Asateer-Dishes_Stuffed-Cabbage-with-Rice-and-Minced-Meat

With Eid festivities all around are you inspired enough to try your hand at Arabic delights in the comforts of your home? Executive Oriental Chef Ali El Bourji at Asateer, Atlantis The Palm assures we all will be giving cabbages a huge thumbs-up with this one!

STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS WITH MEAT AND RICE

Serves: 8 | Preparation time: 35 mins | Cooking time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1kg cabbage leaves, separated

 

For the stuffing:

  • 400g ground lamb
  • 150g Egyptian rice rinsed and dried
  • 50ml vegetable oil
  • 7g cinnamon
  • 5g white pepper
  • 10g 7 spices
  • 10g salt

 

Sauce:

  • 50ml lemon juice
  • 30g  garlic cloves
  • 5g dried mint
  • 5g salt
  • 8g garlic minced

 

Method:

  1. Wash the head of cabbage and remove two layers of the outside leaves.
  2. To separate the leaves, simmer the entire cabbage head in a large pot of boiling water for five to 10 minutes while carefully turning it over to ensure exposure to all of its sides.
  3. As you remove the leaves, keep deepening the cut at the core so that the other leaves also fall from the core as the soften.
  4. Remove the stems of the boiled leaves and cut the leaves into squares.
  5. Mix together the gound lamb, rice 25ml vegetable oil, cinnamon, pepper and salt. Combine well.
  6. Spoon a small amount of the stuffing in the middle of each square cabbage leaf in a straight line. Roll the leaf twice or three times, and make sure to tuck the ends so the stuffing does not spill out.
  7. Layer the cabbage rolls in a pot making sure they are sitting tightly next to each other.
  8. Spread the unpeeled galic cloves in between the cabbage rolls.
  9. Cover the rolls with a place, the plate should press the rolls down and keep them from moving while cooking.
  10. In a frying pan, sauté cloves of freshly minced garlic with vegetable oil, dried mint and lemon juice until the mixture starts turning brown.
  11. Cover the saucepan and cook the cabbage leaves over low heat for around one hour or until the rice and meat is cooked.
  12. Serve hot with plain yoghurt and squeeze a bit of lemon over it before serving.

 

Chef tip: Pitting out the large stem from the bottom of the cabbage, will help the leaves get separated easily