Category Archives: kibbe

Potato bulgur pie (Kibbet al-batata)

There are many versions of potato kibbeh; some are strictly vegan, others contain a layer of meat, some are made into balls and stuffed with onions and nuts, etc. This one is made up of mashed potato mixed with bulgur and stuffed with a layer of ground meat and onions (with a sprinkling of nuts [...]
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Lentil kibbeh

This is a speedy and delicious type of kibbeh (in Kurdish balloo3) that I tasted at the home of a Kurdish friend whose family resided in  Turkey. The lentils cook in water in minutes and are combined with fine bulgur; spices here are dried coriander and fried onions and a touch of red pepper powder [...]
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Kibbeh sajieh

This kibbeh is baked rather than fried; it is shaped like a saj, this concave-shaped oven that sits on many street corners in Beirut these days; it is filled with fried onions and walnuts and spiced with hot chili pepper and pomegranate molasses. Served with some muhammara dip on the side. A traditional saj being [...]
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Keshek soup

Keshek is a very traditional food made every year by Lebanese villagers with bulgur and milk (either cow’s or goat’s) at the end of summer as part of  winter’s provisions. Coarse bulgur is rubbed  with milk and left to ferment a few days; it is then placed on the  rooftop (traditional homes are built with [...]
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Mosul kibbeh

Making kibbeh may seem like an exclusively  Lebanese tradition, but the fact is that it is also practiced elsewhere~ Here is a version from Mosul, Iraq (birthplace of the famed Iraqi singer, Kazem al-Saher), courtesy of the fascinating Nawal Nasrallah’s Delights from the Garden of Eden. In her version, the kibbeh is baked rather than [...]
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