Preparation

1.5 - 2 kg. pickled cabbage
1 kg. pork leg
200 grams of onions
100 grams of round grain rice
2 tablespoons oil
150 ml. warm water
100 ml. concentrated tomato broth
optional, smoked pork (pieces of ribs, etc.)
1 tablespoon dried thyme (or 4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme)
1 large bunch of green dill
1/2 tablespoon sweet paprika
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon pepper
salt to taste
We open the pickled cabbage leaves and rinse them with warm water. If they are very salty, we repeat the procedure. Drain the cabbage and then divide the leaves into pieces as equal as possible, about 12 × 12 cm (approximately), removing the strong ribs of the leaves. These ribs would confuse us when we fold the stuffing, but we will keep them for chopping, along with the leaves that are too small or broken, which cannot be filled. For the stuffing of sarmale, heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add the cleaned, washed and finely chopped onions and quench, adding a pinch of salt from the beginning and stirring often, until soft. Then add the washed and beaten rice and quench, stirring constantly, 2-3 minutes. Add the paprika, turn off the heat and let the composition cool well. Chop the meat and place it in a large bowl. Add the composition prepared for the next step, already cooled, pepper, dried thyme (if using), chopped green dill (keep the dill stalks) and salt to taste, but keep in mind that the cabbage is already salty if we use smoked meat, and that will bring a salt intake in the finished preparation. Knead the composition gradually adding warm water, whose role is to bring the liquid needed by the rice to boil, without extracting all the moisture from the meat. The humble water is the one that helps to obtain tender sarmale, without it, it would come out stronger. Put a little filling on the pieces of pickled cabbage leaves (about 1 tablespoon with a tip, for some medium cabbage rolls, size 8 × 4 cm). Roll the cabbage leaves with the filling inside and stuff the ends inwards, obtaining cylinders of the same size as possible. Put the dill stalks (or dried dill sticks, if you have them) and cover with another 1/3 of the chopped cabbage. Add the bay leaf and, optionally, 1 tablespoon of peppercorns. Arrange a row of cabbage rolls and sprinkle with 1/2 of the concentrated broth. Continue with the rest of the rolls, inserting between them slices of ribs (if used). Finally, cover with the remaining chopped cabbage and add the rest of the broth. Put the pot on the stove and add hot water to cover the rolls with a good hand width. Place a saucepan on top of the rolls to prevent them from rising during cooking. Cover with a lid and simmer for 3 hours. Pickled cabbage rolls are usually served with sour cream. In some areas of the country it is customary to be accompanied by polenta.