Polish Golabki - My 1st choice for the Cabbage week !

My pastime during this quarantine period has been quite defined - At the onset , I spent a lot of time reading and catching up on all my cook book's and heirloom compendiums - most of which, i have been hoarding for years together ''to read'' . Amidst my 9-9 corporate job , I never had the time to attend to these books , leave alone select what I intended to make , barring the thrift look -up for weekend cooks. Thanks to the umpteenth lock-down that our generation has seen , i now have time in my favor ( read as : no morning rush to travel to work ) & am able to dedicate a sizable part of my day to these lovelies , bookmarking the best recipes with colorful paper ( another new obsession ) . Let me share with you another secret - book marking cook books , always make them easy to reference back , at a later point in time. I agree that a lot of you will also find this raconteur quite old school of sorts ( given the amount of content available online , these days ) but trust me , I can proudly say it is

quite on the contrary . For all those of you who are book aficionados , you will agree with me - that a book is a book and nothing can quite replace the the touch and feel of a hardcover . Quite needless to mention , all of this quarantine madness was not dulling , even for a moment , and I have an exhaustive index chart for the hungry boy and increased armor , to share more and more with you .

Reading is a joyous experience, whether you're diving headfirst into a brand new book or rereading an old favorite. It's easy to get absorbed within a world with intriguing characters, high stake situations, and beautiful settings. Like many writers and avid readers have said before, books happens to be a form of magic, a safe place you can escape to, something you can't find anywhere else.

This cabbage week is first of its kind on the blog . In this '5 days- 5 recipes' format , I plan to shortlist one homely ingredient every month and do some very uncommon dishes in the hungry boy home kitchen . I promise that all of my suggestions will be simple to make , have no fancy ingredients , be decadent in flavor , will need no specific skill in particular & needless to mention , be joyful and compliment worthy , as you present them on your dinner table :) . This Polish dish , called gołąbki (gaw- oamb -kee) - literally means " little pigeons ' , but is basically a fragrant meat and rice stuffed cabbage roll , topped with a piquant tomato sauce and then baked. Let me take you through this dish .

Things you will need ( Makes 08 -10 Golabki )

• 01 whole large cabbage

• 1/2 cup of rice , cooked al dente

• 200 gms of mince meat ( Pork or Beef or Lamb )

• 01 egg

• 01 tsp of paprika powder

• 01 tsp of freshly ground pepper

• 02 tbsp raisins

• 02 large onion , finely chopped

• 01 tbsp red pepper , finely chopped

• 01 tbsp boiled corn ( optional )

• 02 - 03 pods of garlic , finely chopped

• 02 tbsp butter

• Mixed herbs - optional

• 02 large tomatoes , pureed

• 02 tbsp ketchup

• Salt and Pepper , for seasoning

Steps to follow

• In a pan , heat the butter and saute garlic and onion over medium heat until transparent . Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature.

• Beat 1 egg thoroughly with some mixed herbs , salt, and pepper.

• In bowl , add ground meat , al-dente cooked rice , onion - garlic mix , egg , raisins , chopped red - pepper , corn and mix thoroughly with your hands and keep aside .

• Next , de-core the cabbage and blanch it in boiling water (approx 25 mins ) , peeling the leaves off separately , as they become limp. Be careful to keep them whole and not break them .

• Once you've separated all the leaves, take a knife and slit off any thick stems on the outside of the leaf , that could prevent the leaves from bending / rolling.

• Place the leaf on a flat surface and cut a small slit at the base of the leaf ( reference image above ) .

• Next , place 01 scoop of meat filling in the center of each leaf .

• Fold the slit side over the meat - rice filling .

• Next , tuck - fold the sides of the leaf into the center and then , roll the parcel over tightly like a neatly rectangle and place them seam side down into the baking dish. Assemble all the Golabki pieces on the tray .

• Next , combine the tomato puree along with the tomato sauce and season.

• Pour the sauce liberally over the golabki parcels and bake , covered at 200C for 40 mins . Serve hot !