Kubba

Ingredients

Shell

• 400 gfine bulgur (no. 1 grade), rinsed and soaked 20 minutes in cold water
• 200 glean minced lamb or beef, minced twice
• 1small onion, grated and squeezed dry
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tspbaharat
• ½ tspground cumin
• 1 tbspplain flour or fine semolina
• iced water, for wetting the hands

Filling (hashwa)

• 300 gminced lamb, with some fat
• 2 tbspoil
• 1large onion, finely chopped
• 2 tspbaharat
• ½ tspground cinnamon
• ¼ tspground allspice
• 50 gsultanas (optional)
• 50 gtoasted flaked almonds or walnuts
• 1 tbspchopped parsley
• 1 tspsalt

To fry

• 1.5 litresvegetable oil

Directions

1. Soak the bulgur just until it swells and is pliable but still slightly resistant; over-soaked bulgur makes a shell that will not hold.
2. Fry the onion for the filling in oil until deep gold, 10 minutes, add the minced lamb and cook hard, breaking it up, until browned and dry, then add the spices, nuts, sultanas, parsley and salt. Cool completely.
3. Squeeze the bulgur dry and work it with the raw minced meat, grated onion, salt, spices and flour, kneading hard for 8–10 minutes until it becomes a smooth, sticky, elastic dough that holds a fingerprint. Keep dipping your hands in iced water.
4. Rest the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Cold dough is far easier to shape.
5. Take a golf-ball of dough, roll it smooth, then hollow it with a wet index finger, turning it against the finger to open an even shell 3–4 mm thick.
6. Spoon in the cooled filling, pinch the opening shut, then roll and taper the ends into the classic torpedo, or press flat into a disc for the Mosul style.
7. Patch any cracks with a dab of wet dough and a wet finger; a crack will open in the oil and empty the kubba.
8. Heat the oil to 170°C (350°F) and fry 4 or 5 at a time for 5–7 minutes, turning, until deep brown and floating high. They sink first and rise as they cook through.
9. Drain on a rack and serve hot with lemon, pickles and a bowl of yoghurt or a sour soup.

Technique

• Kubba is the Iraqi form of the word kibbeh, and Iraq has more versions of it than anywhere: fried bulgur torpedoes, rice-shelled kubba halab, and the huge flat discs of Mosul.
• The shell dough must be kneaded until it changes texture and turns tacky. Under-kneaded, it will not stretch thin without splitting.
• Fry at 170°C (350°F). Hotter and the shell colours before the raw meat in it is cooked; cooler and it drinks oil and disintegrates.
• The raw minced meat in the shell is traditional and needed for binding; make sure the frying time is long enough to cook it through, and cut one open to check.

Substitutions

• No fine bulgur: soaked and drained coarse bulgur ground in a processor works, but never use couscous.
• Kubba halab replaces the bulgur shell with cooked short-grain rice mashed to a paste, for those who cannot find bulgur.
• Almonds can be replaced by pine nuts or walnuts.

Variations

• Kubba Mosul is a single enormous flat disc, up to 30 cm across, shallow-fried and cut into wedges.
• Kubba hamudh is poached in a sour tomato and lemon broth with beetroot or chard instead of being fried.
• Kubba burghul mashwiya is grilled over charcoal instead of fried, a Basra habit.

History

Shells of bulgur, rice or potato around minced meat; Mosul’s is a wide flat disc, Halab’s a fried torpedo.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kubba?

Kubba is a main from Iraq: stuffed rice or bulgur croquettes; Mosul’s flat disc version famed. Shells of bulgur, rice or potato around minced meat; Mosul’s is a wide flat disc, Halab’s a fried torpedo.

How long does Kubba take to make?

Kubba takes 1 hr of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings (about 16 pieces). It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Kubba?

Yes, within limits. No fine bulgur: soaked and drained coarse bulgur ground in a processor works, but never use couscous. Kubba halab replaces the bulgur shell with cooked short-grain rice mashed to a paste, for those who cannot find bulgur. Almonds can be replaced by pine nuts or walnuts.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kubba?

The shell dough must be kneaded until it changes texture and turns tacky. Under-kneaded, it will not stretch thin without splitting.