Malfoof – Arab style cabbage rolls
Meals like malfoof are the kind that I did not fully appreciate until I got married and had a family of my own. These melt-in-your-mouth cabbage rolls are so delicious with a piece of garlic, which cooks along with the rolls. Finish them off with a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice and you have malfoof GOALS on your plate! That is literally my dream bite. Different countries have other variations of cabbage rolls, but there is something about cabbage, garlic and lemon all combined! I hope you make these, there are detailed visuals on the video from my YouTube channel (linked above). Don’t forget to tag me when you make this meal or any of my recipes on Facebook or Instagram @thebitewithjackie.
Ingredients:
2 large heads cabbage
2-3 heads of garlic, cloves separated and skin left on
Water
Salt (generous amount)
Lots of lemon
Filling:
3 cups jasmine rice, rinsed and drained
1 lb lean ground beef
1 tablespoon allspice
1 tablespoon 7 spice
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup butter, samneh or olive oil
Salt (generous amount) and pepper
Water
Directions:
Fill a large soup pot with water about ¾ of the way up and bring it to a light boil. In the meantime, take each head of cabbage and score around the stem in the shape of a square making sure to cut to about the center of the cabbage. This helps the cabbage leaves release from the core.
Have tongs, a fork and a large platter ready to place your leaves on once they cooked. Submerge the cabbage into the boiling water. The leaves will start to brighten, and the outermost leaves will begin to fall off on their own. Keep them in the water just long enough for them to become pliable so that we can stuff them. Keep peeling them off using the tongs and fork to help as needed and place all the leaves on the large platter. As you reach the center, the leaves are a bit more firm and need a bit extra time in the water. You can either continue to peel the leaves or cut the core from the entire center of the core to fill as the “jajeh” – watch video for reference.
Discard the water in the pot and bring the pot next to you. Place each leaf on a cutting board, carefully remove the center vein of each leaf using a knife and creating a triangle around it. Place them all at the bottom of the pot. This helps prevent the malfoof from burning and also soaks up the delicious flavor while cooking and ends up being a great addition to the meal. Each leaf will make 2-3 malfoof rolls – once the vein is removed, the small and medium leaves can be cut in half the remainder of the way and the larger leaves can be cut into 3rds.
Make the filling by mixing all the ingredients being careful not to overmix. Bring one piece of cabbage leaf towards you and place a small amount of the filling – about ½ to 1 tablespoon depending on the size of the leaf – in the shape of a log leaving some space at the edges. Begin rolling tightly folding in like a burrito only on the thinner side where there was no vein attached. Continue rolling and reserve a few leaves if you make the “jajeh” portion. Remove the jajeh from the core, hollow it out with a knife and spoon or a vegetable hollower and fill it with the rice and meat mixture. Use the few reserved cabbage leaves to cover the jajeh.
Place all the rolls tightly in the pot seam side down on top of the cabbage veins. Once you finish each full layer, add a few garlic cloves in between and continue placing all the rolls and the jajehs in the pot. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt on top of all the rolled malfoof and fill the pot with water just until the water is visible on the edges, do not completely submerge the leaves – this will leave you with a lot of excess liquid at the end. Place a small, heat proof plate upside down on top of the malfoof to keep all the rolls intact. Bring the pot to a boil on medium high, reduce it to a low simmer, cover and let it cook for about 1 hour or until the rice from the top malfoof is completely cooked.
Serve with the garlic cloves – which should be completely softened and very sweet, and a gooood squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Sahtein and enjoy!!
Malfoof – Arab style cabbage rolls
Ingredients
- 2 large heads cabbage
- 2-3 heads of garlic cloves separated and skin left on
- Water
- Salt generous amount
- Lots of lemon
Filling:
- 3 cups jasmine rice rinsed and drained
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 tablespoon allspice
- 1 tablespoon 7 spice
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/3 cup butter samneh or olive oil
- Salt generous amount and pepper
- Water
Instructions
- Fill a large soup pot with water about ¾ of the way up and bring it to a light boil. In the meantime, take each head of cabbage and score around the stem in the shape of a square making sure to cut to about the center of the cabbage. This helps the cabbage leaves release from the core.
- Have tongs, a fork and a large platter ready to place your leaves on once they cooked. Submerge the cabbage into the boiling water. The leaves will start to brighten, and the outermost leaves will begin to fall off on their own. Keep them in the water just long enough for them to become pliable so that we can stuff them. Keep peeling them off using the tongs and fork to help as needed and place all the leaves on the large platter. As you reach the center, the leaves are a bit more firm and need a bit extra time in the water. You can either continue to peel the leaves or cut the core from the entire center of the core to fill as the “jajeh” – watch video for reference.
- Discard the water in the pot and bring the pot next to you. Place each leaf on a cutting board, carefully remove the center vein of each leaf using a knife and creating a triangle around it. Place them all at the bottom of the pot. This helps prevent the malfoof from burning and also soaks up the delicious flavor while cooking and ends up being a great addition to the meal. Each leaf will make 2-3 malfoof rolls – once the vein is removed, the small and medium leaves can be cut in half the remainder of the way and the larger leaves can be cut into 3rds.
- Make the filling by mixing all the ingredients being careful not to overmix. Bring one piece of cabbage leaf towards you and place a small amount of the filling – about ½ to 1 tablespoon depending on the size of the leaf – in the shape of a log leaving some space at the edges. Begin rolling tightly folding in like a burrito only on the thinner side where there was no vein attached. Continue rolling and reserve a few leaves if you make the “jajeh” portion. Remove the jajeh from the core, hollow it out with a knife and spoon or a vegetable hollower and fill it with the rice and meat mixture. Use the few reserved cabbage leaves to cover the jajeh.
- Place all the rolls tightly in the pot seam side down on top of the cabbage veins. Once you finish each full layer, add a few garlic cloves in between and continue placing all the rolls and the jajehs in the pot. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt on top of all the rolled malfoof and fill the pot with water just until the water is visible on the edges, do not completely submerge the leaves – this will leave you with a lot of excess liquid at the end. Place a small, heat proof plate upside down on top of the malfoof to keep all the rolls intact. Bring the pot to a boil on medium high, reduce it to a low simmer, cover and let it cook for about 1 hour or until the rice from the top malfoof is completely cooked.
- Serve with the garlic cloves – which should be completely softened and very sweet, and a gooood squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Sahtein and enjoy!!
