Mince Stuffed Cabbage Leaves

Turn the cabbage over and cut out the core with a small knife. Cut a cone shape removing most of the core still leaving the leaves something to hold onto.

Place the cabbage, right side up, into a large pot. Add about 5 cm of water, put the lid on and bring to the boil.

Simmer the whole cabbage for an hour or so until you can press down on the top and it is soft.

The cabbage should be soft enough to remove the leaves but not so soft that they fall apart. 

Remove the cooked cabbage to a large plate to drain. (I like to keep the cooking water in case I didn't cook the cabbage enough and I need to cook the centre a little bit more.)

Prepare the filling; 

Peel the onions and grate them into a bowl.

Grate the tomatoes into the same bowl. You don't need to peel them as you are automatically left with the skins at the end of grating.

Wash the rice and add to the bowl along with the mince, 1 Tbsp tomato paste, 1 tspn salt and the pepper.

Mix together well with your hands.

When the cabbage is cool enough to handle, gently remove the leaves and place them onto a plate. Stop when the leaves are getting too small to roll, about 10cm in diameter.

Cut the leaves into pieces about 15cm round removing the hard spine of the leaf. Very large leaves can be cut into halves or quarters. As the leaves get smaller, cut the spine out but leave the top of the leaf intact so that when you bring the two cut pieces together and overlap a little it forms a big enough leaf.

Start stuffing the leaf. Put about 2 tablespoons of the mince mixture at the base of the leaf, fold over the sides and roll up. Continue until all of the mince is finished.

Cabbage Leaf Sarma doesn't have to be rolled up perfectly, sometimes the part near the spine is too hard and you can't fold over to enclose the meat completely so it's ok to leave the end open. 

If you have mince left over roll them into small balls and place them on top of the meal to cook.

Place the stuffed leaves into a pot, seam side down, but reasonably tightly packed.

Mix 1 Tbsp of tomato paste with 1 cup of water and 1 tsp of salt and pour this over the rolled cabbage. Add more water until it is level with the top of the meal.

Put the lid on and cook on the stovetop on a medium heat until it starts to simmer then turn down to low.

Cook for about half an hour until the rice is cooked and the cabbage leaves are tender.

Let the meal rest for 10 minutes and serve with some of the cooking liquid and a piece of bread on the side.