Kubbat Mosul

Ingredients

Shell

• 500 gfine bulgur
• 200 glean minced lamb
• 2 teaspoonssalt
• 1 teaspoonblack pepper
• 1 teaspoonground turmeric, optional
• iced water, for shaping

Filling

• 400 gminced lamb
• with some fat
• 3onions, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoonsbaharat
• 1 teaspoonground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoonsoil
• 50 gpine nuts, optional
• a handful of parsley
• salt and black pepper

To cook

• 2 litresmeat broth
• or oil, for shallow frying

To serve

• cut into wedges
• lemon wedges
• torshi, pickled vegetables
• a sharp salad

Directions

1. Rinse the fine bulgur in cold water. Drain it and then let it stand. Give it about twenty minutes to soften. Squeeze out any excess afterwards. Fine bulgur is what this needs. Put the softened bulgur in a large bowl.
2. Add the lean minced lamb to it. Add the salt, pepper and turmeric. Knead it hard with wet cold hands. Work it for a good ten minutes. Dip your hands in iced water as you go. Cold water keeps the paste from sticking.
3. Keep a bowl of it beside you throughout. Judging the paste takes a feel. Work in a little more iced water. A sticky paste is far too wet indeed. Work in a little more fine bulgur. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan. Add the chopped onions to the pan. Cook them for a good ten minutes.
4. Add the fattier minced lamb to it. Fry it until it is well browned. Add the baharat and the cinnamon. Season it with salt and black pepper. Fry the pine nuts separately first. Stir them into the finished filling. Add the chopped parsley at the end. Spread the filling on a wide plate. Let it cool down completely there.
5. Warm filling softens the shell paste. Divide the paste into even pieces. Take two pieces for each disc. Wet your hands in the iced water. Put a piece on a sheet of wet film. Press it out with wet fingers. Work from the centre outwards. Keep the thickness even across it. Wet film stops the paste sticking. Keep your hands wet throughout. Spread the cold filling on one round.
6. Leave a clear border at the edge. Filling in it stops the shell joining. Leave about two centimetres clear. Set the second round over the top. Lift it on its film and invert it. Peel the film away very carefully. Press the two edges together all round.
7. Work your way around the whole circle. Smooth the join with wet fingers. Check the whole edge before cooking. Bring a pot of meat broth to a simmer. Keep it barely moving throughout. Cooking it takes about fifteen minutes. Let it poach gently in the broth. It floats when it is nearly done. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan. It should be about two centimetres deep.
8. Use two wide spatulas together. Turn it in one confident movement. Give it another four minutes there. Work slowly and very deliberately. Lift it out onto a wire cooling rack. Let all the excess oil drip away. Let it rest for a good five minutes. Set it on a board or a platter. Cut it into wedges like a cake.
9. Use a sharp knife in one stroke. Serving it is always done piping hot. Set the wedges out on a platter. Serve torshi pickles alongside it. Add a sharp salad on the table. It keeps two days refrigerated.

Technique

• This is a single large flat disc rather than a torpedo, made as two thin rounds with the filling spread between and the edges sealed all the way round; it is a sandwich rather than a pocket, cut into wedges like a cake to share at a table.
• The paste must be pliable enough to spread very thin without cracking: a cracking paste is too dry and needs more iced water, a sticky one is too wet and needs more bulgur. Spread each round on wet film with wet hands, or it sticks to everything.
• Mosul was occupied by Islamic State from twenty fourteen and retaken in twenty seventeen after heavy fighting, with much of the old city destroyed and large numbers of people displaced; the atlas records that rather than passing over it.

Substitutions

• It is cooked in broth or shallow fried whole, and both are traditional.
• Minced beef works in place of lamb in both the shell and the filling.

Variations

• Pine nuts go into the filling in some households and not in others.
• Kubbat Halab uses a saffron rice shell instead of flat bulgur.
• Turmeric in the shell gives it a golden colour in some versions.

History

Mosul’s version is shaped like a plate rather than a torpedo, and cooked in broth or fried whole.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kubbat Mosul?

Kubbat Mosul is a main from Iraq: wide flat bulgur disc stuffed with spiced meat, sliced into wedges. Mosul’s version is shaped like a plate rather than a torpedo, and cooked in broth or fried whole.

How long does Kubbat Mosul take to make?

Kubbat Mosul takes 1 hour 30 minutes of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 8 discs. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Kubbat Mosul?

Yes, within limits. It is cooked in broth or shallow fried whole, and both are traditional. Minced beef works in place of lamb in both the shell and the filling.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kubbat Mosul?

Work your way around the whole circle. Smooth the join with wet fingers. Check the whole edge before cooking. Bring a pot of meat broth to a simmer. Keep it barely moving throughout. Cooking it takes about fifteen minutes. Let it poach gently in the broth. It floats when it is nearly done. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan. It should be about two centimetres deep.