This dish can be delicious. It can be, but not always is. So don’t overcook the cabbage and most importantly watch the seasoning. How much salt and sugar to add is not easy to determine, it all depends on the acidity and sodium content of the tomato sauce. I prefer a milder homemade tomato sauce, hence I only add 1-1/2 Tbsp sugar to the pot, but say a commercial marinara sauce could require 4 Tbsp of sugar or more. My advice is to add the salt and the sugar very gradually. You can always add more to it, but you cannot remove it once it's added. My grandma used to make it pretty sweet to encourage us kids to eat it, but in reality paradicsomos káposzta should not be a sweet dish; just a hint of sweetness is required to balance out the acidity of the tomato sauce. Grandma put bundás zsemle on the top for us; it’s a savoury type of French-toast fried in oil. Nowadays I prefer mine with a pair of European wieners.
CABBAGE IN TOMATOES
4 cups of thinly sliced white cabbage 4 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
salt to taste
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
1/8 cup flour
1 cup good chicken stock
3/4 cup tomato sauce
sugar to taste
• Slice the white cabbage and set aside.
• Place 4 Tbsp olive oil in the pot and add the diced onions.
• Sauté the onions until transparent.
• Add the sliced cabbage and salt to taste.
• Add the caraway seeds.
• Slowly sauté the cabbage, stirring often to al dante.
• Stir in the flour and quickly add the chicken stock.
• Stir to combine.
• Add the tomato sauce, stir and bring to slow simmer.
• Bit by bit add sugar to taste.
• Cover and let dish rest for half an hour.
• Reheat and serve with European wieners.
