Etli Lahana Dolması (stuffed cabbage with meat)

Stuffed vegetables are very common in the turkish tables. The stuffed vegetables can be the cold dish (if it is stuffed rice with olive oil) and the hot dish (if it is stuffed rice with minced meat). In turkish, we call these stuffed veggies.. Dolma.. The rice are stuffed mainly into..
1. Vine leaves (daun anggur)
2. Green bell pepper
3. Zuchinni Squash
4. Eggplant
5. Cabbage

Here is one stuffed rice with meat recipe for u to look at:

Ingredients

3 big onions (diced)
Half a kilogram minced meat
One small turkish tea cup of uncooked rice (Quater of a big glass)
Tomato paste (one tablespoon or more)
Parsley (thinly sliced)
Cabbage (Each layer separated from each other)
2 tomatoes (grated)
Salt and black pepper to taste
One small turkish tea cup of water

Steps

-Add the diced onions, minced meat, water,tomato paste, parsley, salt, pepper in a cup.
-Mix them all up with your hands..pakai tangan..jangan main pakai sudu.. :0)

- Boil water. Take the layers of the cabbage and one by one put it in the hot water till the cabbage layers are soft enough to roll. DO NOT OVERBOiL the cabbage.
-Take the softened cabbage layers out to cool.
-Cut the cabbage into smaller pieces (like in the picture below).
-Add in a small portion of the mixed ingredients. Roll the cabbage slowly.
-It will look like the cigarette bud. Please make sure the end part of the cabbage layer is tucked inside (like the picture in the top part of the blog)
-Put the stuffed cabbage in layers as in the picture above.
-Spread the grated tomato on top of the dolma
-If u use a nomal pan, it is advised to put some layers of the cabbage (not stuffed.. just the empty layers) underneath ur dolma so that it will bot be stuck to the pan while cooking.
-If u use a teflon pan, u do not need the layering.
-Add in water into the pan.I like to put only one glass of water.
-Turn the heat full blast. When the water starts boiling, cover the lid, decrease the heat to the minimum n let the dolma cook by itself. Keep on checking to see if the water is still there. Add in water if necessary.do not open the lid of the pan too often!
-The key is...let the dolma cook in the vapur. Too much water will make the cabbage layers go soggy.

I think this recipe especially with the use of cabbage is easy even for those in malaysia.
U can use other veggies as well (as i have listed above) in place of the cabbage.

Reminder:
This dolma is usually eaten with yogurt (thick yogurt) and sumak (special chilli to be eaten with meat dishes).
Have fun trying!