Korberba (Kibbeh)



I just gotta continue to cook with my mum and discover all the Arabic recipes that I ate when we were young. I had no idea how to make Korberba (that's what we called it in our family (it is known as Kibbeh in Lebanese), finally mum showed me and it is so easy. An extra pair of hands would help to speed up the process as it is time consuming. So a couple of days ago we had time over the school holidays and Anthony helped. We learned the art of making the balls, stuffing and patting the Korberba together, we laughed and we had fun but best of all we were together doing what gets handed down from generation. We cooked them and ate them the best way you can - snap bang off the hot oil. They're so yummy - ENJOY one or four at a time. Burgul (cracked wheat) is found at all middle eastern nuts shops and for this dish you need to use the "fine" grain.

INGREDIENTS

Filling
500g minced meat (beef)
1 tab olive oil
1 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt/Pepper

Burgul/Mince Meat Mixture
1 kilo fine Burgul (cracked wheat)
500g minced meat (beef)
Water to soak
Salt/Pepper

Vegetable Oil for frying

METHOD

Filling
In a fry pan add olive oil and when hot add onion and fry until fragrant, add garlic and continue to fry for 1 minute. Add mince meat, salt and pepper. Break up mince with back of fork and cook mince until brown. Set aside to cool.

Burgul/Mince Meat Mixture
In a large bowl place burgul and pour cold water to cover with 1cm over. Set aside for 1/2 hour for the burgul to absorb the water. Once all the water has absorbed you can start to mix the mince meat with the burgul as follows:

In a food processor place a handful of burgul and 1/4 handful of mince, pulse in bursts until mixed together, remove and place in another large bowl. Continue like so with the rest of the burgul and mince and place in bowl until all the burgul and mince is mixed together. Once all mixed through add salt to the mixture and mix/knead with both hands until all incorporated. This requires a lot of muscle work.

To make the Korberba: Take about two walnut-size of the mixture and form into a ball. Hold the ball in your left hand and with your right finger/pointer make a long hole through the middle of the ball. As you continue to hold the ball with your left hand, turn the ball round your finger to make the long hole wider. With a teaspoon add some of the filling (cooked mince meat) into the hole and then close the whole. With your hand you can now form the croquette shape of the korberba (see picture above). Continue with the rest of the burgul and mince meat until all used up. You might find that you have some cooked minced meat left over which you can use for another dish. Now it's time to fry the Korberba.

Add oil to fry pan about 3cm deep, place over medium flame and when hot add the Korberba one at a time to fry in hot oil. Once brown on one side, turn over to cook the other side. When done, remove from oil and place on absorbent paper. Repeat with the rest of the Korberba until all cooked, adding more oil to fry pan, as needed and between each batch. The Korberba can be cooled and placed in the fridge for another day and warmed again in the oven, until crisp and hot. Enjoy as an accompaniment to meat or chicken dishes or just as a snack.

Comments

  1. What a Masterchef!!
    There are all the same size too.
    Well done - John

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you uncle John and I made these with mum so of course they are the same size !

    ReplyDelete

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