Stuffed cabbage leaves or rolls with fermented cabbage!
Now is the time for the amazing stuffed cabbage leaves or rolls. To make them even more delicious and quicker, use the lovely whole fermented cabbage. The one I bought was almost 2kg and it made 20 rolls with some inside leaves still remaining. You can use the remaining part of your cabbage to make the delicious cabbage soup. Also, I switched the meat stuffing to the lentil and rice one but feel free to follow the original recipe.
The preparation
In a medium pan cook 1 cup of basmati rice. In a separate pan cook a cup of red lentils until soft, and the water is all absorbed. Add cooked rice and lentils to a large mixing bowl and mix until they combine.
The procedure
Add the following spices to the rice and lentil mixture:
- Sweet a generous pinch of paprika,
- Pungent a pinch of smoky hot paprika, a pinch of black pepper, a pinch of freshly ground coriander,
- Salty 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt, a splash of soy sauce (optional),
- Sour 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, a pinch of fresh or dried dill tops,
- Bitter a pinch of turmeric.
Mix everything well and taste the mixture. If you feel there is a flavour missing go over the cycle again. Add a little bit of each spice until you get to the one which is missing and add the right amount. The mixture should be really flavoursome. Also, make sure it is thick enough to make balls. If it is too runny and the balls are falling apart, add some breadcrumbs.
The wrapping stage
Take the leaves off the cabbage head one by one. Place each on a work surface. In the centre of the leaf place 2-3 tablespoons of the lentil-rice mixture and fold the leaf inside to make a packet. Fermented leaves will wrap and stay in place much easier than fresh ones.
To make the sauce
In a large heavy-bottomed pan add the following
- Sweet 3 tablespoons of oil,
- Pungent 2 roughly-sliced onions, 3-4 roughly-chopped garlic cloves, a pinch of pepper, and fry until translucent,
- Salty 1 teaspoon of salt, a splash of soy sauce (optional), 1/2 cup of cold water,
- Sour 2 large roughly-chopped tomatoes or 1 can of tomatoes, 3-4 tablespoons of tomato puree,
- Bitter a pinch of turmeric, a pinch of dried marjoram (optional),
- Sweet 1 teaspoon of brown sugar.
Boil until the tomatoes fall apart and transfer the stuffed cabbage rolls into the pan. Put them one by one to fill the whole bottom. Add a cup of boiling water and assemble the next layer of rolls. The level of the sauce should reach the level of rolls but they do not need to be covered with it. Cover with a lid and simmer at low heat for about 15-20 minutes. The rolls are ready when the leaves get tender.
Serve hot, garnished with herbs of your choice (eg. dill, parsley, celery tops).
The topping
Once you get all the rolls on the serving plates, thicken the sauce with a teaspoon of potato or corn starch. Add the starch to a cup with 3 tablespoons of cold water and stir well. Add 2 tablespoons of hot sauce to it and stir again. Repeat the process twice. In this way the starch will not form lumps. Add the mixture to the sauce and stir well until it thickens.
