Zeytov Sarma

My Grandma's Sarma is one of my favorites! She makes sure to make it every Christmas! Sarma is grape leaf that has been stuffed with a rice mixture. There is also a version of Sarma that includes ground beef and is served warm, but this Zeytov (with oil) Sarma, and is served at room temperature. 

The older generation takes pride in their sarma rolling abilities. The tighter the sarma is rolled, the more impressive it is : ) 

Ingredients:

• Half a cup of chopped up parsley
• 1.5 cups chopped onions (about 1.5 onions)
• 3 cups of pearl rice (we used Calrose brand)
• 1 cup light olive oil
• ½ tablespoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon all spice
• 1 tablespoons red pepper (Armenian Garmeer Buber)
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• 3 tablespoons red pepper paste
• 3 tablsepoons tomato paste
• 4 tablespoons of lemon juice

Preparing the Filling:

• Put rice in colander to wash and then put aside
• Pour 1 cup of light olive oil into a pot
• Add 1.5 cups chopped onions to pot
• Add ½ tablespoon of salt
• Cook on the stove while mixing until the onions become translucent (it shouldn’t brown)
• Add 1 teaspoon of black pepper
• Add ½ teaspoon of all spice
• Add 1 tablespoon red pepper (Armenian Garmeer Buber)
• Add 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• Add 3 cups of the rinsed rice
• Add 3 full tablespoons red pepper paste
• Add 3 full tablespoons tomato paste and mix the mixture
• Add 4 tablespoons of lemon juice
• Add ¾ cups of water
• Let is cook on medium heat for 10 minutes until the water is all soaked up. Make sure the rice doesn’t start burning. The rice is not going to be fully cooked at this point.
• Add the parsley and mix

Filling the Grape Leaves:

• Take the grape leaves out of the jar and wash them. They will be stuck together which is ok. Put them in a bowl of hot water to soften them a bit. Remove them from the hot water and squeeze the leaves so that all the water is ringed out
• Now it's time to fill each grape leaf. Take one and open it up with the veins of the leaf face up
• Take a spoonful of the mixture and put it in the center of the leaf
• take the 2 bottom ends of the leaf and fold them up and then the sides and then roll it up like a burrito. See video for technique
• Continue this until all your grape leaves are complete

Cooking the Grape Leaves:

• Add a layer of loose grape leaves to the bottom of a pressure cooker to create a base so that your sarmas don't burn
• start adding your sarmas to the pot by lining them up next to each other. When you finish one layer then start another layer but lining up the sarmas the opposite way. When complete add a few more loose leaves on top
• In a seperate bowl add 3-4 cups of water, add 2 table spoon of lemon, 2 table spoon of light olive oil and ½ table spoon salt
• Add this mixture into the pressure cooker until It has just covered the grape leaves
• Close your pressure cooker and cook on Medium/High. After the pressure sound starts, Cook for 6 minutes and turn it off. Let it fully cool down before removing one by one.