I am always on the lookout for interesting finds to blog about and I had my eyes extra wide open on the day of my Grand Bazaar visit. I knew something special would come along. On our way down from Grand Bazaar to the kitchen supplies store, we walked by a street stand. This man was showcasing a simple yet very handy tool, which I’d like to call “The Ultimate Dolma Machine”.
“Dolma” in Turkish translates to (pretty much) any vegetable stuffed with a rice-based mixture. My favorite variation is dried aubergine, but for the sake of using this tool, I will be using vine leaves.
Pickled vine leaves are available here in Turkey, but if you can only find fresh ones, here is a great link explaining how to preserve them. If you find the process too complicated or feel impatient, you can simply try it with bell peppers. Just buy 12-15 medium-small sized bell peppers, take out the seeds, fill with the rice mixture (should be tight), close the top with a round piece of tomato skin and proceed with the process below.
Lots of spices are used for the stuffing. For me, the most important one is the lemon salt (or citric acid — lower left corner in the large picture below). It gives a sharp sour taste, which can not be replaced by the combination of lemon juice and table salt. If you can not locate any lemon salt, don’t forget to replace it with only half the amount of kosher salt (two tbsp will be too much) and juice of half a lemon.
Having bought my glorious dolma machine, I started hunting for a recipe. And it turned out that pretty much all the recipes I find online were same except for the variation of spices. I used the recipe at the back of the pickled vine leaves package as the base, adjusted some amounts and added a few more spices. So here is my version of the recipe.
Stuffed Vine Leaves
Ingredients
- 1 pound of vine leaves pickled in brine, washed with warm water (until the leaves release all their green color and the water running underneath is clear) and drained
- 4 medium sized onions, diced
- 2 cups rice, washed under cold water and drained
- 1 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped finely
- 1/2 cup of olive oil
- 1/3 cup of pine nuts
- 1/4 cup dried currants
- 1 tbsp dried mint flakes
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon salt
- Juice of half a lemon
Method
- Dice the onions and sautee with 1/4 cup of olive oil. When they turn transculent, add the pine nuts and sautee for 5 more minutes. Add rice and stir constantly for 5-10 minutes until the rice is translucent. Add the spices (dried mint, cinnamon, lemon salt, black pepper, dried currants, sugar and allspice) and chopped parsley. After another quick stir, add 1/2 cup of boiling water and simmer on low medium heat for 15-20 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed by the rice mixture. Take off heat and let cool.
- And now, here comes the fun part. Traditionally, you would put a spoonful of the cooled mixture in the center of the top part of the leaf, fold the sides inwards and then roll the leaf like a cylinder. But since I have “The Ultimate Dolma Machine”, I just placed a leaf on the rubber compartment of the machine, put a tbps of mixture in the middle and with a single slide, there comes my dolma from the other side of the machine. The process was a breeze. It took me only 10 minutes to roll nearly 40 perfectly shaped dolmas. Above is the process fully photographed.
- As the final step, spread a layer of vine leaves on the bottom of a large and heavy pot (to prevent the stuffed leaves from burning). Lay all your dolmas side by side and tuck very tightly. Transfer the remaining 1/4 cups of olive oil, juice of half a lemon and 2 cups of boiling water, cover with a plate upside down (so that the dolmas don’t move around in boiling water) and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until all the water is absorbed (roughly 45-60 minutes). Transfer to your serving dish and let cool.
Oh wow Cenk, thanks for the step by step pictures. I’m a bit of a gadget freak and am curious about this little machine… 🙂 The flavour combination sounds really intriguing too!
I started salivating over the pictures & recipe; remembered my grandma used to make these, but not as picture-perfect as they come out of your neat gadget. The marmelade/jam was wonderful too. Love your blog, the easthetics and of course your taste buds. You are a gifted person.
I have been following your blog for a while and would like to congratulate you for all the recipes and photos.
One question about the dolma though – can I use the machine for stuffing cabbage leaves? “Lahana sarma” is a favorite that depends too much on grandmother’s patience. :))
Eery – Thanks for your nice comments.
Ayşegül – I think you can manage with cabbage leaves, too. They are much softer than vine leaves and that may make it harder to roll, but I will definitely give it a try and let you know how it turns out.
Perfect! I always thought that machines are useless, but obviously I am wrong:) Nice photos, especially the one with the ingredients.
Thanks for your entry to DMBLGIT – have a look at all the entries here.
What a brilliant machine!
The ultimate dolma machine!!!! Sounds like the best kitchen gadget in the world!!!
Cenk,
you could find grape leaves in the jar in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean stores in the U.S. (Persian, Armenian, Turkish, even Italian)
Yummm. It looks so great. I am gonna cook some this week. Yours look delicious, delicious. I also put some finely chopped fresh dill (not too much) it gives a very nice flavor which i like it a lot.
I stuck with the name. Because when you stuff eggplant, zucchini,bell peppers it is dolma, but when you wrap some leaves (like vine leaves,cabbage etc) we name it SARMA :)))
Hi Ozde – Thanks for your comments. As for the name, I believe all of them are called dolma, because you are stuffing them. The term sarma is only associated with grape vine leaves because there is rolling involved… I think it is short for sarma dolma..
I’ve been looking everywhere in the web for this machine. I was googling stuffed grape leaves machine and nothing…I don’t even know how your site came up!
Please, please email me back and let me know how to get a hold of the “dolma machine” without having to go to Turkey. Or, anyone who knows where to buy this machine, can you post the site, or store.
Thank you.
Margaret
Hi Margaret – Next time I visit Grand Bazaar I will surely buy a dolma machine and mail it to you. Send me your address. It may take a while for me to visit but it is a promise.
Hi Fernando, thank you for your response and your offer, but if I can find it only there, then I can ask my aunt who lives in Greece to send me one-which will be sooner.
Thanks again
Margaret
People of -old- Istanbul used to call it -Dolma- even they wrap it with wine-leaves. And all people from Anatolia call them Sarma.
Once it was so easy to understand if you were from old Istanbul or not, using its own vocabulary. It was working 90%…
I think that was a nice difference.
Pitty today all mixed.
Do you know where I can buy one of these machines?
WK – As far as I know, it is only sold in Istanbul and not available online at all.
I also bought one on the spice bazaar in istanbul a couple of months ago, only to find it broken in my suitcase when I got home. 🙁 I was super bummed and tried to use to no avail. I spent hours online looking for the machine and it is impossible. They probably have to be purchased in Turkey. Hard to believe though with the internet’s vast resources. See http://www.thekebabshop.com
Cenk, looking at the comments on this machine on ek$i sozluk and the result you have posted here, I am confused as to whether there are many of these machines around. One even commented that the dolma it produces is very thin (which is a good thing for some), and nearly impossible to use currants, pine nuts in the filling which is a must, in my mind. Any ideas if there are many “brands” of this machine? Thanks in advance.
Fethiye – I checked out the link in your comment. I am not sure if there are a variety of brands regarding this machine but I doubt it. The machine definitely needs some getting used to, but after 2-3 unsuccesful attempts you figure it out and rolling gets quicker. As for thinness, the machine I bought has three seperate levels and on the lower level the dolmas turn out quite thin. I used the higher level which produced the above result. There were no problems with using pine nuts and currants at all. Quite the deal if you take into account how cheap it is. I am quite the gadget freak and bought it purely for fun and because it would have been fun to blog about (and it was). You really should not have too much expectations for this gadget.
Cenk thanks for the explanation; I think having those levels help with the thickness of the result. Yours look quite amazing, hence I was confused with what is written in ek$i sozluk. Let’s see when I’ll have a chance to see or own one. 😉
Has anyone had any luck with getting this gadget? I know they sell them in random middle easter shops in US. HAs anyone had any luck . I emailed my friend in Beirut.. and asking her about it!!!
this is funny to see. Rolling vine leaves has always been ‘sacred’ in my family. Since i’m a child i’ve observed my grandmother roll finger thin vine leaves, and my mother do the same! I’ve seen this machine before, but no one wants to bring it into the house! hehehe 🙂
Love your blog. Nice pics.
Where can I get a dolma machine in Canada?
Hi Helene – Sorry to say but, I really do not know where this machine is available other than in Istanbul. Many people asked about it and I searched the web but couldn’t find any…
Today, I made my first “Dolma a la Cenk”!
We are not living in Turkey, but I have found all the ingredients at the small Turkish shop.
I did my best without that -strange- but pretty machine 🙂
So the shapes were interesting, really. But I have convinced my husband that they are the original ones.
And taste? Perfect! Thanks Cenk..
Hi – I am very glad to hear that the recipe worked for you. A little bit surprised as well, because the recipe above is somewhat different than the traditional. I prefer the rice inside slightly undercooked, and the dish less oily and definitely more sour than usual.
Yes, exactly, the rice was “al dente”.
But so delicious..
I wonder where I can get this dolma machine in the uk.
hey, maybe i can make mini spring rolls with this machine too!
where can i buy the vine machine? thanks
Where can you purchase one of these machines?
Only in Turkey. Sorry 🙁
Aman cenk sen yokmusun nasıl canım istedi şimdi.Ellerine sağlık…
Teşekkürler Filiz.
In our family we call it SARMA. Were serbs. I dont think I ever remember using grape leaves, but we use a soured head of cabbage, with a filling of ground veal, pork and beef, with shallot and rice. I believe from the size of your dolma that machine would not work for these. They are much bigger. I think there is a big demand for this type of gadget.. I know it would make my job alot easier. IT cant be that hard to invent… Someone could make ALOT of money!
Since you seem to be the ONLY one with this machine, any chance I could “persuade” you to buy a couple for me and send them to Canada? I will gladly pay for the machine and your time!! I desperately want one (and a spare just in case)!!!
Oh my, I cannot believe I missed exactly this post, although I’ve been checking up your website for a few months now. It looks like I’m not the only one who would pay big bucks for a machine like this:) I am Romanian , and I grew up on these things too! They are quite a traditional dish back home (I live in NY now) and we call them sarma too! (that is the singular for it)
I miss eating that, and I made them quite a few times since I moved abroad, but they are SUCH a pain to make, that I’d rather take a plane and go back home to eat them, than roll them up for hours and hours. We make them with meat and rice, and sometimes people make them with pickled cabbage as well. They’re so delicious.
Now you’ve got quite a few “clients” for the miracle machine:) And I am one of them, of course. You probably don’t want to deal with buying these things and shipping them overseas, but if you’d ever, ever be willing to do so, I am more than interested to buy one. I left my real email address in this comment, please drop me a line…
Thanks,
Carmen
Merhaba,
marthastewart.com da dolasirken dolamdes adiyla yunan usulu yaprak dolmasi yapmis oldugunu gordum.fistik vb.. yok.Bizim tarifi bilmiyor sanirim.aciklayici bir comment birakmak icin google da arasitrirken sizin tarifi buldum.link vermek yerine durumu siz aciklayin istedim.o kadar ugrasmissiniz burada uzun uzun anlatmissiniz emeginize saygi duydum ve linkinizi vermek yerine durumdan sizi haberdar etmek sitedim.martha’da sizden ogrensin dolma nasil yapiliyormus degil mi 🙂
tarifi burada vermis martha stewart
selamlar,
Elif
Teşekkürler Elif! Yazdım yorum kısmına tarifi de ekledim.
rica ederim .yoruma martha ‘dan bir yanit alirsaniz bizimle paylasir misiniz?
bu arada cesur fırıncılar grubumuza sizi de davet etmek isterim.bu ayki tarifimize venuslezzeti.blogspot.com dan ulaşabilirsiniz.
selamlar,
Elif
Hi, where can I buy this machine?
Thank you
Bu aleti gördüğümü bir seferinde dayıma anlattım. Yanıtı şöyle oldu: ‘Aman yengene anlatma, onu da alırsak evde yapılacak hiç iş kalmaz. Her şey için elektrikli cihaz var zaten, bir sarma sarmak kaldı, onu da kolaylaştıracaklar. Cık cık. Olmaz yeğen!’
What a wonderful invention! I must look for this gadget.
I’m quite flabbergasted. I’ve been searching for months for this machine. My mother is half Syrian and grape leaves are a family tradition. In a few months (June) she will be turning 61 and I would love to be able to give this machine to her as a birthday present. I would much appreciate any information you currently have, price, where to buy, etc. Thank you.
Hi Jessica – The machine is not available online. I bought it from a street salesman, somewhere between the Spice Market and Grand Bazaar in İstanbul, but that was like a year ago..
che bello! ho lo stesso strumento, comprato al mercato di Ceşme, e a volte preparo i dolma.
bellissimo blog
iyi akşamlar
lilli (Turkey addicted)
I WORK FOR A FOOD MANUF. & WE’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR A DOLMA MACHINE… WHERE CAN WE BUY ONE?
Will you tell me who I can buy a Dolma rolling machine from?
David – The machine is not available online. I bought it from a street salesman, somewhere between the Spice Market and Grand Bazaar in İstanbul. It is not sold in a store… Sorry…
The machine can be produced by hand with wood or thermoset polymers, if you know how to work with them. It would be an interesting process 🙂
If you use the machine be aware that your vine leafs are uniform in shape, the leafs my mother picked from our vines in the village are usually not in the same shape so i can’t use that machine 🙁
Also if you can find wild vine leaf, they have a bit sour taste than common vine leafs and shining top skin; your “Sarma” will be much more appealing 🙂
Iam based in London and I would like to know from where I can purchese dolma machin .thanks in advance Johaness.
I’ve been looking everywhere in the web for this machine. I was googling stuffed grape leaves machine and nothing…I don’t even know how your site came up!
Please, please email me back and let me know how to get a hold of the “dolma machine†without having to go to Turkey. Or, anyone who knows where to buy this machine, can you post the site, or store.
Thank you.
malek
Hi. I really love your site. I just read this entry, and I guess you should go back to the market and buy lots of that machine, and sell online.You just inspired a lot of people to make that recipe, and now they want that machine badly ^_^
Hi , can you please let me know if the machines are available in India ??
Hi,
where did you got this machine? I have tried before making this but it got burned. I will try this again.
Thanks
I’d like to purchase a dolma machine.
I kept looking for that machine on the net and I gave up , then I called a Mediterranean Arabic Syrian store and they have it , I just bought one today its great the name of the store is Al Nouri in Paterson , New Jersey , their phone number is 1-973 -279 2388 and I am sure they will ship it, the cost was $30 .
Cheers
I’m going to have to purchase one of these machines next time in Turkey, I absoloutly love stuffed vine leaves, & eat them all the time while in Turkey.
how can I buy that stuffed vine leaf machine
we are from saudia arabia .. we call it Dolma too .. nice machine ..
hi, its nice machine but i tried it since years ago but yours seams original and profficinol
I’m interest in the dolma machine and wondering how I could get one and what the prices of these machines run for.
thank you.
chris
I’ve found this machine in Turkey 4 years ago in farmers market in Çe?me (Izmir) and I’ve bought 2 pcs, the cost was around 5 max 10 euros.
here you can look some pics and the machine
http://flickr.com/photos/lilliphoto/2371320894/
but i did’nt found this brand on the web, sorry
lilli
Where can i buy it in Miami,Florida?
I would like to buy and perhaps import in quantities to Israel those mache. Could you provide possibility?
For those who are interested in purchasing the dolma machine: I am looking into the possibility of exporting this item and will update the post once I have more information. Many thanks for your patience!
Hi- I am interested in importing this machine to the US. Please contact me when you get any updates. Thanks!
please don`t forget to notify me when you will be able to export them. I live in Israel.
thanks
My mom bought this machine when we were living in Ankara because she dreaded rolling the leafs on her own. It was pretty good for the most part but sometimes it tears the leaf if it’s too thin. Now it’s in a box somewhere. I should ask my mom if she remembers it. Great website btw. Also, every kind of dolma can also be served HOT if it’s stuffed with a ground beef mixture and butter instead of rice and olive oil. That’s why you’d say “Zeytinyagli yaprak dolmasi” for these cold versions and “Etli yaprak dolmasi” for the hot ones. Love them both. I have to go bug my mom to make me some. 🙂
Hello! If you do export this machine, please give me a shout. My email is shown in the comment (maybe not to everyone). Thank you!
I would like to purchase this Dolma making machine
Hello Cenk!
Since we were visiting the family of my husband in Istanbul, I thought this was a good opportunity to buy the dolma machine, as I spent so much time rolling them myself. We went to the kapali carsi, but couldn’t find it there. Then went to the misir carsisi, but no luck there, either. Then we went to the small stores behind the kapali carsi (going down towards eminönü) and had to ask at least 5 times, until we found the dolma machine in a very very tiny store… I’m so happy! Haven’t tried it out yet, but will, soon! So for everyone who will visit Istanbul in these days: they ARE there, it just needs some patience to find them!
Marleen – So happy to hear that you managed to find one. I’m sure you’ll put it into very good use.
Anyone who is reading this and who has made an authentic dolma recipe similar to this posted one – can you provide a recipe for “dolma spice”? My mother-in-law is making these dolma for a party, and wants us to travel 50 miles back to a Turkish grocery in New Jersey that we just went to last week, for nothing else other than DOLMA SPICE!!! WHich is really silly – we should be able to figure out the individual herbs/spices. From what I’ve found on the web, it seems to include onion powder, salt, parsley, dill, tomato, bread crumbs and sometimes rice and MSG. Proportions?
Can anyone provide an all natural dolma spice recipe? Please email me if you can – katappe@yahoo.com – I’d really appreciate it!!!
Hi Karyn – Just to let you know, you do not need a special spice mix. The spices listed above are enough to make a traditional dolma. And no MSG. Hope this helps.
Tried the machine and it WORKS! I didn’t really manage to make 40 in 10 minutes, but made 70 in one-and-a-half hour, which is a great accomplishment for me. Next time I’ll be faster I guess, coz it cost me quite some time to ‘get the hang of it’… The leaves you get around here (in Switzerland) are really horrible by the way. Had to throw half of them and they were really SALTY even though I rinsed them… Thanks again Cenk!
Marleen – Great to hear you enjoyed the dolma machine! The leaves are usually sold in brine, so next time make sure to boil them a few minutes (and then drain) to get most of the salt out.
Can I order this machine over the net?
Hello,
If you do manage to export the dolmas machine, please put me on your list. I was at the spice bazaar in November and saw the machine being demonstrated. I don’t know why I didn’t buy it then. I regret it now. Thank you!
cenk.if you export this machine please send me an email.thanks
Cenk I would love if you could give me an update on the machine. I am really interested in that. I have been searching the web for a long time and I have found nothing.
Minas – Thanks a lot for your interest but I do not sell this machine. I also don’t have any plans on selling it in the near future.
hi i live in Sydney and I’d like to know where i could buy this machine or how do i go about ordering it
Thankyou
i live in ohio…any luck with finding the machine in the USA? i want one!
I also looking for this machine !!
Regards from
Macedonia
k.d. Is any one still looking to buy a Dolma Machine?
Any one who is after this machine please let me know as I am buying a few up. Kd
kd I would be interested in buying a few! Please email me, thx!
KD, I am interested in buying the machine, Please email me. Thanks
I would be interested in buying ,
How can I buy ?
Regards,
Viktor Petkov
Macedonia
cough!cough!..dont mean to be a spoiled sport but as the japenese have been making sushi for yonks.. wouldnt it be cheaper and easier to buy a bamboo mat?..not trying to put anyone outta business or anything..just seems logical to me..or what??
Is this what everyone is looking for?
http://www.tulumba.com/storeitem.asp?ic=HO242860AE037
lirit – Thanks! Yes, that is what everyone is looking for. But 14.99 USD? It is only 3 USD in Istanbul.
Cenk, you lived in the US–that’s what we do here! We find great ideas from other countries, reproduce them, and mark up the price! 🙂
hi cenk, is lemon salt>limon tuzu here in istanbul? i saw it in the supermarket, and it looks like the picture you have for the vine leaf dolma seasonings, but the ingredient is listed as citric acid. & i have a turkish cookbook that calls for “tuzot” which is translated as “seasoned salt” is this the same? (i also bought the dolma machine a while ago outside the spice bazaar for 5tl b/c i love kitchen gadgets & i was surprised it worked so well).
Jade – Yes, I buy lemon salt in supermarkets (called limon tuzu). I never looked at the ingredient though.. Tuzot is different. As you said, it is a seasoned salt. I don’t use tuzot in cooking.
Wow, to be honest I’m impressed you got on so well with the dolma machine. I bought one in Bursa, a guy was demonstrating them on the street there, sad to say I couldn’t get on with it at all! I get on better with my hands but it is probably my clumsy motor skills. At last I know what Turkish people use lemon salt for. Have often seen it but not known in what context to use it. Thanks. The dolma look great.
Have just started cooking my first ever batch of yaprak dolmasi. Somewhat, I’d missed your blog while searching for a recipe, and I wish I hadn’t. The instructions are great, the photos outstanding… and that machine. Came back from Istanbul last month, and I wish I’d seen it!!
Thanks.
Where can I find the The Ultimate Dolma Machine??
Help
After a street demo outside the Spice Mkt, bought one for an Xmas present for the mother in law. Just made about 60 dolmas and they turned out great. One tip the seller said was to brush some olive oil on the rolling frabic which I guess helped. Another thing one quickly figures out is that you cannot use too much filling or else the rolling part is hard and tends to smush out. I tried both the upper and lower settings and it did not seem to make too much of a difference in the amount of filling one could use. Great gaget!
http://www.tulumba.com/storeitem.asp?ic=HO242860AE037
You can find the machine at this site..Havn’t received mine yet, just ordered it today
Hi Cenk,
I’ve seen a dolma machine before but it didn’t look as professional as yours and the dolma’s were loose. These look perfect.
There’s just one thing i’ve noticed. The machine rolls the leaf the wrong way up… or I should say the other way up than when you roll them with your hands. The dolma’s look delicious. I love them too only without the kus uzumu.
Ellerine saglik
Nevin
Hello! I’m wondering where did you buy the Dolma rolling machine? It seems like it’s a handy and nifty to have in my kitchen so I can start making stuffed leaves……..yum, yum!!!!
All the best
Frank
I just received today by post from Greece almost the same machine. My good friend in Greece tried hard to find it for me and she found a last piece forgotten in some store. Obviously is a Turkish made machine and chances are that someone can find it in Turkey still. I’m very happy to own it and I can’t wait to put my hands on it.
Does this machine fold the sides in also or do you have to do this by hand. I make grape leaf rolls often and this would be a handy gadget. I am Lebanese and this is one of my family’s favorite foods.
Evelyn – It does fold the sides, but nowhere as neat as you’d do. It kind of pushes the leaf to fold on the sides, so it doesn’t look folded but rather wrinkled.
I bought this machine, and I have to say it is a piece of junk. It doesn’t do anything AT ALL. I was very disappointed. I even gave it to my friend to see if she is able to work with it, and she said the same thing.
This recipe and photos was so awesome, I linked it the mention of making Dolma on my garden blog. I hope it brings you a little free advertising and a lot of love. Cheers!
http://paminthegarden.wordpress.com/2011/01/30/a-bunch-of-grapes/
I found one place online to buy the grape leave (Dolma) roller, its called tulumba.com I saw one on there.
unbelievable!!!! I will try to find it on amazon… otherwise next time I ll visit Istanbul I ll remember to get one! Thanks for sharing
I use chopped fresh dill instead of the parsley. Dill provides a lot more flavor, and is used by many Turkish chefs when they prepare Yalanci Dolma.