INGREDIENTS

• 2 medium sized cabbages;
• 1 kg. of meat (pork, beef, chicken or a combination thereof);
• 1 glass of rice;
• 2—3 medium sized carrots;
• 2 large onions;
• vegetable oil for frying vegetables;
• salt, pepper;
• 3 tbsp. tomato paste;
• sour cream for serving.

METHOD

Choosing cabbage for cabbage rolls is not an easy task. The head of cabbage should be dense, but not hard, otherwise you will not be able to separate the leaves from each other. The size is medium, from a small head you will get the minimum number of cabbage rolls, large heads of cabbage are also not suitable, you can wind cabbage rolls the size of a sole from them. At bazaars in the vegetable rows, cabbage leaves are sometimes sold by weight - just suitable for making cabbage rolls from them. Very comfortably. Alas, such a miracle does not occur so often, so there is only one way out: to decide on suitable heads of cabbage and work with what is.

1. So, we choose cabbage, my head of cabbage, remove the upper hard leaves. Boil water in a large saucepan. We prick a head of cabbage with a large fork and lower it into boiling water for 3-5 minutes. Choose the time yourself - the top sheets should become soft, but in no case should they spread apart. We take the head out of the water and remove a few top leaves. As soon as you feel that the leaves do not "go" freely, stop, otherwise you will simply tear them. If necessary, cut off thick places that are located at the base of the cabbage leaf. We repeat the procedure for the next layer of leaves and the next head of cabbage - we do this until we manage to remove even medium-sized leaves.
2. Wash the meat for stuffed cabbage, cut off excess fat, films. We twist in a meat grinder. To save time, you can buy ready-made minced meat if you practice cooking homemade dishes from store-bought semifinished products.
3. Boil rice until half cooked. If you take fully cooked rice, after stewing it will turn into a porridge-like mass. Raw rice will “take away” the maximum juice from the meat, as a result of which it will become dry and tough. Put the rice into the bowl with the minced meat. It should be understood that the amount of “1 cup” indicated in the list of ingredients for the preparation of cabbage rolls is rather arbitrary. Rice can be taken a little more or a little less, depending on what stuffing in cabbage rolls you like. With these proportions, there will be more cereals and carrots with onions than meat, and the dish will turn out to be more vegetable than meat. If you prefer a more solid, "brutal" version of cabbage rolls, you can reduce the amount of rice or increase the amount of minced meat.
4. We clean the carrots, rub on a grater. Carrots add juiciness to stuffed cabbage, so do not reduce its amount. However, it will provide some sweetness to the filling - if this taste note seems superfluous to you, take less carrots.
5. Peel the onion, cut into small cubes. Half rings or even rings are also quite appropriate. The main thing is that the appearance of the filling does not violate your aesthetic perception of food. Pour a small amount of vegetable oil into a heated frying pan, fry the carrots until soft. Put it in a bowl with minced meat and rice. In the same pan, sauté the onion in oil until translucent and soft. Put in a bowl, do not forget about salt and pepper. Mix well the minced meat for stuffed cabbage, consisting of minced meat, rice, carrots and onions. You can also add some fresh herbs, your favorite dry herbs, appropriate seasonings and spices to it.
6. We place the boiled and prepared leaf of cabbage with the base towards us, put a small amount of minced meat inside. We turn it into a tube, hide the edges inward.
7. Put the stuffed cabbage in a large saucepan with a thick bottom, trying to place them as tightly as possible. Another rule is to put them seam down. We dilute the tomato paste in 2-3 glasses of water, pour the cabbage rolls. Water should not reach the top layer of cabbage rolls by about 2 fingers. In addition, you can add a little ketchup, plum jam, sour cream or unsweetened yogurt to the same sauce. Some housewives stew cabbage rolls, shifting them in a pan with carrot-onion roast. We put on the stove, bring to a boil and, reducing the heat to a minimum, simmer for at least 45-60 minutes. As a result, the cabbage should become completely soft, the filling should be ready.

Serve with sour cream or any sauce based on it.