This is an Iranian recipe for Dolmeh Kalam (stuffed cabbage or galumpkis). Stuffing cabbage is not a new idea in the west and it is a great replacement for vine leaves. I have been able to find vine leaves in Ireland but would rather use Irish cabbage than imported vine leaves. If you have a dolmeh-yeh Barg-e Mow (stuffed vine leaf) recipe you like try it out with cabbage and let me know how it works.
Stuffing for 24 leaves2 chopped onions
1/2 pound ground beef or lamb
1/2 cup of long grain rice
4 tsp tomato paste
2 cups of stock
1/3 cup dried herbs (I used partsly, mint and ghormeh sabzi)
2 tsp sugar
1/2 of a jucie of a lime
salt, pepper and hot pepper
Cook the onions and ground meat over med heat until the meat is brown. Add the rice and tomato paste and mix well. Add the stock, herbs, sugar and lime juice. Cook for 15 min or until the rice is starts to soft (but not cooked all the way) and the stock is gone. Check for salt, pepper and spice.
To Roll the Cabbage1 white or green cabbage (I used savoy)
1 tsp oil
1 Tbs tomato paste or 1/2 cup of tomato juice
Pull the leaves off the cabbage one by one. Cut out the thick vane. Wash well. Cook in the microwave 2-3 min or boil for 1 min. The cabbage should be soft and foldy, but will not be as easy to work with as vine leaves.
In an oiled pot or rice maker place the biggest leave down to keep the rolls from burning.
To roll the leaves pull together the 2 sides from where the vain was. Cross them over to make a pocket. Fill with 1 or 1 1/2 Tbs of rice and roll. Place in the pot. The roll may try to unroll so fit the rolls in tight. When all the cabbage is rolled mix tomato paste with 1/2 water and pour over the rolls. Cover the pot and cook for 30-45 in a rice maker or on med low heat. The cabbage should be soft and the rice cooked. Add more water if its not.
