Stewed cabbage is a rather tasty, but inexpensive dish. It is very simple to prepare it. At the same time, a very diverse product can be added to it.
White cabbage contains almost all the vitamins and minerals that a person needs. It is especially rich in B vitamins, vitamin C, folic acid, calcium and potassium salts. Doctors recommend including it in their diet for people suffering from coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, as well as those who monitor their weight and prefer to eat healthy foods.
White cabbage can be used to make many delicious dishes. One of the most popular is stewed cabbage. It can be served either as a stand-alone dish or as a side dish. Cooking is not difficult and does not require large financial costs.
Before starting cooking, you need to rinse the cabbage head, remove its top leaves. They are quite rough and usually have a greenish color.
Late varieties of cabbage are best for stewing. Their leaves are denser in texture.
Next, the head of cabbage should be cut into several parts, the stump should be removed, and the leaves should be chopped with a sharp wide knife. Put chopped cabbage in a deep bowl, add salt to taste, a little sugar and mash it slightly with your hands.
In a cauldron or deep frying pan, heat a small amount of vegetable oil and fry the onion cut into half rings and carrots grated on a coarse grater on it until golden brown. Next, you need to add 50-70 grams of tomato paste to them, mix and fry all the ingredients for another 2-3 minutes. Cooking 1 cabbage head weighing 1-1.5 kilograms will require 2-3 small onions and 1-2 carrots.
Add chopped cabbage, pepper, bay leaves, spices and 1-2 glasses of water to the fried ingredients. When the water boils, you need to reduce the heat and simmer the dish under a closed lid for 30-40 minutes.
You can cook not only fresh, but also sauerkraut. In this case, you do not need to add tomato paste. The cooking time in this case is reduced to 20-30 minutes.
When the water has boiled away, you can lightly fry the cabbage in a skillet. In this case, the dish will acquire a richer taste.
Cabbage can also be stewed with mushrooms. The dish turns out to be incredibly tasty and satisfying. It is best cooked in a cauldron. To begin with, fry chopped onions and mushrooms cut into small pieces in vegetable oil. For these purposes, both forest mushrooms and champignons are excellent. You need to fry the ingredients for 3-5 minutes. Next, you need to put chopped cabbage, tomato paste in the cauldron and pour water over it. The water should almost completely cover the cabbage with mushrooms. The cauldron must be closed with a lid and placed in an oven preheated to 180 degrees. Simmer the dish for 30 minutes.
Cabbage stewed with meat and prunes has a very unusual taste. To prepare this dish, you need to heat a little vegetable oil in a deep frying pan or saucepan with thick walls and fry the onions and carrots in it until golden brown. Pre-cut the onion into half rings, and grate the carrots on a coarse grater.
Next, you need to add pork, cut into small pieces, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, salt to the vegetables and fry all the ingredients for 3-5 minutes. After that, you need to add chopped cabbage into a saucepan or pan, mix it with the rest of the ingredients, add spices, water and simmer under a closed lid over low heat for 15 minutes. Pour coarsely chopped prunes into a saucepan and continue simmering under a closed lid for another 15 minutes.
