Dolma (Etli Yaprak Sarma)

Dolma is a family of stuffed vegetable dishes in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and surrounding regions such as Russia, Middle East and the Caucasus and Central and South Asia. Perhaps the best-known is the grape-leaf dolma. Common vegetables to stuff include onion, zucchini, eggplant, tomato and pepper. The stuffing may or may not include meat. Meat dolmas are generally served warm, often with garlic yogurt sauce; meatless ones are generally served cold, though meatless dolma are eaten both ways in Iran.

Filling[link]

The filling generally consists of rice, minced meat or grains. In either case, the filling includes onion, herbs like dill, mint or parsley and spices. Meatless fillings are cooked with olive oil and include raisins or currants, onion, nuts or pulses.

Preparing dolma

Names and etymology[link]

Dolma is a verbal noun of the Turkish verb dolmak, 'to be stuffed', and means 'stuffed thing'.^[1][2]

Dolma is a stuffed vegetable, that is, a vegetable that is hollowed out and filled with stuffing. This applies to courgette, tomato, pepper, eggplant, and the like; stuffed mackerel, squid, and mussel are also called dolma. Dishes involving wrapping leaves such as vine leaves or cabbage leaves around a filling are called sarma though in many languages, the distinction is usually not made. Sarma is derived from the Turkish verb sarmak which means 'to wrap'. Other variants derive from the Turkish word for 'leaf', yaprak.

Dolma cooked with olive oil without minced meat is sometimes called yalancı which means 'liar' or 'fake' in Turkish.^[3] It is 'fake' because it does not contain meat.^{[citation needed]}

Different types of dolma

In some countries, the usual name for the dish is a borrowing of dolma or yaprak (meaning 'leaf' in Turkish), in others it is a calque, and sometimes the two coexist with distinct meanings: Albanian: japrak; Arabic: محشي (maḥshi, 'stuffed') or دولمة (dolma), محشي ورق عنب (maḥshī waraq 'inab, 'stuffed grape leaf'); Greek ντολμάς dolmas (for the leaf-wrapped kind) and γεμιστά yemista 'stuffed'; Kurdish: dolma (دۆلمە), yaprakh(یاپراخ). In Aleppo, the word yabraq (يبرق) refers to stuffed vine leaves, while maḥshī (محشي) refers to stuffed cabbage leaves and stuffed vegetables.

Variants[link]

In Albanian cuisine, minced meat (usually beef or pork), rice and sliced potatoes are cooked in spices (salt, pepper, vegeta, paprika), folded into large leaves of steamed or boiled collard greens, then baked. There are other variations depending on personal taste and availability. White cabbage is used mainly among Albanians in Kosovo, whereas Albanians in Montenegro use alternately collard greens or white cabbage. In the former Yugoslavia, this dish is known as sarma (сарма).

Armenian traditional national dish of the dolma

In Armenian cuisine, minced lamb meat or beef is mixed with rice and wrapped into grape leaves (tpov tolma - թփով տոլմա) or occasionally in cabbage leaves (kaghambi tolma - կաղամբի տոլմա). This dish is condimented with coriander, dill, mint, pepper, cinnamon and melted butter. Sometimes chestnuts and peas are part of the mix. Yogurt with garlic is often used as a sauce. Eggplants, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, onions, quince and apples are also stuffed with lamb meat or beef and also called dolma. Echmiadzin tolma utilizes eggplants, green peppers, tomatoes, apples, and quinces. There are varying styles of how dolma is made. In Armenia, vine leaves are usually served with yogurt mixed with crushed garlic. To prepare the dish, the meat used in dolma is: pork, beef and a little lamb. Herbs such as basil, oregano, tarragon are used. When cooking dolma it is necessary to take the most delicate and young leaves. There is also a pasuts dolma - lean dolma, a stuffing that includes lentils, red kidney beans, peas, wheat grits, fried onions, tomato paste. Usually the three vegetables are cooked at the same time in the same pan. Sometimes people add split peas to the filling, but it is only a matter of taste and is therefore optional. Also, eggplant shells are prepared in various ways before they are stuffed. Some blanch them in boiling water, some fry, some make a slit alongside the vegetable, some simply cut off the hat, scoop out the flesh and fill up the cavity with the stuffing.

Azerbaijani traditional national dish of the yaprag dolması

Azerbaijani traditional national dish yay dolması

In Azerbaijan, small portions of minced lamb meat (or lamb-and-beef) are mixed with leek and rice. They may be wrapped into grape or cabbage leaves, or be stuffed into eggplants, green peppers, tomatoes, apples or quince. The most common varieties of the Azerbaijani dolma are yarpag dolmasi (grape leaf dolma), kalam dolmasi (cabbage leaf dolma), pomidor dolmasi (tomato dolma), badimjan dolmasi (eggplant dolma), bibar dolmasi (green pepper dolma), yalanchi dolma (lit. "false dolma"; meat replaced by rice), pib dolmasi (meat wrapped into linden leaves picked up in mid-May), dali dolma (meat mixed with rice, peas, rapontica, dill and/or mint and stuffed into eggplants), lavangi dolmasi (originated in the Talysh^{[disambiguation needed ]} region; sour plum paste, grained nuts, onion stuffed in chicken, fish, or eggplant), shirin dolma (lit. "sweet dolma"; meat mixed with chestnuts, plums and concentrated grape juice, and wrapped into cabbage leaves). Sour clotted milk is used as a sauce.

In Cypriot cuisine, stuffed vine leaves are called koupepia (Greek: κουπεπια). Greek Cypriots call the rest of the stuffed vegetables either gemista 'stuffed things' or dolmades (plural of dolma). Meatless versions are called orfana 'fake'; this may be for fasting or when stuffing zucchini flowers.

In Greek cuisine, dolma usually refers to the vine-leaf version, and there are many variations. Some prepare it with an avgolemono (egg and lemon) sauce, others prefer a tomato sauce. They can be cooked in a pan in the oven, while others prefer to cook them on the stovetop.^[4] Stuffed peppers, tomatoes, and other vegetables are called gemista (Greek: γεμιστά 'stuffed thing'); the stuffing is typically rice-based and meatless, though meat versions exist as well.

In Iran, the mixture of ground lamb or beef, rice, split yellow peas, and savory herbs is used as the filling, wrapped either in grape vine leaves (dolmeh barg mo - دلمه برگ مو), cabbage leaves (dolmeh kalam - دلمه کلم), eggplant or aubergine (dolmeh bādenjān - دلمه بادنجان), tomato (dolmeh gojeh farangi - دلمه گوجه‌فرنگی), or in bell peppers (dolmeh felfel - دلمه فلفل).

In Egypt, dolma is called Mahshi Wara' inab. Unlike other Levant or Turkic countries, dolma in Egypt is eaten hot, not as an appetizer, but could be part of a main dish. It usually has a certain mixture (khaltat wara' inab) that is made of rice, tomato sauce, and little chops of onions and parsley as a stuffing. Dolma in Egypt, unlike other countries, is very small, that you could eat two in one bite. Not only grape leaves are used to make wara' inab in Egypt, but also tomatoes, eggplants, zucchini, and cabbage. They also use lettuce, but they cook the stuffing only, not the lettuce then wrap it. Potatoes and artichokes are used, but aren't stuffed with the khaltat wara' inab, but they are stuffed with mixture of mutton and tomato sauce, potatoes and artichokes (mahsi bataatis and mahshi kharshouf) aren't a preferred type of mahshi for vegetarians.

In Iraq, the mixture of ground lamb or beef with rice is usually made with many different fillings in the same preparing pot, as well as pomegranate juice, prominently used by the Kurds to give it a unique taste. The Assyrians of Iraq may either call it dolma or yaprekh which is the Syriac term for stuffed grape leaves. Iraqi Arabs usually served dolma without yoghurt. Often chicken or beef ribs are added to the cooking pot, and sometimes served with the dolma instead of masta or khalwah. Iraqi dolma is usually always cooked and served in a tomato-based sauce. In Mosul Dolma is a very popular food. In mosul they also include courggetes, tomatoes, onions, peppers and grape leaves. They are occasionally smoked.

In Israel, vine leaves are commonly stuffed with a combination of meat and rice, although other fillings, such as lentils, have evolved among the various Jewish, Arab and Armenian communities.^[5]

In the Palestinian Territories, stuffed grape leaves are called "Warak Dawali" in Arabic and are stuffed with parsley rice and ground beef or lamb.

In Poland, the dish is called "gołąbki" and contains rice and meat with different spices, wrapped in white cabbage leaves. It is cooked in water, served warm, often with tomato sauce.

In Romania, sarma are wrapped either in grape leaves (sarmale în foi de viţă), in cabbage leaves (sarmale în foi de varză) or in bell peppers (ardei umpluţi). They are often eaten with hot mămăliga and sour cream or yogurt.

In Bangladesh and the West Bengal state in India, pointed gourd (Trichosanthes dioica) is used for stuffing fish, meat, or vegetables and goes by the name of dolma or the local variant dorma. During the times of the Muslim rulers called Nawabs of Bengal, this dish came to the region with its Turkish name, only the vegetable used to stuff has changed.

In Sweden, Kåldolmar is a Swedish dish inspired by dolma, probably brought to Sweden by king Karl XII who was held captive by the Turks in Bender after losing the Battle of Poltava against the Russians. It is made of cabbage instead of grape leaves and contains minced pork or beef and rice. It is eaten with boiled potatoes, brown sauce and lingonberry jam.

Sarma; a kind of dolma. It is a classic of Turkish cuisine.

In Turkey, there are two main categories of dolma; those filled with a meat mixture: minced meat ("kıyma"), onion, pinenut, rice, oil and some spices; and those filled with a rice mixture (without meat): rice, olive oil, pinenuts, currants (or dried figs/cherries), herbs (fresh parsley, dill and mint) and spices (usually allspice, cinnamon and black pepper). Meat dolma is always eaten hot; meatless ones, "zeytinyağlı dolma" (dolma with olive oil) - "yalancı dolma" (false dolma), usually at room temperature, as a meze. Dolma with meat is a main course and always served with yogurt. An egg-milk based sauce is sometimes used for yaprak sarma with meat in some regions. Common types include peppers (biber dolma), eggplant/aubergine (patlıcan dolma), artichoke ("enginar dolması"), zucchini/courgette (kabak dolma), plum (erikli dolma), collard greens (karalahana dolma), vine, chard and cabbage leaves (lahana sarma), zucchini flowers (çiçek dolma) or mussels (midye dolma). Tomatoes, pumpkin and some fruits such as quince, apple or melon are also used to make dolma in Turkish cuisine. Mumbar dolması is an interesting type of dolma for which the intestines of sheep are filled with a mixture of rice and meat and bean. In some regions rice is replaced or mixed with bulgur (pounded wheat). The inner part of some vegetables or fruits (which are hollowed out) can be added into the filling.

See also[link]

• Cabbage roll (stuffed cabbage)
• Sarma
• Sogan-dolma
• Patra (dish)

Notes[link]

This article is part of the series
Turkish cuisine Türk mutfağı
Ingredients Vegetables Bean Bell pepper Eggplant Leek Lentil Spinach Tomato Herbs & Spices Almond Black pepper Chestnut Cinnamon Cumin Garlic Hazelnut Mint Nut Onion Oregano Paprika Parsley Pistachio Red pepper Thyme Urfa pepper Walnut
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References[link]

• Alan Davidson, The Oxford Companion to Food. ISBN 0-19-211579-0.

External links[link]

Media related to Dolma at Wikimedia Commons

Alan Dawa Dolma
Alan at the Tokyo Game Show 2008
Chinese name	阿蘭·達瓦卓瑪 (Traditional)
Chinese name	阿兰·达瓦卓玛 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Ālán Dáwǎzhuómǎ (Mandarin)
Ancestry	Khampa Tibetan
Origin	Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Born	(1987-07-25) July 25, 1987 (age 24) Garze Tibetan A.P., Sichuan, China
Other name(s)	ཨ་ལན་ཟླ་བ་སྒྲོལ་མ་ (Tibetan) a lan zla ba sgrol ma (Wylie) Alan Dawa Dolma (THDL) Alan Dawa Dolma (Tibetan pinyin)
Occupation	Singer
Genre(s)	Pop Mandopop Ethereal Wave
Instrument(s)	Erhu Piano
Voice type(s)	Soprano
Label(s)	Avex Trax
Years active	2005-present
Official Website	www.alan-web.jp

Alan Dawa Dolma (Tibetan: ཨ་ལན་ཟླ་བ་སྒྲོལ་མ་; simplified Chinese: 阿兰·达瓦卓玛; traditional Chinese: 阿蘭·達瓦卓瑪; pinyin: Ālán Dáwǎzhuómǎ; born on July 25, 1987), professionally known as Alan (stylized as alan) (Japanese: アラン, simplified Chinese: 阿兰; traditional Chinese: 阿蘭), is a female Chinese singer active in the Japanese music industry.^[1]

Discovered by Avex Trax at an audition in China in 2006, she made her debut in Japan the following year. Her main producer and composer is Kazuhito Kikuchi and she is also known for playing the erhu.^[2]

In 2009, her ninth Japanese single "Kuon no Kawa" debuted at #3 on the Oricon weekly charts, the highest ever by a singer from China.^[3]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Alan is a native of Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and her native tongue is Kham Ke, one of the Tibetan dialect.

Alan was born in Kangding to a large family, her father had ten siblings and her mother had eight.^[2] She grew up with her grandparents in nearby Danba, often referred to as "Beauty Valley".^[4] The name "Alan", which is in fact her official surname, is a self-created shortened form of a combination of the sinified Tibetan names of her parents Atu and Lantai. Her given name "Dawa Dolma" was bestowed upon her by a Buddhist monk and means "Heavenly maiden of the moon" in Tibetan.^[2] Alan's father was a local government official and her mother was a singer in the local Art Troupe.

She was made to play the erhu at an early age as a punishment for tomboy behavior,^[2][5] and in 1997 left her hometown to live with her aunt and study at the Middle & High School affiliated with the Sichuan Conservatory of Music in Chengdu, after ranking first in the erhu audition as a fourth grader.

In 2003 she was accepted to the PLA Art Academy in Beijing and double majored in vocal music and erhu. Playing the erhu, she performed traditional Chinese music with a group of girls at the 2006 gala performance near Cairo, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Chinese-Egyptian diplomatic ties.^[6]

During this time, Alan performed as a singer throughout China and discovered the pop music such as Faye Wong, Jacky Cheung and Andy Lau.^[2] In 2005 she released her first Chinese album, Shengsheng Zui Rulan, covering 13 songs by more established C-pop singers, which helped her reduce her student debt burden to her parents.

In October 2006, selected to represent mainland China together with Wei Chen (with whom she later collaborated for Jiayou! Ni You Me!), Alan won second place at the 9th Asia New Singer Competition,^[7] narrowly losing to Filipina singer Maria Donna Taneo by 0.005 points.

Career[link]

Avex Era[link]

In April 2006, Alan distinguished herself from roughly 40,000 hopefuls when Avex Trax held auditions throughout Chinese cities that year. After graduating with excellence a year later, she became Avex's first signed artist from China and moved to Tokyo, Japan in September 2007. In November 2007, her first Japanese single "Ashita e no Sanka" was released.

In May 2008, Alan released Shiawase no Kane/Ai Jiushi Shou and all profits from the songs were donated to the Red Cross to help the victims of the Sichuan Earthquake in her home province.^[8] A later Japanese single titled Gunjō no Tani was also dedicated to the people of Sichuan.

In June 2008, Alan sang the theme song "Natsukashii Mirai (Longing Future)" for NHK's Save the Future special TV programs which raised awareness of the environment nationwide. Beginning with this song, which was themed on earth, Alan's next five Japanese singles each dealt with a traditional Buddhist element from the Japanese Godai or Tibetan Bön.

Chosen to sing the theme songs (Xin Zhan: Red Cliff and Chibi: Da Jiangdong Qu) of the two-episode Chinese blockbuster Red Cliff, Alan performed at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2008.^[9] The Japanese versions, "Red Cliff (Shin-Sen)" and "Kuon no Kawa", were recorded for the films' showings in Japan.

In April 2009 Alan's ninth single "Kuon no Kawa" [River of Eternity] reached No. 3, the highest chart placement ever for a Chinese artist in Japan.^[2]

Alan held her first Japan tour in January 2010, taking in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka.^[2]

On February 3, 2010, Alan released a double A-side single, "Diamond/Over the Clouds". "Diamond" was used as the second closing to the anime Inuyasha: The Final Act.^[10] While "Over the Clouds" was used as the theme song for the PSP video game, God Eater.^[11]

On July 23, 2010 Alan performed with a symphonic orchestra at Shibuya Orchard Hall, performing 23 songs in multiple languages. She also began using Twitter to communicate directly with fans.^[1]

In August 2011 alan announced that she will be focus her activities in China. She held a live in August 31, 2011 in Japan. In October was announced that alan's Chinese label, Avex China, dissolved and she was transferred to Yuehua Music.

Her first single under the new label called "Wo Huihualei (I'm back)" was released as digital single in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong and was composed by JJ Lin.

Vocal Technique[link]

	alan "Ashita e no Sanka" (2007) noicon Alan employing the "Tibetan wail" singing technique.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

In addition to Mandarin Chinese and Japanese, Alan also sings in Tibetan, especially in her native Kham Ke (e.g. "sign" in Hitotsu and "Tennyo ~interlude~" in Voice of Earth). One distinctive singing style of Alan's is the so-called "Tibetan wail", where she is able to stretch her vocals for a long period of time at very high notes. She has said her singing style is instinctive and is unique to her tribe.^[2]

In addition to erhu, Alan can also play the piano. She has recently started composing her own songs (e.g. "Together" in Voice of Earth).

Alan is a Tibetan Buddhist^[12] and aims to sing about "love and peace".^[13]

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website (Japan)
• Official Blog (Japanese)
• Official Blog (Chinese)
• Alan Dawa Dolma on Sina Weibo
• Alan Dawa Dolma on Twitter