Jasmine and Fire (40 page)

3½ cups boiled chickpeas (canned is fine; rinsed and drained)

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 cups plain yogurt

1 tablespoon tahini

2 small pita breads

½ cup vegetable oil for frying (optional)

1 teaspoon cumin

2 tablespoons butter

½ cup pine nuts

pinch of paprika

1. In a cooking pot, heat the chickpeas in water (to cover) over medium heat, then lower heat to a simmer.

2. Meanwhile, mash garlic with 1 teaspoon salt in a mortar and pestle, then gradually drizzle in the lemon juice and keep mashing until you have a creamy paste. Stir mixture into yogurt, mix in the tahini, and set aside.

3. Tear the pita into roughly 1-inch pieces. Heat the vegetable oil over medium heat, and fry the bread pieces until browned and crisp, then set aside to drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Alternatively, toast the pita halves instead of frying, then break the bread into pieces.

4. Drain chickpeas, place them in a bowl, and sprinkle with cumin and salt to taste.

5. A few minutes before you’re ready to serve the dish, heat butter over medium heat and sauté pine nuts until browned, being careful not to blacken them.

6. In a deep-sided serving dish, place one layer of the bread pieces, followed by a layer of the chickpeas, and alternate layers until you run out of ingredients (depending on the size of your dish, you may only have one layer of each). Ladle the yogurt over the top. Sprinkle the pine nuts in their butter over top, and add a pinch of paprika for color (optional). Serve immediately, while bread is crisp.

juice of 3 lemons

1 teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses (alternatively, you can use 50g tamarind paste, sold in 500g squares at some Middle Eastern or Asian markets)

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

1¼ teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

½ tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for cooking

1 cup brown lentils

3 medium onions, slivered

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1. Mix lemon juice, cumin, and pomegranate molasses in a small bowl, and set aside. (If using tamarind paste instead, soak it in a bowl for at least 2 hours first; you’ll use it in the last step of the recipe.)

2. Make the dough strips: Mix flour with baking soda and ½ teaspoon salt, then stir in ½ cup water and ½ tablespoon vegetable oil. Blend until you reach a doughy consistency, then knead for 3 or 4 minutes, sprinkling with flour or water if needed as you go. Roll dough out into a thin sheet, and slice into strips the width of fettuccini strands, then cut into 1-inch-long pieces. If you like, you can sprinkle your palms with flour and roll each 1-inch piece between your palms for 2 or 3 seconds to form a cylindrical shape. (As a shortcut to making your own dough strips, use fettuccini instead: boil 6 ounces fettuccini according to package directions, and cut into 1-inch-long strips.) Set aside.

3. Pick stray bits out of the lentils, then rinse and drain them. Boil lentils in a pot with 7 cups water, then cook over medium heat for another 30 minutes, until they soften.

4. As the lentils are cooking, sauté the onions until browned. In a separate pan, sauté the garlic and cilantro.

5. Drop the dough strips (or fettuccini pieces) in with the lentils during the last 10 minutes of cooking, then lower heat to a simmer and stir in half of the browned onions and half of the garlic-cilantro mix. Let simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes.

6. When lentil mixture is done, remove from heat and stir in pomegranate molasses mixture. (If using tamarind instead, drain out the pulpy pieces that have been soaking, and stir the resulting tamarind juice in with the lentils.)

7. Place lentil mixture in a serving dish, and top with remaining onions and cilantro-garlic mix. Salt to taste.

1½ cups bulgur, medium or fine grain

1½ pounds finely ground lean lamb (or beef), divided

2 medium onions, 1 coarsely chopped and 1 minced, divided

1½ teaspoons salt, divided

1½ teaspoons pepper, divided

2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided

2 teaspoons allspice, divided

6 tablespoons butter

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cup pine nuts

2 tablespoons olive oil

vegetable oil for frying

1. Soak bulgur for 30 minutes in cold water in a medium bowl. Drain, and get rid of excess water by squeezing bulgur through with a paper towel. In a bowl, combine bulgur with 1 pound meat, the coarsely chopped onion, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon allspice.

2. Place about a cup of the mixture in food processor and grind until the consistency is like dough; repeat with remaining mixture. Add one ice cube at a time while processing if needed to improve texture. Set mixture aside and cover. (If you’d like to use a mortar and pestle instead of a food processor, you’ll need to grind for about an hour to reach the optimal texture.)

3. Melt butter in a large skillet, add pine nuts, and sauté until brown, being careful not to blacken. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. Sauté the minced onion in olive oil in a medium-size skillet. Add remaining ground meat, and season with remaining salt, pepper, cinnamon, and allspice. Once meat is lightly browned, take off the heat. Let cool for 15 minutes.

5. Set aside a small bowl of cold water, and a freezer-safe platter. Form the kibbeh balls by shaping golf-ball-size amounts of the meat and bulgur mixture, rolling it lightly in your hands. Then poke a hole in each ball with your fingers, stuff with the onion and pine nut mixture, and pinch to seal. You will need to dip your fingers in the water periodically so they don’t get too sticky and hard to work with. Make sure the outsides of the kibbeh balls look as smooth as possible, with no visible onion or pine nut pieces sticking out. Mend any holes (with small amounts of the raw kibbeh), and slightly point the ends to form small football shapes. It will take a little practice to
get the kibbeh balls uniform and smoothly textured. Place the balls on the platter as you finish them.

6. Freeze the kibbeh balls for 10 minutes to firm up their shape, then fry them in vegetable oil in a pan or deep fryer—the oil should be at 350°F—for around 10 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

V
ARIATION

To make kibbeh labniyeh, or kibbeh balls in yogurt sauce, mix a whisked egg into a quart of yogurt and heat in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly so the yogurt doesn’t separate. Heat 2 tablespoons butter and sauté 4 cloves crushed garlic and a handful of chopped fresh cilantro or mint until wilted, and stir into the yogurt mixture. Place 8 to 10 kibbeh balls in the mixture, stir until the meatballs are heated through, and ladle into bowls. Makes enough for 2 servings.