Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Recipe – Egyptian Mahshi Crumb

This mahshi crumb recipe, AKA stuffed cabbage rolls recipe, is one of those dishes that makes you feel like an imposter. The only other person you will know that makes this dish is your grandmother, and quite possibly your own mother. You will not hear of any newly married couples or college students making mahshi crumb for a dinner night. It’s a dish reserved for those who know how to cook, and when I mean cook, I mean cooked every day for the last 2 decades at least.

How can I explain this… it’s like telling people that you make your pasta from scratch. There will be a look of “why on earth would you waste so much time making fresh pasta when you can do so many other things” with “wow, that is impressive”. There might possibly be a third look of “I wonder how it turned out”.

That’s the kind of look you get when you tell another Arab that you made mahshi and you are under the age of 40 years old.

Stuffed cabbage rolls are not inherently difficult. They just take a little bit of skill more than stirring. These skills can be learned, and in fact, get better with each time you practice them. But don’t be disappointed if things aren’t entirely perfect the first go.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Recipe

The secret for really great tasting stuffed cabbage rolls is the herbs. This recipe does not use any meat, so it’s vegetarian and vegan friendly. For the full instructions, refer to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Prepare the Cabbage Leaves

Core out the center of the head of cabbage. In a boiled pot of water, slowly lower the cabbage. Peel off the leaves one by one and set aside.

Make the Rice Stuffing

In a food processer, blend up 2 onions. Pan fry the onions on medium hight heat with 3 tbsp of olive oil for about 10 minutes.

Blend 6 tomatoes in a blender and strain into a bowl. Add the strained tomato puree, 1 tbsp of tomato paste, and 1 bouillon cube to the onion mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 10 minutes covered.

Chop 1 cup each of parsley, cilantro and dill into fine pieces. Add herbs to the tomato mixture. Add rice and continue to cook for 5 minutes on low heat covered.

The rice will only be semi-cooked at the stage which is what we want. It will look like below.

Allow rice to cool off.

Roll the Stuffed Cabbage Leaves

Take the cooked cabbage leaves, and cut out the stem. Cut the cabbage leaf into a triangle shape that has about 3″ sides. For the larger cabbage leaves, you will be able to make 3 smaller leaves.

Put about 1 tbsp of rice stuffing on the cabbage leaf.

Roll the leaf by tucking in the sides.

Put a layer of cabbage stems and small cabbage leaves on the bottom of the pot. You can add any vegetables at your disposal.

Layer the stuffed cabbage leaves in a circular pattern going row by row. Place the seam of the cabbage leaf down. This helps the leaves form unraveling.

Once you have finished layering the rolled cabbage leaves. Slice some spicy pepper and spread on top.

Cook the Stuffed Cabbage Leaves

Heat up the broth in a separate pot. Add the boiling broth to the stuffed cabbage leaves, fully covering the leaves. Cover and cook on medium high heat for 10 minutes. Crack the lid and continue to cook for another 15 to 20 minutes or until the rice is fully cooked.

Ways to Eat This Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Recipe

I like eating my stuffed cabbage rolls with cucumber mint yogurt. If you don’t have any fresh mint on hand, you can use dried mint. I prefer the fresh mint though. Another tip is to use Persian cucumbers or an English cucumber.

Here’s my recipe on how to make fresh yogurt (and Labneh).

Other Tips

I make this recipe in my Le Creuset 9 quart dutch oven. I’ve had this pot for over 6 years now, and use it almost weekly.

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