Kibbeh Mqliyeh
Lebanon's fried kibbeh: small bulgur-and-lamb footballs wrapped around a spiced mince and pine-nut filling, deep-fried amber-crisp.
Overview
Same technique as Jordan kibbeh-nayyeh-balls (these snacks are siblings across the Levant). Fine bulgur soaks, drains, squeezes dry. Lean lamb (or beef) blitzes with onion, baharat, allspice, salt and ice water to a smooth paste; the bulgur folds in to make a smooth, slightly tacky dough. Filling cooks separately: fattier lamb mince sautées with onion, baharat, cinnamon, allspice and pine nuts; cooled. Dough divides; each piece shapes into a football (thin walls, pointed tips), filled with cool filling, sealed and re-pointed. Deep-fried for 3-4 minutes; served with yogurt-mint sauce.
Ingredients
Outer dough
- 200 g fine bulgur (#1)
- 300 ml cold water (for soaking)
- 400 g very lean lamb (leg, trimmed)
- 1 onion (small, rough chunks)
- 1 ½ teaspoons Baharat
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 60 ml ice water
Filling
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion (medium, finely diced)
- 300 g fattier lamb mince (20% fat)
- 1 ½ teaspoons Baharat
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 60 g pine nuts (toasted in a dry pan 3 min)
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses (optional, Lebanese-classic note)
For frying
- 1 litre vegetable oil
Yogurt-mint sauce
- 250 g Greek yogurt
- 2 garlic cloves (crushed to a paste with ¼ teaspoon salt)
- 2 tablespoons fresh mint (chopped)
- ½ lemon (juice)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
To serve
- Lemon wedges
- Sumac (sprinkle)
- A small bunch of fresh parsley
Method
Stage 1 - Soak bulgur
- Pour cold water over bulgur; soak 15 minutes; drain; squeeze handfuls dry.
Stage 2 - Filling
- Heat olive oil; sauté onion 6 minutes.
- Add fattier mince; brown 6 minutes.
- Stir in baharat, allspice, cinnamon, salt and pepper; cook 1 minute.
- Off heat; stir in pine nuts, parsley and pomegranate molasses.
- Cool fully.
Stage 3 - Outer dough
- Blitz lean lamb, onion, baharat, allspice, salt, pepper and cinnamon in a food processor for 30 seconds to a smooth paste.
- Add squeezed bulgur; pulse, adding ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, until you have a smooth slightly tacky dough.
- Refrigerate 15 minutes.
Stage 4 - Shape
- Wet hands with cold water.
- Take 35 g of dough; roll into a ball.
- Hollow with finger to a cup with thin walls.
- Fill with 1 ½ teaspoons cool filling.
- Seal; roll into a pointed football (6 cm, pointed tips).
- Repeat for all 18.
Stage 5 - Fry
- Heat oil to 175°C.
- Fry 4-5 at a time, 3-4 minutes, until amber-gold.
- Drain on paper.
Stage 6 - Yogurt sauce
- Whisk yogurt with garlic-salt paste, mint, lemon and olive oil.
Stage 7 - Serve
- Plate the warm kibbeh on a platter with a small bowl of yogurt-mint sauce.
- Scatter parsley; sprinkle sumac; lemon wedges alongside.
Notes
- Lean meat for the dough: Fatty meat makes a wet dough that bursts in the fryer. Leg, trimmed.
- Wet hands, smooth surface: Bulgur dough sticks to dry hands.
- Pomegranate molasses in the filling: Lebanese-classic addition that distinguishes from Jordanian / Syrian versions. Optional but characteristic.
Storage
- Best within 30 minutes of frying.
- Raw shaped kibbeh freeze 2 months on a tray; fry from frozen at 170°C 5-6 minutes.
- Cooked: refrigerate 2 days; re-crisp at 200°C 4 minutes.
Recipes mentioned here
Kibbeh
Fine bulgur soaks until soft. The shell mixture combines bulgur, raw minced lamb, finely-grated onion, salt and spices, then blitzes (or pounds) into a dense, smooth, almost claylike paste. The filling is a separate cooked mince of lamb, onion, pine nuts, allspice and cinnamon. Each kibbeh shell is shaped over a finger; filling stuffs in; the lot pinches closed into a pointed oval. Deep-fries for 5 minutes.
Kibbeh
Two preparations: the bulgur-and-mince shell paste and the spiced cooked filling. The shell is shaped around a portion of filling into a football shape, then deep-fried until the outside is golden and the inside is hot and savoury. Served warm with yogurt or tahini.
More like this
Arayes
Lamb mince mixes with grated onion, parsley, allspice, baharat, pine nuts (optional) and salt. Pita pockets split open along one side; the filling presses thin (5-6 mm) into both halves. Brushed with olive oil; pan-fried or grilled hot 3-4 minutes per side until the bread is crisp and gold and the meat is just cooked.
Kibbeh Nayyeh Balls (Fried)
A fine-bulgur-and-lean-mince dough is blitzed smooth with onion, baharat, salt and a touch of ice water. Cold mince-with-fat (the filling) sautées with onion, baharat, allspice, cinnamon, and toasted pine nuts; cools. The kibbeh dough divides; each piece is wet-handled into a small football shape, hollowed with a finger, filled with the cool spiced mince, sealed and re-shaped into an oval. Deep-fried 175°C for 3-4 minutes until amber. Drained and served warm with lemon and a yogurt-mint sauce. The shape is the test: thin walls, plump bellies, pointed tips.
Sfeeha Jordani
A yeasted bread dough rises for 1 hour. Topping: lamb mince mixed RAW with grated onion (squeezed dry), diced tomato, garlic, baharat, allspice, pomegranate molasses, lemon, parsley and a small spoon of olive oil, no pre-cooking. Toasted pine nuts fold in. Dough divides into 18 balls; each rolls into an 8 cm disc with a slight raised rim. A heaped tablespoon of topping spreads on each; pinched into a slight 4-corner star shape (the Jordanian visual signature, distinguishes from the Lebanese version which is flat-edged). Baked at 220°C 10-12 minutes until the dough is gold and the meat is glossy-set. Garnished with extra parsley and pomegranate seeds.
Aroog
Fine bulgur (#1 grade) soaks in hot water until soft and fluffy. Lamb or beef mince mixes with the bulgur, grated onion, lots of chopped parsley and coriander, ground baharat, cumin and a pinch of cinnamon. The mixture should be soft enough to spread, if it's too dry the aroog crumble. Small portions press onto a hot oiled pan and flatten to 1 cm thick discs; cook for 4-5 minutes per side over medium heat until deeply browned and the meat is just cooked through. Lift, drain briefly, eat hot with lemon and yoghurt.