Fried Kibbeh (stuffed bulgur croquettes)

Recipe No.: A-18

Arab100 minServes 8

Kibbeh is one of the best-known dishes of the Levant and is considered a national dish of Lebanon and Syria. It is made of minced meat and bulgur pounded together and shaped into ovals filled with pine nuts and spices, and it may be fried, baked on a tray or eaten raw. The city of Aleppo is credited with at least 17 types. The word comes from the Arabic root k-b-b. The earliest mention of kibbeh in its modern form (a filled shell of meat and grain) is attributed to the 18th-century work Taj al-'Arus, while the 10th-century Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq called meatballs kubab.

Ingredients for Fried Kibbeh

• For the shell
• 250 gfine (#1) bulgur
• 250 glean lamb or beef, very finely ground
• 1small onion, grated
• 1½ tspsalt and ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ tspallspice and ½ tsp cinnamon
• a little ice-cold water for kneading
• For the filling
• 250 gground lamb or beef
• 2medium onions, finely chopped
• 50 gpine nuts (about ⅓ cup)
• 1 tspseven-spice blend, ½ tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsppomegranate molasses (optional) and 2 tbsp oil
• For frying
• 1 litrevegetable oil

Method

1. For the filling: toast the pine nuts in the oil until golden and remove them. In the same oil cook the onions 6 minutes until soft, add the meat and break it up, cooking 8 minutes until dry and browned.
2. Add the spices, salt, pepper, molasses and pine nuts, stir for 2 minutes, then cool the filling completely.
3. For the shell: soak the bulgur in cold water for 20 minutes, then squeeze it very well with your hands.
4. Process the meat with the onion, salt and spices to a smooth paste, adding a few ice cubes. Add the bulgur and process until combined, then knead the dough with hands wet with cold water until smooth and pliable.
5. With wet hands take a walnut-sized ball, pierce it with your index finger and widen it into a thin-walled cup, and put a heaped teaspoon of filling inside.
6. Close the opening firmly and shape into a small football with pointed ends. Arrange on a tray and chill 30 minutes so they firm up.
7. Heat the oil to 175°C and fry the kibbeh 4 to 5 minutes (3 to 4 at a time) until deep brown, then drain on paper towels. Serve hot with yogurt and lemon.

Try the interactive Chef Meerath on the main site · هذه الوصفة بالعربية