUS!!
Last year, I had some of my Turkish and Armenian friends over for dinner and we had an amazing time. If we let bygones be bygones, so could you. Our generation should not grow up with hate for others. And no, no one is better or worse. Have a great night! And yes, please no more politics.
***** Let bygones be bygones? Do you now know of the Armenian genocide? It was at their hands. Like Brown says... the Jews will never forgive the Nazis for the holocaust and neither will the Armenians forgive the Turkish people for their atrocities.
Jack Knoff BrOwN3yer0$eBUD For the love of God, please stop. Us Greeks had 400 years of oppression from the Ottoman Empire, yet you don't see me holding a grudge. I am sorry, I will not respond to any more political comments. I just wanted to let the girl know I like her country's cuisine, politics have no place here. I only want to talk about food here and nothing else.
Just a tip for people who make these often, if your not growing your own leaves your doing it wrong! They are very easy to grow and come back every year... you can let them grow large to get a 4-6 inch wrap. Great video Chef John one of my favorites.
My mom makes amazing dolma. It’s like a flavor bomb. Definitely a bit different though she makes in Assyrian style, many more veggies in there.. with ribs/steaks at the bottom of the pot to soak up all those flavors. Man is it amazing. One of my favorite dishes
And she also uses some sort of tamarind paste in there. Man, it definitely makes a difference. Also she uses different Veggies. She’ll stuff onions, bell peppers, jalapeños...
I love your John Cleese tease, Chef John. Well done. Now, for the recipe, I will try them without a doubt. These look incredible as most of your recipes do. Have a lovely Monday and week Chef John.
I love dolmas! I always take some of the liquid from the pot and mix in some eggs and lemon to make an auyolemono sauce when it's almost done cooking. My favorite part
I live in a neighborhood, sort of like Napa Valley, California, many families have their own vineyards. I just pick fresh grape leaves whenever I need them. I am very happy.
Hi Chef John, here in Brazil this is a vey common receipe. My family does it all the time. But we do have one little trick: here we have hard time to find the grape leaves, so one day grandma decides to use kale leaves, but not the crispy kind. And I have to say, it's the family new favorite. Hope you can try sometime. Great video !
We used grape leaves and boiled them, but I picked them directly from the tree so yeah. It has a subtle sour flavour that I love and put the water where they boiled in the oven oh my delicious 💞
I am of middle eastern decent and this is one of my favorite meals. As an Arab American I can say that there are so many versions and methods to this meal, also known as waraq anab, stuffed grape leaves, and your version looks delicious :) the only non-typical thing is that he placed the nuts in the mixture. Nonetheless, looks like a yummy idea!
Ah! I hated making these as a kid! IT was so tedious to roll those leaves up. As an adult, I now enjoy what it takes to make these and also eat them. Good recipe.
ive had variations of this from village to village where i live. mom makes them with stuffed courgettes, same stuffing: rice, meat and spices. some neighbours make them without the meat in the stuffing and add larger pieces of meat in the bottom of the pan- or better yet- lamb ribs. also, in a close by village, they make it with fried chicken in the bottom of the pot and add some of the frying oil to the rice stuffing of the leaves. it's a big pot of many grape leaves and a good layer of chicken or ribs and when you turn it upside down onto the serving platter, it's fit for a king :) as a cold appetiser ive tried it once stuffed with bulgur grain, tomato and onion with a squeeze of lemon juice. that was yummy too. chef john, the blanching is a step you make when your leaves are raw. in season, we buy them raw from the market or pick them from our own vines- if we're lucky to have that- and we freeze them in portions to have year round. many people freeze them raw and blanch them right before cooking, but mom blanches them first, she says they break less that way.
I am arabic,and I make this like ever weekend or so,yours looks perfect but what I do is just put some meat chunks in the bottom,it absorbs all the water and taste from the leaves,it's just optional but it's 10 times better love you chef John you are the best
my partner's great-aunt is Lebanese and cooks amazing dolmas (we call them hojas de parra here in Chile)...I now want to try this recipe so I can make them for her and see what she thinks! If I impress her with my grape stuffing skills I'll win her love forever haha
Reference to Fawlty Towers, priceless! I like to make a sauce with the juices, basically a Hollandaise (Fresh dill, egg yolks, lemon juice, etc.). I also use grated onion for the mixture. I really liked your take on these, very different from the way I do it. I'll have to try it at some point.
Chef john i am from kurdistan and we cook this dish with sour cream and dill and it tastes amazing i prefer it to this one you should try it it is amazing
Great Recipe Chef John, just like my grandma's recipe (except she usually uses beef instead of ground lamb). Just an observation, when you said blanching the vine leaves is not necessary, it is true for the preserved leaves, but in case you are able to get the fresh vine leaves from the fruit and vegetable section - if a miracle happened and you found them fresh- then blanching them with water and some lemon juice is a must, the fresh leaves will be very tough to roll and difficult to cook if not blanched first. Thanks for the great videos!
This is my favorite dish from my mother, being Lebanese this is surprisingly accurate, despite my love for you Chef. Excellent Dish, we love our grape leaves!
kyeoptawerk93 Go out to a restaurant and try it for yourself. If you like Middle-Eastern food in general you would love grape leaves. Maybe your father is just saying that because it's kind of a pain to make haha.
Very good grand ma' like technique. I use onions, little parsley, salt and pepper to enhance the meat flavor, arborio like rice to tenderize the filling. Filling is individual, ethnic. It comes out of tradition and home taste. How many regions have the countries that have this dish in their kitchen? At least so many recipes exist. Chef, excellent job!
Great stuff chef John! (see what I did there?) You've inspired me to make those today and they came out absolutely amazing! (as a mater of fact I'm stuffing my face with those babies right now, typing with greasy fingers and all that) I've actually wanted to make those for a while now, but was kindda afraid of this whole wrapping thing being hard and all, because I've heard it's hard from other people, but actually it was very relaxing, almost like meditation and only took me like half an hour to make a whole big pot of those. So that's another nail in the coffin of me trusting other people. Also, I've replaced the nuts and olive oil with chopped onions sauteed in a metric ton of butter, because healthy life style and following recipes are two things I'm not very good at. One last thing I can say about this, and this is a little life hack I've learned from stuffing other things with rice, Is that pre-boiling the rice just slightly before mixing it in the mince will prevent the stuffing from puffing up too much and tearing the thing you're stuffing (the stuffee..?)
Chef John, I have tried to find grape leaves and they must be hard to find. I will try on the internet. Wonderful recipe. I had these many years ago and they are addicting. Looks delicious!
Sorry I meant bushes, I don't remember much as its from my childhood when my parents use to pullover when we go somewhere just to pick grape leafs, How embarrassing lol
I went to a gathering at a Greek church and they served these. They said to season with Thyme, mint, dill, salt and pepper. I will try your recipe after I make the one I was given. 😁
I am romanian, and in my country we make of version of this, that is called "sarmale- in foi de vita". We put just meat- pork, chicken, beef, rice, onions and spices and we put on the bottom of the pan chopped onions. After they boiled on the stove, we add tomato paste and put them in the oven for another 20-30 min, on low heat. We eat them with sour cream :)
Good morning from Greece. Chef, nice recipe you have there. I'd suggest that if someone don't like lamp, he/she could use beef as well. Also I would suggest to serve it with an avgolemono (lemon and egg) sauce. You should try it. Enjoy!
Check out the recipe: www.allrecipes.com/Recipe/244551/Lamb-and-Rice-Stuffed-Grape-Leaves/
Hey, if I have grapes planted at home, can I use that leaves?
Chef John , i'm an Arab guy and we're doing this stuff for years , i can say that you're doing it just right , that's unbelievable ! It takes many many times to practice ..
Thank you for making it Chef.
OMAR Game recognize game.
Food Wishes You are a comedic culinary BOUWS.
..*boss lol
Me 2
OMAR we have a similar dish here in the balkans. the difference is mostly in the spices used, but i can confirm that chef john's recipe is 10/10. my granny would approve :)
OMAR actually you are very wrong .. he did them too small..and in minute quantities!!
I have a couple of suggestions for you:
- try unwrapping the grape leaves in the soaking water
- line the bottom of the pot with sliced potato instead of the grape leaves they come out amazingly delicious (some people use carrots or tomato instead)
love seeing you making middle eastern food :)
Those look really good. In Turkey, they are one of the mostly appreciated dish. They are made on special occasions, and they will disappear in few minutes. They are so light, so tender. A great balance of olive-oil, lemon and the amazing smell from the leaves... For those who never ate it should definately try chef John's recipe as it is almost the same as we do here in Turkey.
Just a fun fact, we call them Sarma - meaning "to roll". Dolma means - to be filled - or something like that, and that is actually another dish that has almost the same filling with 'sarma' but utilizes green peppers, zucchini or eggplant instead.
Keep up the good work Chef John. You are THE best!
That Snoop Dogg and ribbed joke had me rolling
Double entendre
Meat-and-rice dolmas are probably my all-time favourite food. And for a world with a lot of tasty things in it, that is quite a feat.
Random suggestions: You don't need egg to bind anything here. It's not going to fall apart when cooking or eating. You will have a much easier time separating the leaves if you put them into the bowl of water BEFORE trying to separate them. You want smaller leaves, not bigger ones - the smaller ones are more tender. The big ones (tough) can be used to line the pan. We always used bulghur instead of rice when mixing with meat, but most people use rice. Using 50/50 lamb and chuck produces exquisite results. I've never tasted an "excellent" dolma/sarma without parsley and onions added to the meat mixture. And finally, if you put lamb breast at the bottom of the pot on top of the grape leaf lining but under the dolmas, you'll have the most excellent meal you can imagine.
We always make them like you just did just without the pine nuts and herbs - it tastes delicious! These are typically made with small zucchini squashes stuffed with the same stuffing. To avoid the leaves from sticking or burning to the bottom of the pan - my mom cuts potates or tomatoes in circles and puts them on the bottom.
Lebanese Dane or actually placing lamb ribs or lamb neck slices at the bottom, but then it depends how well off you are !!
Lebanese Dane Do you also put an egg on it?
TheGatesofDelirium NOOO
Sic Lusifer Exactly. Eggs is a bit unnecessary in that recipe. I mean, grape leaves, pine nuts, lamb, olive oil and spices sounds delicious in that way. Finely chopped tomato would be great too.
TheGatesofDelirium even pine nuts are not traditional to this recipe ! You cant put tomatoes as the broth has lemon, there are other east european variants that use tomato sauce instead of lemon juice for the "rolls" but they call them sarmale or at least in Romania thats how they call them, in the middle east .. there are other vegetables like zucchini, bell peppers, carrots and egg plants that have tomato sauce added to the broth instead of lemon juice !
Chef John! This recipe was like you WERE speaking Greek to me. Thank you for sharing this delicious video. Blessings ChefMike
In Middle East, if you roll the grape leaves well and in an organized way it shows that you are a good cook! I've had it before many times with tomatoes and pomegranate sauce, they were DELICIOUS!
Sara Joe He should have packed them rather better than this ... they must hold their shape and actually be packed tighter..
Sara Joe Ah! Finally someone else who makes them with a tomato sauce! I thought my family were the only ones...
Wizkid490 It depends where are you from, but I suppose you are from eastern europe, as they mostly do filled vegetables with tomato sauce, but in the middle east they use pomegranate syrup , tomato sauce or lemon juice but then it depends on the vegetable and the type of food and how it is served cold or hot, pomegranate is usually served cold ..
Sic Lusifer I was actually talking about the sauce - we use V8 juice instead of lemon/broth.
I'm an Arab, and my mom always do it with tomatoes sauce!
My favorite chef is making my favorite dish....
I am from Armenia and we are making this ... (Y)
+Astghik Bagdasaryan And i am from Turkey we are usually making this too :)
I'm always interested in your recipes Chef John. Never had stuffed grape leaves with currants and pine nuts. I definitely want to try it!! Your video is to drool over specially when you squeezed the lemon at the end... yuumm. I'm sure some Arab people commented negatively on this video because "it's not how we do it" but chef John himself said that he doesn't know how authentic these are. I am Arab and my mom never done them like this before but that doesn't undervalue other recipes. I will actually tell her to try this recipe. Cooking is fun. It's about finding new flavors and combinations that go together. And I'm sure this tastes delicious cz chef John has a great taste. BTW chef John, you did amazing job cooking something that is totally foreign to your culture.
One of my favorite treats! A Greek friend of mine makes them occasionally...always with the lamb though...just not the same without it. And you're right...they're addictive!
My mom is from damascus syria. We call it yebra She makes the filling with beef rice oil and allspice ( baharat in arabic) and the sauce simply lemon olive oil and salt ( water instead of the broth ) and then simetimes to make it sweet fir the sauce she uses pomegranted molasses and dried apricots
Rachel Jaradeh very cute picture
Yebra comes from the Turkish yaprakh, vine leaf.
Can I substitute the olive oil for even more olive oil?
Skip the dolmades entirely, increase oil, add Retsina and use some good bread!🇬🇷 God bless all of us! (Don't forget the herbs).
As a Greek I think you di a great job
@@Absbsbbs
Whoops, wrong!
All evidence states the Greek recipes predate Middle-Eastern versions.
Wait... No cayenne?!?! Who are you and what have you done with Chef John?!?
Just what I thought! I'm very confused...
haha
Nikki Straker IMO cayenne would kinda ruin the taste of dolma, as a Turkish guy I like original dolmas
Dr4g0nSt4nc3 it's a joke
Nikki Straker HAHAHAHA JAJAJAJ!!
Dear chef john ,
im an arab girl and we do this all the time , you did a pretty good job !!!
i have a suggestion for you that you can use ,,, we add slices of potato on the bottom and serve it with the dolmas
sometimes we add molasses
and another way we add in the bottom lamb and stuffed zucchini and dolmas on top
Please try them and enjoy :)
I used ONE Jar and made a double batching using your recipe - I doubled everything except the chicken stock (4 cups) was enough for all 64 stuffed grape leaves. Very delicious! Thank you XOXOXO
I've been making these many years. Your recipe is, as they say across the pond, "spot on"!
Usually serve them room temperature or cold - also great to take to work for lunch (if any are left!).
I just had to make this today. I am so popular with my family and friends. I heated some fresh pita bread in the oven and served some superb hummus from my favorite middle eastern deli in Oakland. All gone.
I now love you more than my luggage. Thank you!
Dolma دولمة It's a traditional meal in Baghdad and my favorite too but we do it with onion pepper and chard leaves besides the grape leaves and we fill the bottom of the pot with lamb ribs every country has his method but you nailed it
They are actually more authentic than you think! Great rolling technique too! I married into a Jordanian family and it's been let's say 'interesting' mastering all techniques involved in making these! lol Lovely recipe, thanks!
Being of Mediterranean Descent, my grandfather served them several different ways. He would drizzle lemon sauce over them and sometimes added them to a generous portion of Greek salad. Your recipe is perfect.
I'm Turkish and I approve of these dolmas, or sarmas! "Dolma" (means stuffed) is generally used for stuffed bell peppers, and sarma (means wrapped) is used for stuffed grape leaves. We have two kinds of sarmas (or dolmas, as the recipes work for both), one with meat and one without. The one with meat is a dish and is served hot with cold yoghurt on top, while the other is an appetizer and is served cold with thinly sliced lemons on top. The cold one is supposed to have a tangy sweet taste so it does contain raisins, but the hot one should have a tangy but savory taste so it shouldn't contain anything sweet like raisins. And finally, the hot sarma usually has a shape like how Chef John made them, but the cold one should ideally be as thick as your index finger and a little longer than your middle finger. Cheers!
Omg it is the most famous dish in Turkey 😁😁😁 we loooove it, meatless and thinner version is also very common and called "sarma"
Great that this recipe makes 32 grape leaves....I use your recipe and also use it in my slow cooker as well, and it works great with no worries using it both ways. Then I make my egg lemon sauce very thick and ladle that over the cooked grape leaves stuffed with meat rice and spices.
Thanks Chef John!!!
My mom doesn't know how to cook Dolmas with rice and lamb in them. I'm so glad to hear that you uploaded this cooking video on UA-cam to give me some pointers. My friend told me that Trader Joe's sells them for a good price.
These are great garnished with a garlic + yogurt sauce. In my country (Georgia), we make it with Matsoni, which is sorta like our local yogurt, but it can be done with plain yogurt too, I think. You just grate some garlic and mix it in with the cold yogurt, that's basically it. You should try it, it's delicious.
You liked Faulty Towers too. Yes, one of the funniest shows ever. My husband and I used to watch that when we first were married, and still do, when I can find it.
I’ve seen a few videos on stuffed grape leaves. Yours sounds the best. I’m going to make them real soon. Thank you.
OMG i never thought I'd see one of my country's traditional dishes on this channel. The recipe is not exactly authentic but its still awesome.
Chef John you just made my day! I used to eat these all the time as a kid. Definitely going to try this out soon :)
Man oh man, how I love these. Must...make. I need to find where to buy grape leaves, now.
As an Englishman, I'm deeply impressed by the Fawlty Towers reference, as the grandson of a Greek Cypriot, the recipe brings back very happy memories. Win-win
Great Recipe!! I made this and it was great! One change I did was I put potatoes at the bottom instead of grape leaves. The potatoes were a little too soft right after cooking, but after a few hours in the fridge, they were really good and lemon-y, and really flavorful.
Just made this! Delicious. The rolling wasn't as fiddly as I thought it would be. Ill definitely be making these again!
Chef John you rolled them very well my grandma would be proud. If you like the addition of meat you would love our Jordanian version. We just mix rice and minced lamb, salt pepper oil and spices and add lamb neck or oxtail to the bottom of the pot with tomatoes and simmer on med-low in a lemony broth until there’s no more water in the pot and the lamb on the bottom has caramelized. Delicious! Also in the future if you have any old Italian neighbors that grow grapes in their yard you can ask them for some leaves the fresh ones are far superior to the jarred stuff.
"You'll notice they are ribbed, but not for anyone's pleasure"
DYING lmao
Wow those are huge dolmas! I just had dolmas from a Greek restaurant. Can't wait to make these 😍
This is a very Arabic/Greek recipe which we eat alot of very often. We love this recipe.
I'm a Turkish guy and you do it just like my family. I wasn't gonna comment it until you added the cinnamon! I can already smell it, god it's so good. :D
Well done our Chef John. :)
The stuffing is the bomb. Yum
These look scrumptious and you actually impressed me when you put the plate to hold them in. One of the essentials of the lebanese mezza. Some are vegetarian and even better!!! Stuffed with rice, parsley, mint, tomatoes, onions and lemon with olive oil, S & P and you can add chickpeas to it as well. To die for.
This is one of those recipes that anyone who has made them or watched their mom/grandmom make them will give their recipe. It's a labor of love, pure labor ! It's your choice to either grind up the meat or to small cube it. It's your choice to either pick fresh leaves or used the quart jar leaves. Your choice to either make it w citrus/olive oil or tomato based. If you use the jar leaves you can separate them by running them under dribble of water. Your choice to use rice or bulgar wheat. Also this recipe doesn't use onions, garlic or other ingred. that we use. Also, rather than using expensive things to line the pot so the dolma doesn't burn, instead use the outside celery stalks on the pot bottom. Make a broth using the fat/bones from the meat along w tomato paste to add to pot and put it in the oven for 45 min to 1 hr @350*. Also your choice of lamb or beef.
My grandmother is Syrian, and we've been making these my whole life. We put a rock on top of the plate for extra pressure. So if you go to a middle eastern persons house and there's a rock in the kitchen drawer, don't be surprised!
Condom jokes AND blunt jokes in one video? I love you, Chef John.
I used to buy these canned. I love them. Our Greek restaurant, locally, was sold and was never quite as good.
Loved Faulty Towers!
I love them!! In Cyprus will call them "koupepia"! It is one of my favourite foods! My grandma does them all the time! She cooks the chopped onions with minced pork, then adds lemon, parsley, olive oil, mint, salt and paper and rice and then rolls everything into the freshly (slightly boiled) grape leaves from her grape tree, then into the pot to boil with lemon, olive oil, water and chicken stock! DELICIOUS!!
Dolma 😍 Greetings from Turkey! We will be very happy if you visit our beautiful country ❤️
Edcs Edcsas It's extremely popular here in Greece too ~ I love Turkish food!
To hell with Turkey. They are killers. Armenia is 10x better. We are kinder people and we have better food. We are more hospitable too.
Last year, I had some of my Turkish and Armenian friends over for dinner and we had an amazing time. If we let bygones be bygones, so could you. Our generation should not grow up with hate for others. And no, no one is better or worse. Have a great night! And yes, please no more politics.
***** Let bygones be bygones? Do you now know of the Armenian genocide? It was at their hands. Like Brown says... the Jews will never forgive the Nazis for the holocaust and neither will the Armenians forgive the Turkish people for their atrocities.
Jack Knoff BrOwN3yer0$eBUD For the love of God, please stop. Us Greeks had 400 years of oppression from the Ottoman Empire, yet you don't see me holding a grudge. I am sorry, I will not respond to any more political comments. I just wanted to let the girl know I like her country's cuisine, politics have no place here. I only want to talk about food here and nothing else.
Just a tip for people who make these often, if your not growing your own leaves your doing it wrong! They are very easy to grow and come back every year... you can let them grow large to get a 4-6 inch wrap. Great video Chef John one of my favorites.
My mom makes amazing dolma. It’s like a flavor bomb. Definitely a bit different though she makes in Assyrian style, many more veggies in there.. with ribs/steaks at the bottom of the pot to soak up all those flavors. Man is it amazing. One of my favorite dishes
And she also uses some sort of tamarind paste in there. Man, it definitely makes a difference. Also she uses different Veggies. She’ll stuff onions, bell peppers, jalapeños...
I love your John Cleese tease, Chef John. Well done. Now, for the recipe, I will try them without a doubt. These look incredible as most of your recipes do.
Have a lovely Monday and week Chef John.
I love dolmas! I always take some of the liquid from the pot and mix in some eggs and lemon to make an auyolemono sauce when it's almost done cooking. My favorite part
I live in a neighborhood, sort of like Napa Valley, California, many families have their own vineyards. I just pick fresh grape leaves whenever I need them. I am very happy.
Hi Chef John, here in Brazil this is a vey common receipe. My family does it all the time. But we do have one little trick: here we have hard time to find the grape leaves, so one day grandma decides to use kale leaves, but not the crispy kind. And I have to say, it's the family new favorite. Hope you can try sometime. Great video !
Its amazing how accurately you did this recipe!
We used grape leaves and boiled them, but I picked them directly from the tree so yeah. It has a subtle sour flavour that I love and put the water where they boiled in the oven oh my delicious 💞
When he said "ribbed for your pleasure" I laughed harder than I should have....
I am of middle eastern decent and this is one of my favorite meals. As an Arab American I can say that there are so many versions and methods to this meal, also known as waraq anab, stuffed grape leaves, and your version looks delicious :) the only non-typical thing is that he placed the nuts in the mixture. Nonetheless, looks like a yummy idea!
Ah! I hated making these as a kid! IT was so tedious to roll those leaves up. As an adult, I now enjoy what it takes to make these and also eat them. Good recipe.
ive had variations of this from village to village where i live. mom makes them with stuffed courgettes, same stuffing: rice, meat and spices. some neighbours make them without the meat in the stuffing and add larger pieces of meat in the bottom of the pan- or better yet- lamb ribs. also, in a close by village, they make it with fried chicken in the bottom of the pot and add some of the frying oil to the rice stuffing of the leaves. it's a big pot of many grape leaves and a good layer of chicken or ribs and when you turn it upside down onto the serving platter, it's fit for a king :) as a cold appetiser ive tried it once stuffed with bulgur grain, tomato and onion with a squeeze of lemon juice. that was yummy too. chef john, the blanching is a step you make when your leaves are raw. in season, we buy them raw from the market or pick them from our own vines- if we're lucky to have that- and we freeze them in portions to have year round. many people freeze them raw and blanch them right before cooking, but mom blanches them first, she says they break less that way.
I eat the meatless version of these and find them extremely addictive. I've never attempted to make them myself, though. Thanks for the recipe!
I've been eating these all my life and this is the first time to see it with meat.
I might try it because of how interesting it seems
I am arabic,and I make this like ever weekend or so,yours looks perfect but what I do is just put some meat chunks in the bottom,it absorbs all the water and taste from the leaves,it's just optional but it's 10 times better love you chef John you are the best
my partner's great-aunt is Lebanese and cooks amazing dolmas (we call them hojas de parra here in Chile)...I now want to try this recipe so I can make them for her and see what she thinks! If I impress her with my grape stuffing skills I'll win her love forever haha
They look good. I was taught to use sliced tomatoes as the buffer between the bottom layer and each additional layer as we used all the leaves.
"Ribbed, but not for anyone's pleasure."
I died.
Reference to Fawlty Towers, priceless! I like to make a sauce with the juices, basically a Hollandaise (Fresh dill, egg yolks, lemon juice, etc.). I also use grated onion for the mixture. I really liked your take on these, very different from the way I do it. I'll have to try it at some point.
"And I might LEAVE those in for 10-15 minutes.." You kill me Chef John! 10/10
Why do I always watch your videos in the middle of the night? I currently want to eat the whole world and its 2:30am. Fml
I really like dolma.
But I've got to admit, you got my like the instant you said, "they're ribbed but not for your pleasure."
Priceless.
Those look delish! Especially with the lamb! And yes, Faulty Towers was one of the best!!
Chef john i am from kurdistan and we cook this dish with sour cream and dill and it tastes amazing i prefer it to this one you should try it it is amazing
And we stuff some onions too beside the grape leave it adds sweetness
Food Wishes
Sorry i mean yogurt we use it in the stuffing
"You are the John Cleese of your stuffed grape leaves". Every time he does one of these I laugh so hard haha.
Great Recipe Chef John, just like my grandma's recipe (except she usually uses beef instead of ground lamb). Just an observation, when you said blanching the vine leaves is not necessary, it is true for the preserved leaves, but in case you are able to get the fresh vine leaves from the fruit and vegetable section - if a miracle happened and you found them fresh- then blanching them with water and some lemon juice is a must, the fresh leaves will be very tough to roll and difficult to cook if not blanched first. Thanks for the great videos!
Dolma taste great with and without lamb, great recipe!
paused the video to and say, I LOVE your voice. Very endearing humorous :)
This is my favorite dish from my mother, being Lebanese this is surprisingly accurate, despite my love for you Chef. Excellent Dish, we love our grape leaves!
Rayan Edlebi my dad is lebanese but he's never made these for us. he says we won't like them but they always look so good!
kyeoptawerk93 Go out to a restaurant and try it for yourself. If you like Middle-Eastern food in general you would love grape leaves. Maybe your father is just saying that because it's kind of a pain to make haha.
Very good grand ma' like technique. I use onions, little parsley, salt and pepper to enhance the meat flavor, arborio like rice to tenderize the filling. Filling is individual, ethnic. It comes out of tradition and home taste. How many regions have the countries that have this dish in their kitchen? At least so many recipes exist.
Chef, excellent job!
big ole polish sausage fingers that you got chef, you have a surprisingly soft touch on that grape leaf rolling. hope I do half as well
Using sauerkraut leaves instead of grape leaves makes these even more awesome.
Sumac is another Mediterranean spice that makes recipes like this explode with flavor.
I am suprised not to see any turkish guy critisizing you in the comments.
Great stuff chef John! (see what I did there?)
You've inspired me to make those today and they came out absolutely amazing! (as a mater of fact I'm stuffing my face with those babies right now, typing with greasy fingers and all that)
I've actually wanted to make those for a while now, but was kindda afraid of this whole wrapping thing being hard and all, because I've heard it's hard from other people, but actually it was very relaxing, almost like meditation and only took me like half an hour to make a whole big pot of those. So that's another nail in the coffin of me trusting other people.
Also, I've replaced the nuts and olive oil with chopped onions sauteed in a metric ton of butter, because healthy life style and following recipes are two things I'm not very good at.
One last thing I can say about this, and this is a little life hack I've learned from stuffing other things with rice, Is that pre-boiling the rice just slightly before mixing it in the mince will prevent the stuffing from puffing up too much and tearing the thing you're stuffing (the stuffee..?)
Chef John, I have tried to find grape leaves and they must be hard to find. I will try on the internet. Wonderful recipe. I had these many years ago and they are addicting. Looks delicious!
Tess Cooks 4u just arabs honestly just stop on the side of the road and pick them our selves off some tree
Tess Cooks 4u try using savoy cabbage for a Romanian version if you can't find grape leaves!
Pyrex So, what kind of leaves are you using. Since grapes don't grow on trees.
can you use fresh grape leaves for this recipe instead? im wondering ..
Sorry I meant bushes, I don't remember much as its from my childhood when my parents use to pullover when we go somewhere just to pick grape leafs, How embarrassing lol
yas faulty towers was an excellent show! i need to rewatch it for sure
I am half Turk and this dolmas look Delicious ! but very different from how my mom prepares them :D
sara meachel i know right. my mom never puts in cinnamon or so.
but still tastes totally amazing.
I went to a Moroccan restaurant and they use cinnamon with meat a lot so it could be some areas use it.
When a chef describes an oil measurement as a "glug" that chef is mine forever.
Yeeh dolmas
I went to a gathering at a Greek church and they served these. They said to season with Thyme, mint, dill, salt and pepper. I will try your recipe after I make the one I was given. 😁
I am romanian, and in my country we make of version of this, that is called "sarmale- in foi de vita". We put just meat- pork, chicken, beef, rice, onions and spices and we put on the bottom of the pan chopped onions. After they boiled on the stove, we add tomato paste and put them in the oven for another 20-30 min, on low heat. We eat them with sour cream :)
"They are ribbed, but not for anyone's pleasure" CHEF J GOT DIRTY JOKES AYYYEE
omg! I was LITERALLY just thinking today about if he had a Dolmas (dolmades) video!
In our family we serve it with some jogurt on the top of the dolmas , and again on the top some tomato sauce , it tastes soo goood !!
sooo.... you need one bottle of olive oil for this? jk, seemed like you drizzeled them a lot
lolpax1 Don't be silly....
He used a whole vat.
klte1 XD
klte1 a barrel maybe xD
We make them a bit differently but we love dolma so much! Usually on family gatherings and other special events dolma is very popular.
"Doing that clad with snoop dogg", oh my god I lost it lol.
Good morning from Greece. Chef, nice recipe you have there. I'd suggest that if someone don't like lamp, he/she could use beef as well. Also I would suggest to serve it with an avgolemono (lemon and egg) sauce. You should try it.
Enjoy!
OMG! Faulty Towers reference! Love that show!
I tried these at a mediterranean restaurant recently, and man were they good!