Kubbeh — Fried Bulgur Balls with Meat Filling

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Pastry Filling

1. 1
   Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveFrying pan
2. 2
   Add the onion and fry 5–8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 3
   Raise the heat to medium-high and add the meat. Press it flat over the bottom and leave it for 2–3 minutes without stirring, until a brown crust forms.

   Stove

   💡Brown ground beef in the pot without pressing it: leave it as one 'cake' for a few minutes until a brown crust forms, then break it into chunks. Deep browning = deep flavor.
4. 4
   Break it up with a wooden spoon and fry for 5–7 more minutes, stirring, until no pink is left and the meat browns.

   StoveWooden spoon
5. 5
   Add the baharat, paprika, cinnamon, salt and black pepper and fry another 1–2 minutes, until fragrant.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
6. 6
   Add the pine nuts and mix well.

   💡Pine nuts and other nuts get a deeper flavor when you first toast them 2–3 minutes in a dry pan, until lightly golden.
7. 7
   Remove from the heat and cool the filling completely, about half an hour.

   💡Fill dough only with completely cooled filling: a hot filling softens the dough, makes it hard to seal and makes the pastry soggy inside.

To assemble

1. 8
   Soak the bulgur 20 minutes in the boiling water with the salt and cumin, covered, until the water is absorbed.

   ⚙ SoakingBowl

   💡Bulgur soaked covered in boiling water softens without getting too wet: no need to squeeze it, and after good kneading it holds together as a dough.
2. 9
   Knead the bulgur well by hand, into an even dough that holds together.

   ⚙ KneadingBowlStand mixer
3. 10
   Take a ball of dough, press a cup into it with your finger, fill with the cold filling and seal well.

   💡Wet your hands with cold water between one kubbeh and the next: the dough doesn't stick, and you can shape a thin, even wall.
4. 11
   Heat the oil' in a deep pot' and fry the kubbeh 4–5 minutes per side, until golden. Transfer to paper towels.

   ⚙ Deep-fryingStoveSlotted spoonCandy/oil thermometerDeep pot for frying

   💡A thin wall and a tight seal, with no cracks: oil that gets inside breaks the kubbeh apart.

   💡Keep the oil at 170–180°C (340–355°F): too cold, and the food soaks up oil; too hot, and it browns outside before the inside cooks. Without a thermometer, dip the tip of a wooden spoon in the oil: when medium bubbles form around it right away, the oil is hot enough.

   💡Don't overload the oil: every piece that goes in cools it down. Fry one piece as a test, then the rest in several batches, and transfer to paper towels.