This is a truly delicious meal, I keep sneaking back for extra portions. It uses a surprisingly small amount of meat to make a meal for around eight people.
I derived the recipe from the astonishingly good book, Nightingales and Roses by Maryam Sinaiee. There are a couple of tweaks to match local circumstances and my store cupboard.
INGREDIENTS:
- 400g basmati rice
- 400g white cabbage – I used a whole sweetheart cabbage
- vegetable oil
- 2 small onions, finely chopped
- 200g mince
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 5 tbsp tomato puree OR 250ml passata
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 20g butter
METHOD:
- Put the rice in a large bowl, and cover with water, stirring to loosen any surface starch. Drain, and repeat this step three times, then leave the rice to soak in salted water for 30 minutes or more.
- Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Drain the soaked rice and add to the pan. Bring the water back to the boil, and cook uncovered until the rice grains are on the surface of the water. This takes about six minutes or so. The rice should feel cooked, but still with a little bite to it.
- Drain the cooked rice and rinse with cold water to separate the grains and stop them cooking.
- Chop the cabbage coarsely and saute it in 1 tbsp of oil over a medium to high heat, seasoned with the black pepper. After five minutes, as it starts to brown, remove from the pan.
- Add a bit more oil to the pan, and the chopped onions, fry for around 10 minutes until starting to brown.
- Add the mince, turmeric, and cumin, and fry until the mince is well browned.
- Add the tomato paste, salt and cabbage. If you are using tomato paste and not passata, then add 200ml boiling water. Cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring from time to time. If the mixture is looking a little dry, or starting to catch, add another drop of water.
- Using the large pan, put a couple of tablespoons of oil at the bottom, and heat it. Then add alternating layers of rice and cabbage mixture, starting and ending with a rice layer. Wrap the pan lid in a tea towel and jam it firmly on top.
- Put the pan over a medium heat and cook until the outside of the pan is hot.
- Melt the butter in 2 tablespoons of boiling water, and pour this over the top of the rice mountain in the pan. Put the pan into an oven at Gas 3, 170C, and bake for 30 minutes.
- When the dish is done, it should be turned out onto a platter, and served with yoghurt, pickled vegetables, and a salad of herbs. At this time of year, not that many delicious herbs in the garden, so I skipped that bit.