Malfouf Mahshi
Cabbage leaves rolled tight around rice and lamb, packed in layers with garlic and dried mint. The winter cousin of stuffed vine leaves and, made properly, better.
Photograph credit: Krautwickerl mit Wirsing und Kartoffel 3 (image of cabbage roll on Wikidata Q6499669) by Burkhard Mücke · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Photograph credit: Cabbage rolls in oven pan by Kotivalo · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
How to Make Malfouf Mahshi
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Core the cabbage. Lower the whole head into a large pan of boiling water and peel off the leaves one by one as they soften, about 30 seconds each. Do not let them go floppy.
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Pare the thick central rib of each leaf flat with a knife rather than cutting it out, then halve the larger leaves.
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Mix the rice, lamb, butter, allspice, cinnamon, salt and pepper. The filling stays raw.
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Put a finger of filling along the base of each leaf, fold the sides in and roll up firmly. Rice expands, so keep them slim.
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Line a heavy pot with torn outer leaves. Pack the rolls seam-side down in tight layers, tucking whole garlic cloves between them as you go.
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Mix the dried mint, lemon, oil, salt and water and pour over. Weigh the rolls down with a heatproof plate.
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Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook gently 60 minutes, until the rice is tender and the cabbage is soft. Rest 15 minutes off the heat before lifting them out.
Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Choosing rice.
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Notes for Getting It Right
- Thirty seconds a leaf. Overcooked leaves tear.
- Pare the rib flat rather than cutting a notch out of the leaf.
- Weight them or they unroll.
Swaps and Variations
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
- Fresh herbs work in place of the dried mint at roughly three times the quantity — a teaspoon of dried is about a tablespoon of fresh, chopped.
Serving Suggestions
- Plain yogurt
- Lemon wedges
- Flatbread
Storing & Reheating Malfouf Mahshi
Refrigerated for 4 days. They freeze cooked for 3 months and reheat in their own liquid.
Malfouf Mahshi FAQ: Common Questions
How long does Malfouf Mahshi take to make?
55 minutes of preparation and 1 hour of cooking, plus 15 minutes of resting, so allow 2 hours 10 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 6.
Malfouf Mahshi Nutrition Facts
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Dairy-free when made with olive oil rather than butter.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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