There are dishes that I never get tired of eating. One of them is Kubbeh. Whether it is red kubbeh, yellow, sour, kubbeh nia (raw meat kubbeh) or kubbeh nablusia, also known as fried kubbeh. I love them all. With some of them, like the sour kubbeh, it took quite some time for my taste buds to get used to and to like it. But with the fried kubbeh it was love at first bite. The days that mom made kubbeh were celebration days for me. It didn’t happen often since kubbeh is not the dish you make for a quick dinner. It is more of a weekend dish. When she’d make fried kubbeh, I always volunteered to help. Not that I was much of a help because usually my help ended by eating the kubbeh the minute it came out of the frying pan.
Ingredients
Kubbeh dough
1 lb bulgur fine
½ lb ground beef
1 onion grated & squeezed
3 TBS flour
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ras-el-hanout
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
Filling
1 lb ground beef
1 onion diced
3 TBS pine nuts roasted
1 tsp baharat
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 TBS olive oil
Rinse the bulgur and place it in a deep bowl. Cover with cold water to about an inch above the bulgur level. Let soak for an hour. Meanwhile prepare the filling.
Heat olive oil in a deep pan. Add onion and fry to golden. Add ground meat and break it with a wooden spoon. Add spices and cook until beef changes it’s color. Let cool.
Drain the bulgur if there is any water left and mix with all dough ingredients in a deep bowl. Knead well to form a soft dough. If it’s too wet and some flour, if too dry add a little water.
With wet hands form a ball the size of a ping pong ball, wet your thumb and make a hole in the ball. Fill with a spoon full of the filling, close the hole and squeeze it between your palms to shape like a cigar.
In a deep pot or pan heat oil for deep frying . fry the kubbeh in high heat until it turns brown. Flip halfway through.
