Bulgarian Sarmi With Sauerkraut – here’s how to prepare them a little different sarmi and instead of minced meat, use finely chopped meat and crispy leeks for the filling. This is just another take on the infamous meat sarma, but cooked right you’ll be amazed by the texture and consistency that fills your mouth with a myriad of flavors.

Of course, to prepare this traditional dish you will need homemade sauerkraut and of course fresh pork meat. We have prepared for you a proven recipe for sarmi with minced meat and leeks, which we have prepared more than once.

Bulgarian Sarmi With Sauerkraut

In fact, this recipe for Bulgarian sarmi with sauerkraut is even easier to make than the classic sarmi, and the result is an impressive cabbage rolls that will be finished very quickly once served.

Ingredients

• 500 gr. pork meat;
• 60 g vegetable fat;
• 1 – 1.5 kg sauerkraut for the leaves;
• 2-3 medium-sized sprigs of leek;
• 50 g of rice;
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste;
• 10-15 gr. flour;
• jojen;
• pepper;
• paprika;
• salt to taste.

How To Make Bulgarian Sarmi With Sauerkraut

A slightly fattier meat is selected for the preparation of the cabbage rolls. Fry the finely chopped leeks in hot vegetable oil until soft. Add the finely chopped meat and fry the leek and onion with it. You add the rice by frying it, then add salt to taste, red pepper and pour hot water, the amount being one and a half times the volume of the rice.

When we mention salt to taste in more of our recipes, we really mean just that. We always try with a spoon the saltiness of the intermediate product, be it stuffing or others, so that the dish is not oversalted at the end of cooking.

After the rice has absorbed the water, add black pepper and coriander.

With the mixture prepared in this way, you wrap it in sauerkraut leaves in small tight sarmi, in which you place one or two tablespoons of the filling.

To wrap better and tighter, the thick parts of the leaf are cut. Arrange the sarmi in a pot and cover with hot water.

Boil on low heat until they are almost done, then add a tea cup of  cabbage soup  and a slice of lemon if desired.

In order for them to have a nicer color, at the very beginning, a little tomato puree is diluted in the sauce. Before serving, season the sauce with a beaten egg in a spoonful of flour. The sauce is poured around the tinsel, which can also be served with a drizzle of butter and red pepper.

Enjoy!

Check out our other recipes for Bulgarian sarmi With sauerkraut:

Lean cabbage rools with sauerkraut leaves with minced meat and rice

Cabbage rolls with chopped chicken

Traditional  beans with sauerkraut