Yaprak Sarma: A Healthy Snack

Yaprak Sarma is one of the most authentic Turkish dishes made from grape leaves. You will stuff the grape leaves with spices, herbs, and aromatic rice. Most households in Turkey make this dish on special occasions or when serving guests. Here is the list of ingredients and instructions to make Yaprak Sarma. Read on!

Ingredients

• You need the following ingredients for stuffing grape leaves
  • Two cups of rice
  • One cup of tomatoes finely chopped
  • Two cups of onion finely chopped
  • A half cup of parsley finely chopped
  • Four cloves of garlic finely chopped
  • One teaspoon of cayenne pepper
  • Two teaspoons of dried mint
  • One or two teaspoons of ground black pepper
  • One teaspoon of sumac
  • Two teaspoons of salt
  • 2/3 cup of olive oil and ¼ cup for drizzling
  • One lemon – squeezed
  • One pound of grape leaves
  • One tablespoon of tomato paste
  • One or two cups of water
• You will need these ingredients to make tomato sauce for serving
  • One tablespoon of olive oil
  • One tablespoon of tomato paste
  • One teaspoon of fresh or dried mint
  • One large, diced tomato
  • Two cloves of minced garlic
  • One tablespoon of lemon juice

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowel except for grape leaves, water, and olive oil
2. Cut off the leaves stems and place a leaf on the cutting board
3. Place one tablespoon of filling near the end
4. Next, fold and roll the leaf up
5. Now place the stuffed/rolled leaves into a pan
6. Pour one or two cups of water and ¼ cup of olive oil over the leaf rolls
7. Cook over low heat for 45 minutes to ensure the rice is tender
8. Remove from heat and set aside to cool
9. Squeeze lemon over the rolls
10. Next, prepare the tomato sauce for serving
    1. Heat olive oil over low heat in a small saucepan
    2. Add tomato paste and dried mint to the saucepan
    3. Cook for one to two minutes
    4. Add minced garlic and diced tomatoes with lemon juice
    5. Cook these ingredients for ten minutes
    6. Pour the prepared sauce over the stuffed leaves
11. Serve the delicious Yaprak Sarma to your guests
12. Enjoy the unique Turkish snack