Spiced Lamb and Rice Stuffed Cabbage Rolls — Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Spiced Rice - Sarma Machboos
Bosnian sarma cabbage leaves wrapped around Qatari machboos-spiced lamb and saffron rice with cardamom and dried lime, simmered in a tomato broth, finished with crispy fried onions and parsley.
Categories
Nutrition per Serving
Ingredients
For 2 servings
Instructions
Prep
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Trim cabbage core and submerge whole 4–5 minutes until outer leaves soften. Lift, cool under cold water, and peel off 10 large leaves; trim thick veins flat. Finely dice both onions, keeping them separate (one for the filling, one for frying). Mince 6 garlic cloves for the filling and 4 for the broth. Crack dried lime, tap out seeds, and pierce twice. Crumble saffron into 1/4 cup hot stock and rest 5 minutes. Dice tomatoes. Pick parsley leaves. Cut lemon into wedges.
Build 1
Combine machboos spice in a bowl: cardamom, cinnamon, turmeric, sweet paprika, black pepper, and 1 tsp salt. Rinse rice under cold water until clear.
Build 2
Knead lamb with diced onion for filling, filling garlic, rice, half the machboos spice, and 2 tbsp olive oil in a bowl for 90 seconds until tacky and uniform.
Sear
Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium-high 60 seconds. Add sliced onion and fry 6–7 minutes, turning often, until deep mahogany and crisp. Drain on paper towels and salt lightly.
Build 3
Lay a cabbage leaf flat. Spoon 1/10 of the lamb-rice mix near the stem end, fold sides over the filling, and roll tight into a snug parcel. Repeat with remaining 9 leaves.
Simmer
Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a heavy lidded pot over medium 60 seconds. Add broth garlic, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, remaining machboos spice, dried lime, bay leaf, and 1 tsp salt, stirring 90 seconds. Pour in saffron stock and remaining chicken stock. Nest cabbage rolls seam-side down in the broth. Cover and simmer over lowest heat 25–30 minutes until lamb is cooked through and rice is tender.
Plate
Lift cabbage rolls to shallow bowls and ladle broth around them. Scatter crispy fried onions generously across the top, finish with parsley, and serve with lemon wedges.
Recipes use AI and Edamam. Always check for allergens before cooking. Spotted something wrong—email us at hello@grubplanit.com.