Töltött Káposzta (Stuffed Cabbage)

Romanians call this dish Sarmale. However since I visited a Hungarian village cabbage festival, we’re going with their title. Stuffed cabbage varieties abound throughout Eastern and Central Europe- other names include holubky (Czech), holishkes (Yiddish), goÅ‚Ä…bki (Polish), and balandeliai (Lithuanian). In the German language I grew up with, they are known as Kohlrouladen.

The recipe below is based on one in the well-written and interesting cookbook “Jewish Soul Food, from Minsk to Marrakech” by Janna Gur.

Recipe

makes about 12-14 cabbage rolls depending on the size of your cabbage

1 large head of green cabbage

Filling Ingredients

2 onions

½ cup rice (I used basmati, any longer grain type will work)

1 pound ground beef (you can substitute ground lamb, turkey, veal, or a mix. Some fat is desirable in the meat.)

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup water

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon Hungarian paprika (sweet)

Sauce ingredients

3 tablespoons neutral oil (I used canola)

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon chili powder

½ head of green cabbage, chopped (c. ¾ pound of cabbage)

14 ounces sauerkraut, strained

2 cups tomato puree (tomato juice works fine as well)

1 cup water

Apple juice (optional)

Sour cream for serving

Egri Bikaver or beer (optional – to drink alongside!)

1. To prepare the cabbage for leaf removal: use a sharp knife to cut into and remove the hard center core of the cabbage (as you would an apple before making baked apples). You don’t need to cut all the way down, about ½ way should do it.
2. Place the cabbage in a large pot full of boiling water with the cut side down. Cover pot and cook for 15 minutes.
3. Remove the cabbage (I used one long handled grill fork and one rounded spatula, but large spoons will work) and place on a large plate or cutting board. Let cool slightly until comfortable to handle.
4. Carefully remove the leaves, one by one, and place on a tray or large plate so there is a rounded opening facing you (for stuffing). This means the thick backboney part will be against the plate, exposing the inner part of the leaves.

5. Make the filling by chopping or grating the onions.  Then squeeze out any liquid from the onions. Place in a large bowl and add the rice, ground beef, garlic, water, salt, pepper, paprika. Combine this mixture well.

6.Place about ¼ cup of the beef filling into the center part of a cabbage leaf. Start rolling up using the wide part of the leaf. About halfway up, fold in the sides of the leaf and and then continue rolling the widest part until you’ve rolled the entire leaf. This should create a tight package which will hold together while cooking. (be careful not to overfill your leaves – adjust amount according to leaf size- the center filling will increase in size during cooking.)

7.  Repeat with remaining leaves. If you have extra beef mixture, you can make little meatballs and add to the pot.

8. In a large-sized and wide saucepan, heat the oil over medium and then add garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, sugar, and chili powder. Cook for about a minute to enable the flavors to meld, then remove from the heat.

9. Add the green cabbage and sauerkraut, and then the tomato puree and water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once this boils, reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes.

10. Place the cabbage rolls, with their seam side down, tightly in the pan. The sauce should cover all the rolls. If they are not covered, add a bit more water, tomato puree, tomato juice, or – my preference- apple juice.

11. Bring this mixture to a boil, then cover the and reduce the heat to very low. Cook for 1-1.5 hours, checking every now and then to ensure there is still enough liquid to cover the rolls. If there is less than half the liquid you started off with, add more apple juice, water, or tomato puree. There should still be sauce left in the pan to spoon over the cabbage rolls when they are done cooking.

12.Serve with a big dollop of sour cream and maybe, if you’re lucky enough to get some, a bottle of Egri Bikaver, Hungarian Bull’s Blood wine.

Jó étvágyat! (Hungarian) and poftă bună! (Romanian) – Enjoy your meal!