Yaprak Sarma — Stuffed Vine Leaves with Herbed Rice

Ingredients

• 1 x 225g jar vine leaves in brine, rinsed and drained
• 250g short grain or pudding rice, rinsed
• 4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 2 large onions, finely chopped
• 2 ripe tomatoes, grated
• 1 tbsp Turkish tomato paste (domates salçası) or tomato purée
• 1 tsp dried mint
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• Large bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Bunch fresh dill, chopped
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 400ml hot water
• 1 tsp caster sugar

Method

1. Soak the vine leaves in a bowl of hot water for 10 minutes, then drain and trim off any hard stalks.

2. Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in a pan and cook the onions for 10 minutes until soft. Add the rice, tomatoes, tomato paste, mint, allspice, salt, pepper and sugar and cook for 5 minutes.

3. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley, dill and juice of 1 lemon. Cool for 10 minutes.

4. Lay a vine leaf, shiny-side down, on a board. Place a teaspoon of filling near the stalk end, fold in the sides and roll up tightly. Repeat with the remaining leaves.

5. Line a wide pan with a few spare leaves and pack in the rolls snugly in circles, seam-side down. Drizzle with the remaining oil and lemon juice and pour over the hot water.

6. Place a heatproof plate on top to hold the rolls in place, cover with the lid and simmer gently for 45 minutes until the rice is tender. Cool to room temperature and serve with lemon wedges.