If I had to pick my favorite soup, kubbeh would take the crown. Sorry, harira soup. Kubbeh is one of the few dishes that everyone in my house loves. Even my husband loves it, and he hates soups! Aside from the flavor, it's also healthy, loaded with vegetables and protein.
Now, when I say kubbeh in this recipe, I'm specifically talking about the Chamusta Kubbeh soup, which is yellow and a little sour, and probably originated from Kurdistan and Iraq. However, there are many kinds of kubbeh, and many kinds of its brother-separated-at-birth, the kibbeh. To learn more about the different kubbeh dishes, click here.
I was first exposed to kubbeh in my friend, Lyat’s, house. Her grandparents emigrated from Iraq to Israel when Jews were forcibly expelled from the country. The rich Jewish history of Iraq dates back to biblical times. Many prayers that Orthodox Jews still use today were first compiled during the Babylonian exile.
I think the best way to get to know a Jewish community is through its food. While Lyat often makes the red kubbeh soup with beets, chamusta kubbeh is easier to prepare and truly delicious.
Ingredients
For the soup
- 1 large white or yellow onion
- 2 large carrots
- 2 medium-sized potatoes
- 1 stick of celery
- 1 cup minced cilantro
- 1 can tomato paste 6 oz
- ¼ tablespoon turmeric
- 1 heaped tablespoon chicken consomme
- ½ tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 lemon
For the filling
- ½ cup minced italian parsley or cilantro
- 1 medium-sized onion
- 1 lbs ground beef
- 2 teaspoons canola oil
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon kubbeh spice blend or ras el hanout
- ½ teaspoons salt
For the kubbeh dough:
- 3 cups semolina
- ¼ cup canola oil
- ½ tablespoon salt
- 1 cup water
Nutritional Facts
Instructions
- Half-fill an 8 quart stock pot with water. Wash and peel the onions, carrots, and ptoatoes. Add the onion whole, slice the carrots, and dice the potatoes and celery. Place vegetables in water in the pot. Add minced cilantro, tomato paste, turmeric, consomme powder, salt, and canola oil. Add juice of half a lemon; keep the other half for later. Stir the soup and bring to a boil.
- For the filling: Mince onion and parsley in a food processor add to a bowl. Add meat, oil, paprika, spice blend and salt.
- For the kubbeh dough: In a bowl combine semolina, canola oil, salt and water. Mix well with your hands. If the dough gets too dry and brittle, add more water gradually. It's important not to let the dough rest because it will get hard.
- Keep your hands wet while you form the kubbeh. I like to keep a bowl with water next to me. Take some dough, about the size of a golf ball, and flatten it in your palm. It should be ⅛ to ¼ inch thick. Take a heaped teaspoon of meat filling and place it in the middle of the dough circle. Cover the meat in the dough and smooth out the edges. Remember to keep your hands wet.
- Add the freshly-formed kubbeh into the soup and repeat step 4 until the dough is used up. Form meatballs with whatever meat is left over and add them to the soup.
- Lower the temperature to medium, cover the pot and let the soup cook for 30 minutes.
- Serve the soup, adding the juice of the other lemon half, according to taste. Some like it more savory, others like it more sour. Enjoy!
could this be made without meat? I am vegan and gluten free.
You could make the soup broth and maybe add veggie meatballs or you could make vegan kubbeh but you'd have to find a gluten free version I have seen some use rice instead of bulgur. And the filling could be vegan ground meat or some mix of chopped veggies.
Since were talking about Iraq....Ben Ish Hai!