Malfouf- Stuffed Cabbage
By: Mimi Cooks
Published: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 - 2:37pm

Ingredients




Ingredients:
1 Medium Cabbage
1 cup ground beef or ground lamb
1 medium diced onion
1 cup short grain rice
Garlic, you need few whole garlic cloves peeled and some minced
Optional, you may use whole head of garlic with the peel in between the layers
3 teaspoons of the following spices: Cumin, Caraway, Cooking oil
1 cup Lemon juice
1 cup water or as needed

Preparation

1 Wash and drain rice 2 Mix up the ground meat, diced onions and rice; add cooking oil and the spices (Cumin, Caraway, Coriander, Salt and Black Pepper) set aside. 3 Prepare your cabbage leaves by separating the leaves from the cabbage head. Cut away stems, save them and use them at the bottom of the pot. 4 Boil the leaves a few at a time in boiling salted water until they are soft enough to roll. 5 Prepare stuffing of meat, rice, salt, pepper and the above spices 6 Cut the leaves to form a cigar size roll. Place stuffing on each leaf, fold sides toward center and roll up from bottom into a cigar shape (similar with stuffed vine leaves). Do not over stuff; make sure that you have space for the rice to expand inside the cabbage rolls. 7 Press together firmly. Place layer of the saved stems 8 Place the whole garlic heads in between the rolled Malfouf. 9 Sprinkle with salt, caraway and cumin in between layers. Add water, boil then simmer for an hour to an hour and a half. Half way through the cooking time add crushed garlic on top. Let simmer. Simmer gently until rice is tender in barely enough water to cover. Invert your pot in a platter 10 You may serve this dish hot or at room temperature, depends on your personal taste.

About


A Middle Eastern style stuffed cabbage is a satisfying meal that can be made with rice and ground meat stuffing or with rice, onions, herbs to make it a vegetarian dish. the secret to this dish is adding a spice mix that has Cumin, Caraway, Coriander, Cinnamon, Salt and Black Pepper. Garlic and lemon juice  give the dish a very nice taste.