I have been thinking about our year at Perth lately. Once a month, we used to have dinner with friends at a restaurant - plenty of conversation over delicious plates of food. The group had diverse interests and hence great topics to talk about, and also diverse interests in food. I truly miss those days.
One such memory is from "The Prophet" which served Lebanese food. We loved their food, and used to book months in advance to make sure that the entire gang could be fit in. Plates of falafel, kibbeh, mixed platters, lentil and rice, dolmas, etc. would flow on the the table and be savored with glasses of lovely Australian wine. A whiff of that cherished memory came back couple days back and I decided to make few Lebanese dishes.
So, here's the first one - Kibbeh. It's the national dish of Lebanon, I am told. And like all ubiquitous dishes from any country, there are many recipes and as many versions as there are families making it. This recipe is what I figured should make a kibbeh, and it passed my hubby's taste test, so I think it was quite all right.
Stove-top Kibbeh
2 cup freekeh
cold water
1 lb beef, minced/ground
1 onion, finely minced
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp allspice powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
olive oil
1. Wash the freekeh thoroughly. You will find that it has many small stones and husks and the initial washes may be dark in color. Don't worry, wash at least five times.
2. Add cold water and set aside to soak. I left it soaking for almost four hours.
3. Take all the other ingredients - beef, onions, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, coriander, and cumin - and mix to a fine paste. Get it as homogeneous as you can get.
4. Drain the freekeh, wash few more times if it seems still a bit gritty. Press the grains against the colander mesh so that you get as much water out as possible.
5. Mix the freekeh with the beef mixture, again get a homogeneous mix.
6. Heat a large pan and put a bit of olive oil, just to coat the pan lightly. The mixture will release oil, so you do not need a whole lot - just enough to ensure that the mixture does not hit the hot pan without an oil coating. I used the Ikea Tagine pan for this preparation. I like the base for this tagine, it heats up perfectly and is about the right size.
7. When the pan is hot, put the mixture and start stirring. You want to make sure there are no lumps and every little bit gets ample heat to get cooked. This takes long, about 10 - 15 minutes on medium heat.
8. As you keep stirring, you will notice that after some time, the freekeh starts becoming milky. That's the moment - lower the heat, pat the mixture into a flat cake, cover it. Here, using the tagine dome works well, it's a fantastic way to slow cook and retain the moisture.
9. We keep the cover on and cook on low flame for another 20-30 minutes. By then the kibbeh cake is done and have 'left the edges' of the pan. If you press it, it will bounce back. It will have jelled like a cake. It's done! I usually keep in one the stove for a bit longer to evaporate any water left. Be careful not to burn the bottom.
10. Let it cook a little bit and then slice it to serve. You can garnish it with almonds or pine nuts.
You can use bulgur wheat or other cracked wheat instead of freekeh. I used freekeh because I love it's milky texture. That also enabled me to cook this dish to firm on the stove-top. If you are using bulgur wheat, you will have to bake it.
One such memory is from "The Prophet" which served Lebanese food. We loved their food, and used to book months in advance to make sure that the entire gang could be fit in. Plates of falafel, kibbeh, mixed platters, lentil and rice, dolmas, etc. would flow on the the table and be savored with glasses of lovely Australian wine. A whiff of that cherished memory came back couple days back and I decided to make few Lebanese dishes.
So, here's the first one - Kibbeh. It's the national dish of Lebanon, I am told. And like all ubiquitous dishes from any country, there are many recipes and as many versions as there are families making it. This recipe is what I figured should make a kibbeh, and it passed my hubby's taste test, so I think it was quite all right.
Stove-top Kibbeh
2 cup freekeh
cold water
1 lb beef, minced/ground
1 onion, finely minced
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp allspice powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
olive oil
1. Wash the freekeh thoroughly. You will find that it has many small stones and husks and the initial washes may be dark in color. Don't worry, wash at least five times.
2. Add cold water and set aside to soak. I left it soaking for almost four hours.
3. Take all the other ingredients - beef, onions, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, coriander, and cumin - and mix to a fine paste. Get it as homogeneous as you can get.
4. Drain the freekeh, wash few more times if it seems still a bit gritty. Press the grains against the colander mesh so that you get as much water out as possible.
5. Mix the freekeh with the beef mixture, again get a homogeneous mix.
6. Heat a large pan and put a bit of olive oil, just to coat the pan lightly. The mixture will release oil, so you do not need a whole lot - just enough to ensure that the mixture does not hit the hot pan without an oil coating. I used the Ikea Tagine pan for this preparation. I like the base for this tagine, it heats up perfectly and is about the right size.
7. When the pan is hot, put the mixture and start stirring. You want to make sure there are no lumps and every little bit gets ample heat to get cooked. This takes long, about 10 - 15 minutes on medium heat.
8. As you keep stirring, you will notice that after some time, the freekeh starts becoming milky. That's the moment - lower the heat, pat the mixture into a flat cake, cover it. Here, using the tagine dome works well, it's a fantastic way to slow cook and retain the moisture.
9. We keep the cover on and cook on low flame for another 20-30 minutes. By then the kibbeh cake is done and have 'left the edges' of the pan. If you press it, it will bounce back. It will have jelled like a cake. It's done! I usually keep in one the stove for a bit longer to evaporate any water left. Be careful not to burn the bottom.
10. Let it cook a little bit and then slice it to serve. You can garnish it with almonds or pine nuts.
 |
| Kibbeh |
So you will not have to layers of the kibbeh
ReplyDelete