Turkish Cabbage Rolls Recipe - Etli Lahana Sarması
These meaty Turkish cabbage rolls are the perfect, comforting cold weather winter dish. Seasonal cabbage wraps your tasty meat and rice mixture before being drizzled in a richly-flavoured sauce. The drizzle of yoghurt sauce before eating makes all the difference, boosting the flavours.
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Equipment
- 1 large saucepan
- 1 sharp knife
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 colander
- 1 slotted spoon
Servings 6 people
Ingredients
For The Cabbage Rolls
- 1 head of green cabbage (large)
- 400 grams minced beef (ground beef) (or lamb)
- 100 grams short grain rice (or bulgur wheat)
- 1 medium onion (peeled & grated)
- 4 cloves garlic (peeled & grated)
- 1½ tablespoons red pepper paste (or tomato paste)
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill (finely chopped)
- 1 tablespoon dried mint
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- salt (to season)
- 2 tablespoons water
For Cooking Your Cabbage Rolls
- 2 cloves garlic (peeled & grated)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)
- 500 millilitres hot water or stock (approximately)
For The Yoghurt Sauce
- 3 tablespoons thick natural yoghurt
- 1 clove garlic (peeled & grated)
- 1 small lemon (juiced)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
To Make Cabbage Rolls
- First of all, we need to remove the leaves from our cabbage. To do this, run a sharp knife around the rim of the stalk at the bottom.
- Now, you can start to gently remove each of the leaves one by one.
- When you have all your leaves, cut them in half from bottom to top by running your knife along the thick stem. Put the stems to one side.
- Now bring a large pan of water to the boil and plunge your cabbage leaves into the boiling water a few at a time, blanching for 2-3 minutes until they start to go limp.
- Remove the leaves with a slotted spoon and carefully place into a large colander to drain. Run cold water over them to prevent them from cooking further.
- Keep blanching your leaves in batches until they are all done and draining in your colander.
- Drain your large saucepan and cover the bottom of it with cabbage stems and / or any leaves that may have torn.
- Now add the your meat and rice cabbage roll filling to a mixing bowl and stir together, kneading briefly to make sure all the ingredients are well mixed.
- Take one of your cabbage leaves and place it on a flat surface with the veins facing upwards.
- Place a spoonful of your meat and rice mixture across the bottom of the cabbage leaf (how much you add will depend on the size of your leaves) and fold the sides of the leaf inwards, over your stuffing.
- Now roll the leaf, making sure not to roll it too tightly, so that the filling is encased and place in your large saucepan, seam-side down.
- Keep repeating this, arranging the cabbage rolls in your pan so that they are quite a snug fit. You need a bit of balance between leaving a little wiggle room for the rice to expand as it cooks but having the rolls secure enough so that they don't move around and unravel in the pan as they simmer.
- Now mix your cooking sauce ingredients together until your tomato paste has dissolved.
- Place your pot of cabbage rolls on the hob and pour the sauce over them making sure that the liquid reaches, and just covers your top layer of rolls.
- Bring to the boil and then turn the heat down to a low heat.
- Place a small plate, upside down, over the top of your cabbage rolls to weigh them down a little.
- Now place a lid on your saucepan and leave your cabbage rolls to cook for around 60 minutes.
For The Yoghurt Sauce
- Whilst your cabbage rolls are cooking, you can prepare your yoghurt sauce.
- Mix the ingredients together in a small serving bowl, adding a splash of water if you want a thinner consistency.
To Serve Your Cabbage Rolls
- When cooked, remove your pan from the heat and carefully lift your cabbage rolls onto your serving plate(s).
- Spoon your cooking sauce over the top of them.
- Serve immediately, with a drizzle of yoghurt sauce over the top and a few chilli flakes to garnish, if you like.
Notes
- The nutritional information for our stuffed cabbage rolls recipe is calculated by 3rd party api and should be used as a rough guide, only. Values will differ according to the particular ingredients you use.
- In our recipe, we use a mix of red pepper paste (biber salçası) and tomato paste (domates salçası). If you can't find Turkish red pepper paste, tomato paste will be fine.
- If you like, you can uıse minced / ground lamb instead of beef. And coarse bulgur wheat instead of rice.
- At our local Turkish markets, the cabbages are huge. Our cabbage rolls recipe makes around 30 cabbage rolls. We allocate 5 cabbage rolls per serving as a main meal.
- If you have leftover cabbage rolls, allow them to cool and then store them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You can gently reheat them on the hob or in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes. They taste great!
Nutrition
Serving: 1Calories: 388kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 16gFat: 24gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 149mgPotassium: 623mgFiber: 6gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 563IUVitamin C: 69mgCalcium: 113mgIron: 4mg
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