I love grape leaves, but I hear that homemade taste far exceeds the canned store bought. Saw this blog which explains in detail - http://www.yogurtland.com/category/turkish-food/page/2/

Ok, I just tried to make Dolmas last night. I decided to go without the meat on my first try. Instead of using any of the recipes I found, I spoke with Melik's mom. She said to just add olive oil, tomato paste, peppermint, and water to 2 or 3 cups of rice and cook. Then just add this mixture to the grape leaves. I don't think I added enough tomato or something... I used tomato sauce instead and only 1 can... and cooked in a pot, covered by a plate with a rock as weight on top... but the grape leaves weren't cooked enough and didn't seem to have enough flavor. Melik said they're usually saucy. Where did I go wrong? I'll have to try again and experiment with the recipe.

below is one that I found online:
1/2 kilo fresh grape leaves or alternatively you can purchase them in jars or cans,

1 cup long grain rice,

2 pinches of salt,

1-2 large onions, finely chopped,

2 cloves of garlic, crushed,

2 Tbs finely chopped parsley,

pinch of ground allspice,

pinch of ground black pepper,

3 Tbs of good quality olive oil,

250gr of ground meat (chicken, beef or lamb),

juice of 1 to 2 lemons,

2 cups chicken stock,

butter.

Trim the stems of the grape leaves. Place them in a large bowl, cover with boiling water and soak for 10-15 minutes and then rinse with cold water.

Soak the rice in salted hot water for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile saute the chopped onions, garlic, herbs and seasoning in the oil.

Remove from the heat, add the drained rice and the meat, mixing everything together very well.

Place a grape leave on a work surface, shiny side down, place about 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture near the stem end, then fold in the end and sides and roll up neatly.

Repeat this process untill all the leaves are stuffed.

Line the bottom of a large, heavy based pot with several grape leaves, then arrange the filled rolls in stacks with lemon slices between.

Pour in the stock, add small dabs of butter on the top.

Place a heat proof dish on the top layer to keep the rolls pressed down.

Cover with a lid and simmer slowly for 1 to 2 hours, or untill the leaves are tender.

Serve the "dolma" lukewarm, sprinkled with lemon juice.

Alternatively, you may prefer to serve with a garlic, olive oil and lemon juice dressing.

Garnish with halved lemon slices.

Note: Alternatives to this recipe are minus the meat, just a plain rice and seasoning dolma, with or without chicken stock. The plain dolma are just a nice cold.