Ben and I clicked from day one. We met at high school. He was one of the kids that came from all over the country to the boarding school. On weekends he would go to his parents’ home in another city. After quite a few attempts at persuasion and pleas, my parents agreed to let me go to Ben’s for a weekend. “Do you eat matzo balls at shabbat dinner?”I asked Ben looking at the soup plate with two tennis sized balls in it that stood right in front of me. I didn’t really understand what was funny in my question, but everyone thought it was a good joke. “It’s kind a little like matzo balls, but not exactly” Ben’s mom answered. “Persian people eat only persian food” his dad added. I did not really delve into the answer, since I didn’t know Persian food, and in any case, I loved my soup clear without any vegetables in it. “Can I have croutons?” I asked “it’s Gondi, you eat it without croutons” Ben’s younger brother answered. A bit disappointed, I started to eat; it was love at first bite.
Ingredients
Gondi balls
1 lb ground chicken
2 cups (8 oz) roasted chickpeas unsalted
3 onions cut into quarters
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 TBS oil
Soup
3 chicken wings
1 onion cut into quarters
1 cup cooked chickpeas
1 tsp hawaij for soup
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
8-10 cups water
Grind roasted chickpeas in a food processor with metal blade until powdered. It’s ok If there are some crumbs. Take out and chop 3 onions. Mix well all balls ingredients and spices in a large bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Place all soup ingredients and spices in a deep pot and bring to boil. Lower heat. Roll balls to the size of a tennis ball from the Gondi mix and add to the pot. Cook about 45 minutes.
