Kibbeh Nayyeh
- 1 large onion, peeled
- Salt and pepper
- 3/4 cup fine-ground bulgur
- 1 pound lean, tender lamb from the leg, trimmed of all fat and cut in cubes
- Iced water
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- A few mint leaves
- Bunch of scallions
- Small romaine-lettuce leaves
- Puree the onion in a food processor, adding a little salt and pepper.
- Rinse the bulgur in a sieve under cold running water and squeeze out the excess moisture.
- Add it to the onion, blend thoroughly, and pour out of the work bowl.
- Now process the meat to a soft paste, adding a little salt and pepper.
- Add the onion-and-bulgur mixture and process again, adding a little iced water gradually (start with 1/4 cup), just enough to achieve a soft paste.
- Continue to process, in batches if you like, or knead with your hands to a smooth, elastic, doughy consistency.
- Chill in the refrigerator.
- Serve chilled, spread thinly on a flat glass or china serving plate.
- Drizzle generously with oil and garnish with a few mint leaves.
- Accompany with trimmed scallions and a bowl of small romaine lettuce, and serve with Arab bread.
- You may like to spice the kibbeh mixture with 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon coriander, 1 teaspoon cinnamon or 1/2 teaspoon allspice, and a good pinch of ground chili pepper or cayenne.
- I have become very fond of that.
- You can also have a squeeze of lemon juice over the top with the olive oil.
- Another way of serving kibbeh nayyeh is to roll the meat mixture into small, thin fingers and place each one in the cup of a small romaine or Bibb lettuce leaf.
- Sprinkle with olive oil and lemon juice, or with tamarind diluted in a little water, and garnish with chopped scallions and a dusting of paprika or ground chili pepper.
- Proportions of meat and wheat can be varied, and quantities reversed.
- A marvelous spicy version from Gaziantep, in southeastern Turkey, called cig kofte is so full of wheat and has so many spices that you can hardly tell the raw-meat content.
- Pour boiling water over 1 1/4 cups bulgur and soak for 1/2 hour.
- Drain, press all the excess water out, and mix with 2 grated onions.
- Blend 1/2 pound lean lamb to a paste in a food processor.
- Add the bulgur and grated onions and the following: 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1/2 teaspoon ground chili pepper or cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon coriander, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon allspice, and 1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley.
- Blend to a homogenous paste.
- Serve spread on a dish sprinkled with parsley and lemon juice, or rolled into little balls.
onion, salt, fineground bulgur, lean, water, extravirgin olive oil, mint, scallions
Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/kibbeh-nayyeh-373427 (may not work)