Cheese Filled Swiss Chard Sarma
Cheese filled sarma is a dish that my grandmother used to do in my childhood a lot. In our case, the sarmas were made of beet leaves or a similar green called labada rather than vine leaves or chard. My grandmother used to do whichever one she found. I'm preparing them with swiss chards here.
The combination of curd cheese and bulgur is nothing rare in Trakya cuisine, by the way. We also have a börek recipe filled with a mixture of bulgur and cheese. It may sound weird, but it's really delicious.
Cheese filled sarma is a quite plain dish and has a taste that captures the palate with its simplicity. It can be consumed plain or can be eaten with yoghurt like other sarmas. You can also prepare a really simple sauce over by melting butter and adding some ground sweet chili.
Enjoy the recipe...
Ingredients
- 1 kg swiss chard,
- 1 onion,
- 3/4 cups of fine bulgur,
- 1 cup curd cheese,
- 4-5 tablespoons of vegetable oil,
- 1 cup boiling water,
- 1 tablespoon butter,
- Salt.
Preparation
- Chop the onion,
- Heat oil in a large pan, add choped onion and cook until tender,
- Wash and drain the bulgur,
- Add bulgur, water and salt to the onion, mix, cover the lid and cook until the bulgur is tender and absorbs all the water, remove from heat,
- Add the cheese and mix,
- Wash the chard leaves and boil in a large pot until changes color for a few minutes, drain,
- Cut abd remove the thick veins and cut the leaves into suitable sizes,
- Put a teaspoon of bulgur filling on each piece and wrap and roll,
- Spread a layer of leaf on the bottom of a pot,
- Place the sarmas,
- Cover them with another layer of leaf,
- Place a plate on top,
- Add enough water to cover the half of the sarmas, cover and cook on medium heat until tender,
- Melt the butter and pour over the sarmas.
Bon Appetit...