Kubbeh and Hashweh

[Mejnoon]

Kubbeh and Hashweh are, in my opinion, two of the greatest savory concoctions ever conceived of by man. I asked my mom to teach me how to make Kubbeh this weekend, and she was gracious enough to oblige. I took some pics so I could share. Hashweh is essentially the filling of the Kubbeh made in to a rice dish, so I figured it made sense to add that recipe as well. Special thanks to my mom:cool:

Without further ado...


Filling

1 lb lamb, chopped
2 large onions (red, white or one of each), chopped (not for Hashweh)
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp nutmeg and allspice, mixed
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup pine nuts (only if you're making Kubbeh, not Hashweh)

Brown the lamb in a saute pan before adding the onions, spices and butter. Brown the pine nuts in a little butter in a separate pan if you're making Kubbeh.

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Kubbeh dough

1.5lbs lean lamb
2 medium onions, chopped
3 cups fine bulgur wheat
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper

This part requires either a meat grinder or a food processor. De-fat the lamb and cut in to cubes. Grind or process the meat twice. Grind/process the onions once, and mix with the meat.

Wash the bulgur and drain it well by squeezing the water out with your hands. Mix with meat, onions, salt and pepper.

Grind or process the mixture twice, adding a little water and kneading each time. Continue to add water and knead until the dough is soft and smooth, with a pasty consistency as below:

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Kubbeh

Separate dough in to balls slightly larger than walnut size. Knead them until round and smooth, then use your finger to press a hole in to the ball. Use your finger to gently expand the hole without thinning out the walls too much:

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Add a tablespoon or two of filling...put as much as you can, but be careful not to overstuff.

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Pinch the sides together, and gently form in to a football shape.

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Heat 2-3 inches of cooking oil (get it good and hot, but not quite boiling) in a sauce pan and fry Kubbeh balls for 3-4 minutes. Remove and place on a paper towel.

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And enjoy!

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Hashweh

Follow the directions for Kubbeh filling above, but omit the onions and pine nuts.

After the meat is browned, add spices and butter as above, but also add 2 cups of white rice and a sufficient amount of water to cook the rice. Cover and simmer until rice is cooked.

Hashweh is best topped with a couple of spoonfuls of plain yoghurt.


The filling (as made for Kubbeh, with the onions and pine nuts) is also awesome served over Hummus and eaten with warm pita bread(it is traditionally served this way only on certain occasions). If you guys are interested let me know and I'll post a delicious traditional hummus recipe.


Sahtein:thumbup1:

[Fnord5]

So, lemme get this straight...

Meat dough, stuffed with more meat?


OK, going to have to go with my gut here.

Definitely not health food.


:tongue_sm


Looks delicious, but don't shoot me, I don't like lamb.
Would anything else be a decent substitute?:blushing:

[Mejnoon]

So, lemme get this straight...

Meat dough, stuffed with more meat?


OK, going to have to go with my gut here.

Definitely not health food.


:tongue_sm


Looks delicious, but don't shoot me, I don't like lamb.
Would anything else be a decent substitute?:blushing:

And then fried!:biggrin:

Probably not the healthiest thing you can make, but its traditionally a "feast" food...its certainly not made all the time. Its worth while to make a bunch when you do, because its somewhat time consuming...it also freezes well (to defrost, bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes, it'll come out golden brown and delicious).

You can make it with chopped or ground beef...I personally love lamb and beef just isn't quite the same, but it works just fine.

edit - I make hashweh with ground beef pretty often. Its not as good as with lamb imo, but its a lot quicker and still quite excellent. Its also a lot healthier than the Kubbeh...its become almost a staple of my diet. Deeeeelicious, with lamb or beef.

[rickboone1]

There needs to be a way to bookmark a post. I want to try these. Looks superb.

[rickboone1]

Is this a German or Greek dish? Is mom one of those? Or am I way off here?

[Mejnoon]

Is this a German or Greek dish? Is mom one of those? Or am I way off here?

Arabic. I've found that mediterranean diets tend to have a lot in common...I wouldn't be surprised if there was a similar Greek dish.

[ouch]

Man, that looks yummy. :thumbup1:

[Confuzius]

I'm interested in the hummus recipe; I generally just wing it with chick peas, tahini, lemon juice garlic and salt. It's good, but I'd be interested in something traditional.

I'll be giving these Kubbeh a try once I lose a few more pounds :-)

[TonyoftheCedars]

looks delicious. nothing like looking forward to the massive kibbi mountain at family gatherings....

[Cheech]

You rock. I've had kibbeh on the mind for a while now. Hard to find good kibbeh that isn't homemade. I know what I'm doing this weekend.

You don't have a food falafel or biryani dijaj recipe, do you? :w00t:

(P.S. I saw your "name" and thought that it was a coincidence. Now I get it!)

[alexo]

Kubbeh is divine! I can't begin to express what this dish means to me so here's a story:

I was about 6 or 7 y/o, growing up in home where food was necessity, my mom hated the kitchen and the result translated into the taste of food...She burned many dishes and what she didn't, never had much chance to taste that good. She was Hungarian but as they say, the apple fell far from the tree...

One day I came to visit a friend and his mom, born in Egypt, was the end of Kubbeh preparation. The smell was so good I just sat there in the kitchen with eyes mesmerized by the process. My friend and his father never cared for the dish but I became a fan and let them know how amazed I was when I tasted it.

It was a life changing experience! my taste buds were overloaded with joy.

Thanks for bringing this memory back. I sure miss those Kubbeh but now that you wrote down the recipe, I just might give it a try.

[Lynchmeister]

Arabic. I've found that mediterranean diets tend to have a lot in common...I wouldn't be surprised if there was a similar Greek dish.

I'm Lebanese and grew up with the food (Love ya, Mom!). I'm always amazed at how many different cuisines have some variation of what I always assumed was Lebanese food. Stuffed cabbage rolls and grape leaves being two of the more prominent ones.

:drool:

[Mejnoon]

I'm interested in the hummus recipe; I generally just wing it with chick peas, tahini, lemon juice garlic and salt. It's good, but I'd be interested in something traditional.

I'll be giving these Kubbeh a try once I lose a few more pounds :-)

Thats basically it...just add a couple of sprigs of parsley!


You rock. I've had kibbeh on the mind for a while now. Hard to find good kibbeh that isn't homemade. I know what I'm doing this weekend.

You don't have a food falafel or biryani dijaj recipe, do you? :w00t:

(P.S. I saw your "name" and thought that it was a coincidence. Now I get it!)

My mom makes excellent Falafel...I'll ask her for the recipe:wink:


I'm glad to hear there are others out there that are fond of Kubbeh...it has always been a special food for me. Conjures up memories of holidays with family:smile:

[rm71]

I want some:w00t:

[crankymoose]

looks very good and great tutorial :drool:

[lamaman3]

Mejnoon,

Kubbe is a very special food for me as well. My mother's family were Jews from Iraqi Kurdistan. While almost all of that community left Iraq many years ago, they retained Kubbe as a kind of staple soul food - eaten Friday afternoon on the porch before the Sabbath. The fried Kubbe you describe is reserved for special occasions/feasts like you mentioned, but there is always warm red Kubbe soup on hand at "safta" (grandmother). Instead of frying the Kubbeh, its eaten in a red soup.

http://theviewfromhere.net/2007/12/21/red-kubbeh-soup-marak-kubbeh-adom/

[Maduro]

Thanks for sharing, I love middle eastern food.:drool:
I've been cooking alot of Morroccan dishes lately.

[Cheech]

I just thought I'd share and say I tried this tonight for the first time. Turned out great. I was a little worried because I could only find coarse bulgar, but it still turned out great. I felt a little guilty, like I was stealing a family recipe...:blushing:

[fur face]

To the gent who said meat wrapped meat , consider going all Sicialian on this add same weight of drained, rinsed, dried off, then minced (ground) black/ green olives, or some cooked rice, (I would prefer asian sticky rice or Basmati or Abborio (spelling is way way off).

I had these at an Egyption festival at a Coptic church. I had two items neither of which I can spell or pronounce, but the things that aproximated this dish were the better of the two, however, this recipe will have way way way more flavor.

if you can't find ,fine bulgar (health-food store, or Intergral Yoga in Manhatten), put the course stuff in a blender/food processor or through a meat grinder, (uncooked). If already cooked after its cold add meat and put through a meat grnder twice

ciao

[Haber Dashing]

That looks beautiful. In my variation after frying it, I would probably wrap it in bacon and throw it on the grill

[Bestarrkin]

Well, it looks like Turkish "Icli Kofte"(literally stuffed meatball) and it is delicious. More accurately it is dish from Levantine(Middle-Eastern) cuisine.