Malfouf - Stuffed Cabbage

Ingredients

• Medium Cabbage
• 1 ½ cups ground beef or ground lamb
• 1 medium diced onion
• 1 cup short grain rice
• Garlic, you need few whole garlic cloves peeled and some minced.
  Optional, you may use whole head of garlic with the peel in between the layers
• 2 to 3 teaspoons of the following spices: Cumin, Caraway, Coriander, Cinnamon, Salt and Black Pepper. You may all the above spices or omit whichever you do not like to use.
• Cooking oil
• 1 cup Lemon juice
• 1 cup water or as needed

Preparation

• Wash and drain rice.
• Mix up the ground meat, diced onions and rice; add cooking oil and the spices (Cumin, Caraway, Coriander, Salt and Black Pepper) set aside.
• Prepare your cabbage leaves by separating the leaves from the cabbage head. Cut away stems, save them and use them at the bottom of the pot.
• Boil the leaves a few at a time in boiling salted water until they are soft enough to roll.
• Prepare stuffing of meat, rice, salt, pepper and the above spices
• Cut the leaves to form a cigar size roll. Place stuffing on each leaf, fold sides toward center and roll up from bottom into a cigar shape (similar with stuffed vine leaves). Do not over stuff; make sure that you have space for the rice to expand inside the cabbage rolls.
• Press together firmly. Place layer of the saved stems.
• Place the whole garlic heads in between the rolled Malfouf.
• Sprinkle with salt, caraway and cumin in between layers. Add water, boil then simmer for an hour to an hour and a half. Half way through the cooking time add crushed garlic on to. Let simmer. Simmer gently until rice is tender in barely enough water to cover. Invert your pot in a platter.
• You may serve this dish hot or at room temperature, depends on your personal taste.