Mahshi Koronb (Stuffed Cabbage)

محشي كرنب

⌛ Cook: 2 hr🍽 Serves: 6🌏 Egyptian classic

⚠️ Heads-up: 5 of these ingredients (Egyptian Rice, White Cabbage (UK supermarket), Tomato Passata, Fresh dill & parsley (UK supermarket), Lemon (UK supermarket)) are not in our shop yet. Request them → or grab from a UK supermarket while we source.

“Mahshi koronb is the dish that takes a whole afternoon and feeds an army. Each leaf rolled the size of your little finger — never thicker. The smell of garlic, dill and tomato bubbling on the stove is what Eid actually smells like.”
— Dr Hany, Zambahola

🎤 Recipe credit: The video below is by Hazem Cooks — we don’t reproduce the chef’s recipe text. Our notes are written from scratch with metric/cup conversions and UK substitutes for our diaspora and UK readers. Watch the original on the Hazem Cooks channel.

Ingredients

Ingredient	Metric	Notes / UK substitute
White cabbage, large	1 head	Remove the core.
Egyptian short-grain riceأرز مصري	250 g	Soaked 30 min, drained.
Tomato passata	400 ml
Onion, finely chopped	1 large
Garlic, crushed	8 cloves	4 in the filling, 4 in the cooking liquid.
Tomato paste	2 tbsp
Fresh dill, chopped	big handful
Fresh parsley, chopped	big handful
Lemon juice	2 lemons
Ground cumin	1 tsp
Olive oil	4 tbsp
Salt, pepper, chilli	to taste

Method

Cabbage: cut out the core, blanch the whole head in boiling water 4–5 min. Peel off softened leaves carefully. Trim the thick rib down so leaves are flexible.
Filling: mix drained rice, chopped onion, half the garlic, herbs, half the passata and tomato paste, half the cumin, salt, pepper and 2 tbsp olive oil.
Lay a leaf flat. Spoon a thin sausage of filling across the rib end. Roll up tight as a thin cigarette — Egyptian style. Repeat. (Yes, it takes time. Yes, it’s worth it.)
Layer the rolls tightly in a heavy pot, packed seam-down.
Whisk the rest of the passata, remaining garlic, lemon juice, cumin, salt and 500 ml water. Pour over.
Cover with a heatproof plate to weigh down. Bring to a simmer. Cook on the lowest heat 60–75 min until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed.
Rest 10 min. Tip onto a platter. Serve with extra lemon and yoghurt.