Prepare the Cooking Pots:

Optional: Boil lamb necks/shoulders until cooked fairly well. Rinse meat and pat dry. Use the lamb pieces to line the bottom of the dolma pot, add some additional flavor and to eat.

Alternatively, you can line the bottom of the pot with grape leaves.*We prefer to use a separate pot for cooking the sarma, which you also need to line with grape leaves.

Prepare Cabbage/Vegetables:

Wash vegetables such as zucchini, yellow squash, Japanese eggplant, bell peppers, small yellow chili peppers, tomatoes (not ripe). Hollow out vegetables (remove pulp.) If desired, rinse vegetables to remove residual seeds and pulp and then drain by turning upside down on a towel.

Cut core of cabbage and rinse. Pull off any disclosed leaves. Fill pot with water and place cabbage in the pot. Bring it to a boil and then simmer until the cabbage leaves are tender.

Prepare Meat Mixture:

With hands, combine and mix together the ground meat, rice, tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, pepper, allspice, sugar and green bell pepper (optional).

Stuffing the Cabbage and Vegetables:

Stuff cabbage leaves. Peel off a single piece of cabbage and place on a plate or cutting board. Cut a slit of core out. Place about a tablespoon of filling centered at the bottom of the leaf. Spread filling into a line, about half an inch from the sides of the cabbage leaf. Bring the bottom of the leaf up over the filling and tuck it in so that it hugs against the filling. Next, fold in the sides of the cabbage leaf and finishing rolling from the bottom of the leaf to the top.

Stuff vegetables with raw meat filling. Leave about a half an inch of space at the top of each vegetable to leave room for the bulgur to expand during cooking.

Once everything is stuffed, prepare the dolma and sarma for cooking.

Get the pot that you lined with lamb pieces (and/or grape leaves). Put bell peppers in the pot first. Then continue loading the vegetables from heartiest to most delicate.

Load sarma (stuffed grape leaves) into a separate pot lined with grape leaves. You could also cook everything in the same pot, if the cabbage rolls fit snuggly on the top.

Prepare Simmering Juice (to Cook Dolma and Sarma in):

Combine water, lemon juice, tomato sauce, salt and sugar.

Prepare Simmering Seasoning:

In a mortar and pestle, you'll mash up the garlic with dried mint and a sprinkle of salt. Set this aside.

Cook Dolma and Sarma:

For each pot, pour enough simmering juice to cover the top of the dolma and sarma. Then, turn a dinner plate upside down over the dolma and sarma to help stabilize during baking. Weight the plate down with a large glass mason jar filled with water.

Bring to a boil, then lower the temperature. Add the mint and garlic mixture. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the rice is tender.. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before serving. Cooking time may vary depending on the amount made and size of the pot.