Recipes

This recipe is a traditional food of my country, Syria.  It is eaten in most Arab countries but each country adds its own personality to this popular dish.  In Syria, we have our own special flavours we add to this dish.  This dish is called Shishburk.  It is a piece of dough stuffed with meat and cooked with yogurt.  Let’s get to the main ingredients:

For the dough, we need:

• 5 cups of all-purpose flour
• 2 cups of water
• A pinch of salt

For the meat stuffing we need:

• 500 grams of ground meat (I prefer lamb meat)
• 1 cup of chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tsp of turmeric
• 1 tbsp of salt
• A dash of black pepper
• 1 tsp of cumin
• 1 tbsp of olive oil

We also need 6 cups of nonfat yoghurt to pour the dough in.

Instructions:

First, in a big bowl, add the flour and salt and mix. 

Second, slowly add the water until you get a nice, soft dough. 

Third, let the dough set until you make the meat stuffing. 

Fourth, heat the pan over medium heat and add olive oil, chopped onion, garlic and the meat.  Let it cook until the meat has a nice brown colour.

Fifth, add the spices.  Let it cook for about 10 minutes. 

Sixth, roll the pre-prepared dough on a board in the kitchen. Make sure the board is sprinkled with flour. 

Seventh, use a lid or a small cup to cut the dough into a nice circle.  

Eighth, fill the circle with about a tablespoon of meat and toss it in the opposite direction.  Keep doing that until you finish all of the dough.

Ninth, pour the yoghurt into a large and deep pan over medium heat and keep stirring it until the yoghurt comes to a boil.

Tenth, drop the dough meatballs into the yogurt.

Finally, turn the stove down to a lower heat and let it cook for 15 minutes.  Now, It’s ready to serve!