Shish Barak: Meat Dumplings in Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients

For the Shish Barak dumplings:

    2 cups flour

    500 g coarsely ground beef

    1 small onion, finely chopped

    1 tablespoon vegetable oil

    1 teaspoon salt

    1/4 teaspoon white pepper

    1 pinch of cinnamon

 For the Sauce:

    1 kg yogurt

    3 tablespoons starch, dissolved in ½ cup water

    3 cloves garlic, crushed

    1 tablespoon vegetable oil

    1 teaspoon salt

 

Preparation

To prepare the dough: sift the flour in a bowl with some salt. Gradually add water and knead to obtain a soft dough. Cover the dough with a plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator for 30 min.

To prepare the filling: on high heat, fry the chopped onion in a skillet with the vegetable oil until golden. Add the ground meat, cinnamon, pepper and salt and fry until the meat turns brown. Set aside to cool.

    Preheat the oven to 180 ˚C.

To make the shish barak dumplings:

1. on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough using a rolling pin. Cut the dough into 4 cm circles.

Place 1 teaspoon of filling at the centre of each circle and fold in half. Press edges together then bring both corners together to obtain a dumpling. Seal well.

2. Put all the meat dumplings in a well-greased baking tray and bake for 10 min or until blushed. Remove from oven and set aside.

3. To prepare the sauce: strain the yogurt into a pot, add the dissolved starch and place over medium heat. Stir continuously in a circular movement until yogurt thickens then reduce the heat. It is very important to stir continuously for the yogurt not to stick to the pot.

4. Add the minced garlic to the yogurt.  Mix well and turn off the heat.

5. To serve, place the shish barak dumplings in a serving dish and pour the yogurt sauce in another deep dish. It is customary to serve vermicelli rice along with it.

 

Lara Kh.