Stuffed Cabbage (Vegan)

My mother-in-law writes a popular Turkish food blog called Tuzekmek. When she was visiting us in London, she wanted to make traditional stuffed grape leaves, but we couldn't find good quality leaves. So instead we settled on making non-traditional vegan stuffed cabbage leaves, which turned out really tasty! This dish is called: Sarma in Turkey. Just like flatbread, it seems one can find some version of stuffed cabbage in so many countries. This dish is especially nice on a cold winter evening and can be enjoyed hot or room temperature.

1 head Savoy cabbage

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion

8 chestnut mushrooms

1 cup (190 grams) brown rice

2 teaspoons Maldon sea salt

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 cup (250ml) boiling water

1/2 tin drained brown lentils

handful parsley

4 Tablespoons dried currants

4 Tablespoons toasted pine nuts

6 Tablespoons fresh mint (or 2 Tablespoons dried mint)

1/2 lemon sliced into rounds

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 cup (250ml) water

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 lemon cut into wedges

Method

Chop 1 large onions into a small dice.

Soak 4 Tablespoons of dried currants in boiling water to plump up and drain.

Heat 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil in a large stock pot and fry the onion until translucent.

Meanwhile, chop 8 mushrooms into a very fine dice and the mint into thin slivers for a total of 6 Tablespoons. Set the mint aside for now.

Add the mushrooms and saute until they have reduced in size, released water and are mostly cooked.

To the stock pot add 1 cup brown rice, 2 teaspoons sea salt, 1 teaspoon allspice and 1 cup (250ml) boiling water. Cover with a lid and cook on medium until the water is absorbed and the rice is partially cooked, approximately 15 minutes.

Once the water has been absorbed by the rice, remove from heat and set aside.

To prepare the cabbage leaves (remove from a head of cabbage), you’ll need to soak the leaves in pot of salted boiled water to soften for 1-3 minutes. Turn off the heat, the residual heat will be enough to soften all the leaves. Place soaked and softened leaves on a tray for later. If using cabbage leaves, you’ll have to cut a ‘V’ shape to remove the firmest part of the leaf to make rolling easier.

After the rice has cool, stir in the drained lentils, parsley, currants, pine nuts and mint until combined.