Kibbeh Halabi with Sour Cherry Sauce

The crown jewel of Idlib cooking: hollow lamb-bulgur shells stuffed with spiced minced lamb and toasted pine nuts, then braised low and slow in a tart sour cherry sauce enriched with pomegranate molasses. The balance of savory, tart, and faintly sweet is unlike anything else in the Arab world.

Ingredients

• 2 cups fine bulgur wheat
• 500 g lean lamb shoulder
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 2 tsp Aleppo pepper
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp salt
• ¼ cup ice water
• 300 g lamb mince (filling)
• 1 large yellow onion (filling)
• ⅓ cup pine nuts
• ½ tsp ground allspice (filling)
• 1 tsp Aleppo pepper (filling)
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 400 g sour cherries, pitted and fresh or jarred
• 3 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1½ cups lamb or chicken stock
• 2 cups vegetable oil for frying

Method

1. Rinse the bulgur, squeeze out all moisture in a clean kitchen towel, then spread on a tray and let dry 15 minutes.
2. Combine bulgur, ground lamb, grated onion, Aleppo pepper, allspice, cinnamon, black pepper, and salt in a large bowl. Knead firmly with wet hands for 8 minutes until the mixture is cohesive and paste-like. Add ice water a tablespoon at a time if the mixture cracks. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
3. Make the filling: fry onion in butter until golden. Add pine nuts and toast 3 minutes. Add lamb mince, break apart, and cook through. Season with allspice, Aleppo pepper, and salt. Set aside to cool.
4. Wet your hands. Take a golf-ball-sized portion of the kibbeh dough. Roll into a ball, then press your thumb through the center to form a hollow shell about 4mm thick. Fill with 1 heaped teaspoon of the lamb-pine nut mixture. Pinch the opening closed and smooth into a torpedo shape with pointed ends. Repeat with all the dough.
5. Heat oil to 175°C (350°F). Fry kibbeh in batches until deep golden brown, about 5–6 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
6. Make the sauce: combine sour cherries, pomegranate molasses, sugar, and stock in a wide skillet. Bring to a simmer and cook 5 minutes.
7. Nestle the fried kibbeh into the cherry sauce. Cover and braise on low heat for 20 minutes, turning once, until the sauce thickens and the kibbeh absorb the cherry color at their edges.
8. Serve immediately from the pan, with plain rice or fresh bread to catch the sauce.

The story