Cabbage Rolls in Yogurt Sauce (Sarmi)
Sarmi is a Bulgarian dish of stuffed cabbage leaves, which shows significant Greek influences. For a gathering you may wish to consider presenting these somewhat 'white' rolls side-by-side with a dish of cabbage rolls in tomato sauce (see Cabbage Rolls in Tomato Sauce (Holubtsi)).
- Prep
- 14 min
- Cook
- 33 min
- Total
- 47 min
- Servings
- As written in source
- Difficulty
- Medium
Timings are approximate — worked out from the method, not measured in a test kitchen.
Ingredients
Quantities are retained as written by the source and do not scale automatically. Tap an ingredient to check it off as you go.
Cooking instructions
Procedure
Boil the vine or cabbage leaves in salted water until they look cooked and are just bendable enough to roll. Drain and allow to cool during the following steps.
Procedure
Lightly fry the finely chopped onions in a small amount of oil, and stir in a teaspoon or more of paprika.
Procedure
Add the meat, rice, pepper, mint, and finely chopped parsley, then cook until the meat looks almost done.
Procedure
Add ¾ cup of water, bring to a boil, then immediately cover and reduce heat to a bare minimum for 10 minutes, until the water is absorbed by the rice. Uncover and fluff as needed with a small spatula or spoon. Allow to cool to handling temperature.
Procedure
Put 1 teaspoon of the meat mixture on each leaf and make into a rolled, fully enclosed, package, similar to a small egg roll. A bit more filling can be used if you are using large cabbage leaves, but try to make all the rolls somewhat uniform in size.
Procedure
Arrange the rolls in a saucepan, add 1½ cups of warm water, cover, and simmer gently over low heat.
Procedure
In the meantime, mix the yogurt with a bit of paprika for color (or omit if you wish to keep the dish somewhat white in color), and other spices as you desire.
Procedure
When rolls are done, allow to cool a bit, gently transfer to a dish, and add the yogurt mixture to coat.
Procedure
Serve with vegetables of your choice. Enjoy!
Photo: Wikimedia contributor · CC BY 2.5 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5 · Photo source and licence
Wikibooks contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ · Adapted; quantities retained as written. · Original source
Read it through first
Skim all 9 steps before you start — it is the difference between cooking and firefighting.
Scale it
Use the quantities listed in the original recipe. Adjust them manually if making a different batch size.
Storage
Cool completely, then keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Reheating
Reheat gently with a splash of water in a covered pan, rather than blasting it, so nothing dries out.
Approximate values per serving. Worked out from the ingredient list — treat them as a guide, not a measurement.
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