103. Kubba Halab

Kubba halab, or kubbat halab, is an Iraqi delight named in homage to the Syrian city of Halab. Halab is famous for its several types of kubbas.
Kubba generally uses burghul or jereesh as part of the crust, but this one, a personal favorite by far, uses rice.
The usual filling of minced meat applies here, though a touch of ground noomi is added to enhance the flavor.
I've been making these little gems for years, but adusted slightly my recipe according to suggestions provided by Manal.
Presented here is the perfected version.



Noomi Basra (Dried Limes)

Ingredients:

For the filling:
300g minced meat
2 onions, chopped finely
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cinemon
1/4 tsp alspice
1/2 tsp ground noomi
1 cup parsley, chopped

For the crust:
1 cup rice
2 large potato, peeled, cut into cubes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp paprika





The filling: minced meat, onions, parsley.

The crust: potato, rice, spices.

Cooling on a tray.

Grinding to form the crust.

Left: filling. Right: crust.

Forming the kubba, steps.

Lining in single layer to freeze.

 

Method:

To make the filling: saute the mince in a pan until browned, add the onion, salt, pepper, cinemon, alspice, and noomi. Keep cooking until onions are transparent and there is little to no liquid left.
Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly, stir in the parsley, allow to cool completely.

To make the crust, boil all the crust ingredients together for 10 to 15 minutes until the potatoes are half cooked and the rice grains have doubled in size.
Drain and spread on a tray to cool and dry off.

Push the crust ingredients through a meat grinder machine (using the fine hole disc).
Knead the resulting dough a bit.

To form the kubba, it is easier to have a bowl of water to wet your hands with so it will not stick.
Take a walnut-sized ball of dough, and cradeling it in the palm of one hand, use you index finger of the other hand to fom a hollow in the middle of the ball (see picture).
Fill with a teaspoon of the filling, and seal, eventually forming a torpedo shape, with slightly pointy ends.

I suggest freezing the kubba, in a single layer and well spaced before deep frying them.
If they are not fried frozen, they might break up inside the frying oil and cause a large mess.
While frying, avoid touching with any tool as it might break the fragile crust. Instead, gently swirl the pot to allow the kubba to turn themselves over.

Serve warm as a side dish



Other Kubbas:

Kubba Burghul
Beetroot Kubba
Lentil Kubba
Rice Kubba
Semolina Kubba
Potato Chap
Kibbe Bil-Siniyeh (Tray Kubba)

Iraqi Dill Kubba

 صحة و عافية