That Translator Can Cook: Malfouf (Stuffed Cabbage)
Spiced beef and rice wrapped in cabbage leaves and simmered in a savory broth.
Image Source: Lazezh
I’ve had stuffed grape leaves, ‘tongue’ leaves, and the Polish stuffed cabbage, and I’m more inclined to try making stuffed cabbage rather than stuffed grape leaves because cabbage is more readily available than grape leaves in the US.
A lot of people don’t like cabbage because it stinks when you cook it, but cabbage is good for you. It’s always the stinky, bitter, etc. foods that are the healthy ones. However, there are ways to reduce the smell, like adding something acidic (i.e. lemon juice, vinegar, wine), adding bay leaves or celery to the boiling water, or simply ventilating the kitchen. In any case, you shouldn’t dismiss this dish because cabbage:
is packed with nutrient like vitamin K, vitamin C, and fiber.
may help control inflammation, affecting chronic inflammation rather than acute inflammation.
helps improve digestion because it’s rich in insoluble fiber, which promotes bowel movements and increases the number of beneficial gut bacteria.
may enhance heart health: studies have shown a link between eating foods with the same pigment as red cabbage and a reduced risk of heart disease.
may lower blood pressure because it’s rich in potassium.
could help lower cholesterol levels because of the soluble fiber and plant sterols it contains.
Here is how to make these healthy rolls (recipe belongs to Dody [دودي])!
Ingredients
7 people
1 head of cabbage
2-3 cups of short-grain rice, depending on the size of the cabbage head
½ kilo of ground meat
½ bunch of parsley
1 onion, finely minced
3 cloves of garlic to taste, peeled and finely minced
½ cup of oil
1 lemon
Black pepper
Salt
Cumin
1 bouillon cube
Dried mint
Seven-spice blend
1 potato in round slices
Instructions
My way of boiling the cabbage is very easy and the leaves can be torn without much effort in three steps. First, remove the round core in the middle of the cabbage with a knife in a circular motion. Try to remove the core entirely till the root. Second, using a knife, cut of the ends of the vein that is in the middle of a leaf, meaning cut off the end of each vein diagonally and remove it. Third, using a fork, loosen the leaves from each other. Pour boiling water within the hole until the head of cabbage is submerged and after five minutes, separate the leaves from each other.
Take the leaves after arranging them on top of each other and submerge them in boiling water. You need to only half-boil them. Cut the leaves to whatever size you wish so that it’s easy for you wrap with them. Sauté the onion in a bit of oil, then add the crushed garlic. Add the meat and stir together until the meat and all the spices listed in the ingredients list are completely cooked. Then, add the minced parsley and mint. Finally, add the rice and stir the ingredients together.
At the bottom of the pot, lay the round potato slices; usually, I place either the meat or chicken at the bottom of the pot rather than the potato. If you want to change the routine a bit, you can start stuffing the cabbage leaves with the rice mixture and half the cabbage in a circle until all the ingredients are used up. Place a somewhat thick plate on the cabbage rolls to prevent the cabbage rolls from falling apart.
Prepare the following broth: cumin; bouillon; oil; lemon juice; two cloves of garlic, holes made in them with the tip of a knife; and water that was used to boil the cabbage. Completely submerge the cabbage in the broth and turn up the heat to high for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to stew them for 45 minutes or however long you want until they're completely cooked.
Translators’ Discussion
Sometimes, I have trouble with حتى: is it “so that”, "until,” or “even”? When talking about coring the cabbage head, the recipe states, “منحاول نتخلص من الضلع حتى الجذر.” I thought that “even” would be appropriate in this context, what do you think?
The plate mentioned in the recipe was literally described as a plate “of medium thickness”, but that seemed a bit stiff to me and I used “somewhat thick” since the thickness doesn’t have to be exact. Which description would you have used?