For most of my life, I thought I knew what kubbeh was: ovoid, crispy, often seen drying out, post-deep-fry in the windows of Israeli kiosks or across the eastern Mediterranean and its diaspora. But then, during a 2009 stint in Israel, a Libyan woman married to a Moroccan man introduced me to something I’d never experienced: Iraqi-style marak kubbeh adom. These dumplings were light as air, at least until you reached the herbed meat within, and they grew even fatter soaking in a sweet-sour red soup. My friend introduced me to them in the basement of her Herzliya house, but one serving was not enough. On the same trip, I found my way to Mordoch’s in Machaneh Yehuda, Jerusalem, where I gorged on the regular beet soup but also tried dumplings in hamusta, an even more sour yellow soup.
Lamb Kubbeh in Beet Soup
Ingredients
For the soup
- 5beets, peeled and chopped
- 2medium red onions, medium, roughly chopped
- Quarter cup of olive oil
- About 8 cups of stock of your choice (I used 1 cup of Fleischer’s 3-day lamb reduction, plus 7 cups of water, and added more water as needed)
- 4cloves of garlic, sliced thin
- Half a teaspoon of cinnamon, ideally fresh ground
- Half a teaspoon of coriander
- 1teaspoon black pepper
- salt to taste
- 2tablespoons honey
- Juice from 2 lemons, plus more to taste
For the dumplings and filling
- Half a cup of bulgur (the finer, the better)
- 1cup semolina
- 1clove of garlic, minced
- 1small onion, minced
- half pound of lamb (beef is traditional, but lamb feels at least as Mediterranean)
- 1/8cup sliced cilantro
- 8leaves of mint, chopped, plus more for garnish
- 1teaspoon each of salt and pepper and coriander
Preparation
To make the soup
- Step 1
In a large saucepan, cook the onions and beets with olive oil over medium heat until the onions start to soften.
- Step 2
Add the garlic and stir until the onion is translucent, roughly 10 minutes.
- Step 3
Add the stock and bring to a boil, then simmer.
- Step 4
Add salt and pepper, spices, and lemon juice, and reserve 2 cups of liquid for dumplings.
- Step 5
Then, using an immersion blender or a blender, puree soup and return to a boil. Add water as needed.
To make the dumplings and filling
- Step 1
Combine the semolina and the bulgur in a bowl and add the 2 cups of soup. Allow to soak for 15-20 minutes.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, mix the meat and spices in another bowl.
- Step 3
Fill a bowl with cold water. Roll the dough into balls, about 2 inches in diameter, flatten into a disk, and put in about a tablespoon of the meat mixture.
- Step 4
Wrap it around in your hand to seal it, adding water and filling in as needed. If you can refrigerate the balls ahead of time they’re likely to stick together better; some recipes call for freezing but I found no appreciable difference.
- Step 5
Drop balls carefully into boiling soup and cook for at least 15 minutes, until meat is cooked through.
- Step 6
Serve warm with mint and additional lemon.