Syrian · From our kitchen

Kibbeh — Fried Bulgur Shells Filled with Spiced Lambكبة مقلية

A thin bulgur shell, a filling of minced lamb, onion and pine nuts, and the particular satisfaction of shaping something most people buy ready-made. It takes practice. The first few will be ugly and will taste fine.

• ServesAbout 20 pieces
• Prep1 hr
• Cook25 min
• CuisineSyrian

Ingredients

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• 300 gfine bulgur wheat (#1 grade)
• 300 glean minced lamb, for the shell
• 1small onion, grated, for the shell
• 1 tspbaharat, for the shell
• 1 tspsalt, for the shell
• 250 gminced lamb, for the filling
• 1large onion, finely diced, for the filling
• 60 gpine nuts
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• 1 tspbaharat, for the filling
• 1 tbsppomegranate molasses
• 2 tbspolive oil
• 1 litreneutral oil, for deep frying
• to tastesalt and black pepper

Method

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1. Soak the bulgur

   Cover the fine bulgur with cold water and leave it for 20 minutes, then drain it in a sieve and squeeze out as much water as you can with your hands. It should be damp, not wet. Use fine bulgur — coarse will not bind and the shells will crack.

2. Make the filling first

   Heat the olive oil and cook the diced onion until golden. Add the lamb and break it up, cooking until it has lost all its pink and the liquid has gone. Stir in the cinnamon, baharat, pomegranate molasses, pine nuts, salt and pepper. Cook two more minutes, then spread it on a plate and chill it completely. Warm filling will tear the shells.

3. Make the shell paste

   Put the squeezed bulgur, the lean lamb, the grated onion, baharat and salt in a food processor and run it until you have a smooth, slightly sticky paste — a minute or more. It should hold together like dough. If it crumbles, add a tablespoon of iced water and run it again.

4. Chill everything

   Refrigerate the shell paste for 30 minutes. Cold paste is far easier to shape and this is the single biggest thing that separates a frustrating afternoon from a calm one.

5. Shape the kibbeh

   Keep a bowl of iced water beside you and wet your hands often. Take a golf-ball of paste, roll it smooth, then push your index finger into it and rotate, thinning the walls outwards into a hollow cone. Spoon in a teaspoon of filling, pinch the opening closed and roll it into a torpedo with pointed ends. Smooth any cracks with a wet finger — a crack will burst in the fryer.

6. Fry

   Heat the oil to 175°C. Fry in small batches for 4 to 5 minutes until deep golden brown and floating, turning once. Crowding the pan drops the temperature and gives you greasy kibbeh. Drain on a rack, not on paper, so the bottoms stay crisp.

7. Serve

   Hot, with a bowl of yoghurt mixed with a little crushed garlic and dried mint, and lemon wedges.

Questions

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