Kibbeh in yogurt

January 31, 2021  •  Category: , ,

This is one of my favorite kibbeh dish and my grandmother used to make it to perfection, carving the small hollow kibbeh balls with a thin shell that one would break open and fill with the warm yogurt sauce flavored with mint pesto.


A lot of people in Lebanon fill the kibbeh balls with cooked ground meat and fry the balls prior to adding them to the warm yogurt sauce; I personally find this makes the dish too heavy and prefer to quickly brush the raw balls with a thin layer of oil, then bake them for a few minutes to sort of “seal” them; the final poaching is done gently in the yogurt aka laban at serving time. 

The traditional kibbeh labniyeh has some rice added to the yogurt sauce, but I personally do not find that a few grains of rice add anything to the dish. It is easy to do, however, just add some cooked medium-grain rice (about 1/2 cup)  to the sauce at the last minute and stir a bit.

 

 

Kibbeh in yogurt

Joumana Accad Mediterranean, Middle Eastern January 31, 2021 Whole Grain/Bulgur/Rice, Main Dish, Meats, kibbeh, traditional food, yogurt sauce, lebanese food,

40-45 kibbeh balls servings

Prep Time: 4 hours

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

Kibbeh Dough:

  • 1.3 lb eye of round beef or extra lean beef or lamb, cut into small chunks with any visible fat removed
  • 1 1/2 cup fine bulgur #1
  • 1 large onion, grated fine
  • spice mix: one teaspoon each, more to taste
  • Cinnamon, black pepper, allspice, turmeric (optional), rose petal powder (optional), salt, powdered mint, all mixed in a small bowl. Can replace these with Lebanese seven-spice mix (2 teaspoons or to taste), and salt to taste
  • ice cubes, as needed (I used 2) or 1/4 cup ice water (as needed)

Yogurt Sauce:

  • 3 pounds full-fat plain yogurt, preferably Greek or Middle Eastern or Bulgarian style.
  • 2 Tablespoons cornstarch diluted in 1/4 cup water (keep cornstarch nearby in case you need more)
  • 1 egg, mixed briefly in a bowl (optional)

Mint pesto

  •  1/4 cup olive oil or clarified butter
  • 1 or 2 tablespoons of garlic paste (garlic cloves chopped and mashed in a mortar with 1 teaspoon of salt or more, to taste)
  • 1/4 cup powdered mint (see note on how to powder mint)

 

Instructions

  1. Rinse the bulgur and soak it briefly in a bowl of tap water, just until it gets soft. Drain it thoroughly in a large bowl and add the grated onion (if using) and half the spices and mix till combined. Transfer the mixture to the food processor and process until it holds together. Remove and transfer back to the bowl. The consistency should be that of a dough.
  2. Now process the meat with the remaining spices until the meat is pasty and forms a ball, adding a couple of ice cubes or a few tablespoons ice water to facilitate the process. Transfer the meat to the bowl over the bulgur and start mixing the two by hand first, then with the machine, until the kibbeh dough is soft, moist and compact, adjusting the texture by adding a few drops of ice water if too dry. The mixture should be compact and moist.
  3. Transfer the kibbeh dough back onto the bowl. Shape small balls the size of a large walnut onto a piece of wax paper or foil or on a cutting board. Place a small bowl of water with ice cubes floating in it nearby. Have a bowl of salted butter mixed with dry mint nearby as well, with a tiny spoon in it. The butter/mint mixture will be used to stuff each hollow kibbeh ball with an amount equivalent to 1/4 teaspoon for each.
  4. Once the balls are shaped and ready, start hollowing them out, one at a time, and insert the mint butter drop before sealing the kibbeh ball, dipping fingers in the ice water as needed to smooth out the dough and seal any cracks.
  5. Place each completed kibbeh ball on a cookie sheet generously greased in oil. Once the cookie sheet is full of kibbeh balls, sprinkle some oil throughout if needed (or spray) and turn the balls over to make sure they are coated in oil.
  6. Bake the kibbeh balls in a 350F oven for about 8 minutes, turning them once while getting roasted, to get them roasted and their shells sealed.
  7. Cook the yogurt while the kibbeh balls are baking. This can be done at the same time, or later or even the next day. It all depends on when you plan to serve the dish. The kibbeh balls, once baked, can easily be transferred to a container and wait patiently a few days in the fridge or longer in the freezer. Cooking the yogurt and mint pesto can be done the day the dish will be served.
  8. Transfer the yogurt to a pot and set it over low heat. With a wire (or rubber) whisk, smooth it out to get it as creamy as possible. Add the cornstarch mixture and keep stirring, raising the heat a tad, until the yogurt has thickened. At this point, you can either purée the yogurt with an immersion blender, to get it as smooth as possible, or transfer it to a blender, or simply drain it through a sieve if it looks too grainy. The idea is to prevent this by stirring continuously and adding the cornstarch. One egg can also be added to the yogurt and mixed-in at the same time as the cornstarch. When the yogurt starts bubbling gently, it is ready and can absorb the mint pesto and kibbeh balls.
  9. The mint pesto is added at the last minute for flavor; fry the mint, garlic and oil or butter in a tiny skillet just a few seconds until fragrant and add the mixture to the warm yogurt while stirring. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve.

Recipe Notes

To powder fresh mint:

Lay some fresh mint leaves on a paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds. Remove from the oven and let the mint dry out some more for a few minutes. They should be totally parched at this point. Smash them with a mortar into a powder, and keep in a tightly closed container.



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Comments

13 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Reply

    Architart says:

    This was posted at the perfect time. It looks so comforting and delicious! I’ve recently purchased bulgur and your instructions look so clear that I will be attempting this over the weekend. I have enjoyed your recipes and pictures very much and thank you for inspiring me in the kitchen.

    On January 31, 2021 at 5:33 am

  2. Reply

    JIHAD BILAL says:

    Hello Joumana. This recipe looks and sounds familiar to me but under a different name. As a Lebanese transplant, it seems to me that this recipe is called “Shish Barak”. Kibbeh balls with goat-milk yogurt is very familiar to me.
    .
    Another goat-milk yogurt based dish is “Laban Immou”. I make this recipe with lamb shanks.
    .
    To me making the goat-milk yogurt is the most difficult but it is well worth the effort.

    On February 1, 2021 at 12:39 am

    • Reply

      Joumana Accad says:

      @Jihad Bilal shish barak is also in a yogurt sauce but it has small dumplings stuffed with meat and sometimes people include kibbeh balls as well (especially in Syria). Goat milk yogurt is indeed the best!

      On March 1, 2021 at 5:00 pm

      • Reply

        Paulette Norrmyr says:

        Hi Joumana, do you have a recipe for making the goat-milk yoghurt?

        On May 10, 2022 at 8:22 pm

        • Reply

          Joumana says:

          @Paulette Hi Paulette, I am getting ready to test goat milk yogurt once I get a hold of the goat milk from a local grower here. He said he is sold out for the coming week so it will be a couple weeks before I get my goat milk from him..Otherwise, I think the techniques are the same as with cow milk yogurt because my grandma and all folks in the olden days only had goat milk to use since cattle was not available in Lebanon on an industrial scale. One other tip I have tested is to add some whipping cream to the yogurt and that seems to take care of the curdling that often occurs. Say, about 1/3 whipping cream. No need for the whipping cream with goat milk however.

          On May 10, 2022 at 10:48 pm

  3. Reply

    Alex George says:

    I was getting hungary just reading this article. Wonderful dish my mother cooked for us.

    On February 1, 2021 at 3:07 am

  4. Reply

    Brittany Jones says:

    This looks simply delicious. I think It’s very kid friendly and has that little bit of healthy factor going on. Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe.

    On February 3, 2021 at 11:48 am

  5. Reply

    Leslie Eicher says:

    Scrumptious! I will have to try this sometime.

    On February 7, 2021 at 5:00 pm

  6. Reply

    marlene says:

    In my region ( north lebanon) , we make kebbe balls in kechek not yogurt . The same way you make kechek .. olive oil , garlic, ground meat or awarma , kechek and then water. You let it cook stirring gently , then you put your kebbe and let it simmer . It’s way better than yogurt in my humble opinion . Comfort food by all means

    On September 20, 2022 at 10:20 am

    • Reply

      Joumana Accad says:

      @marlene sounds delicious! I have had it prepared with kechek made by Syrian ladies, and it was good! I guess it is all a matter of what one is used to, I kind of like yogurt better than kechek.

      On September 26, 2022 at 1:03 am

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