The Dishes

Kibbeh

Prep time: | Cook time: | Serves 10-12

  • Kibbeh Dough
  • 500gr lean finely minced beef or lamb
  • 500gr very fine burghul
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
  • 1/2 tsp dried mint
  • 1 tsp Baharat 7 spice mix
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • Salt and ground chili to taste
  • A small bowl of water with ice cubes
  • Kibbeh Filling
  • 500 gr beef or lamb mince
  • 2 onions finely chopped
  • 1 tsp Baharat 7 spice mix
  • 1/2 tsp dried mint
  • 1 tsp ground sumac
  • Salt to taste
  • Vegetable oil for frying
  1. Kibbeh Dough. Soak the burghul with enough water for at least 2 hours.
  2. Using a food processor, finely chop the onion. Then add the spices, salt and chili into the food processor and blend further until you get a fine paste.
  3. After the burghul has soaked up all the water, mix in the onion spice paste as well as the finely minced meat.
  4. Mix everything by hand, squeezing/flattening the burghul by scrubbing two hands together. Slowly add in a little bit of iced water whenever it’s needed to lubricate the dough and this will also create elasticity. Repeat this process until you get a dough consistency.
  5. Kibbeh Filling. On a frying pan, fry the onion until it caramelises and soft.
  6. Add in the mince and cook until brown then add in the spices towards the end. Let it cool down.
  7. Prepare a small bowl of water to dip your fingers into when shaping the kibbeh to avoid sticking. Roll kibbeh dough into a golf ball size and make an indentation with your index finger. Rolling the dough as you thin it out by pressing it with your index finger onto the palm of your hand. You’d want the casing to be as thin as possible but without breaking.
  8. Place 1 tablespoon amount of filling into the casing then close it up shaping the top into a cone shape like by rolling and cupping it with the other palm of your hand. Please refer to the photographs on the blog post for a visual guide.
  9. Fill 1/2 of a medium/large size saucepan with vegetable oil and heat up until oil temperature reaches about 180C. Fry the kibbehs until golden brown. Don’t overcrowd the the pan as this will make the oil temperature go down too much and kibbeh won’t cook properly. Place cooked kibbeh on a paper lined plate to absorb any excess oil and to cool down.
  10. Serve fried kibbeh with yoghurt dip.
This entry was posted in Mains, Snacks, The DIshes. Bookmark the permalink.