Latakia-Style Kibbeh Balls
Meatless bulgur balls seasoned with garlic, walnuts, cumin, pomegranate molasses, and red pepper paste, with a tangy, savory flavor.
Meatless bulgur balls flavored with garlic, walnuts, cumin, pomegranate molasses, and red pepper paste for a tangy, savory bite.
Like savory bulgur bites with a sweet-sour seasoning.
Kibbeh usually means a bulgur mixture, and this version is shaped into small balls. It is meatless and meant to be eaten as a cold appetizer.
Ingredients
- 300 g (2 cups) fine bulgur
- half a cup (70 g) flour
- half a cup olive oil
- half a cup pomegranate molasses
- 1 tablespoon crushed garlic
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- half a teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon salt
- half a teaspoon dried coriander
- 2 tablespoons red pepper paste
- chopped parsley
- walnuts
- for soaking lukewarm or slightly hot water
- a little olive oil
- a little water
- butter
Instructions
- Soak the fine bulgur in a pot or bowl with lukewarm or slightly hot water, covering it by about one finger-joint, and leave for about 15 minutes.
- Prepare the sauce in a mixing bowl by adding the red pepper paste, pomegranate molasses, olive oil, crushed garlic, cumin, salt, dried coriander, and walnuts, then stir well.
- Add a little olive oil and a little water to the sauce bowl if it is too thick, then stir until it reaches the right consistency.
- Add the chopped parsley to the sauce bowl and mix it in.
- Add the flour to the bowl of soaked bulgur, then add the cumin, black pepper, and salt, and knead the ingredients together.
- Grind or mince the bulgur dough through the fine setting of the machine until it has a good sticky texture.
- Shape the dough on a plate or work surface into equal-sized kibbeh balls.
- Put water in a pot on the stove until it reaches a temperature close to boiling, about 80°C.
- Add salt to the pot of water and stir until dissolved.
- Drop the kibbeh balls into the hot water and boil until they float to the surface, for about 5 minutes.
- Drain the kibbeh balls from the pot of water and leave them to dry.
- Place the kibbeh balls in butter in the serving bowl, then pour the prepared sauce over them.
- Add parsley and walnuts over the dish in the serving bowl, then gently toss the kibbeh balls so their round shape does not break.