Kubbah ḥāmḍa is a Syrian specialty made with stuffed meatballs cooked in a broth flavored with fresh lemon or lime juice. The meatballs, called kubbah, usually consist of lean ground lamb or beef, ground rice, and onions. They are filled with a mixture of spiced ground lamb or beef and parsley or celery leaves.
The stuffed meatballs are then thrown into a broth containing potatoes, carrots, onions, yellow squash or zucchini, celery stalks, garlic, mint, and lemon or lime juice. Delicately sour and flavor-packed, this meatball soup is consumed hot and it has been traditionally prepared for Passover, usually served as an appetizer preceding the Seder meal.
Kubbah labanīyah is a traditional dish consisting of meatballs cooked in a yogurt-based soup. It is typically prepared with raw or pre-cooked meatballs consisting of minced lamb, bulgur, and onions, which are added to a mixture of plain yogurt, beaten eggs, diluted cornflour, and chicken, beef, or lamb stock, and then simmered until the meatballs are cooked through and the soup has thickened.
The soup is usually flavored with a blend of mint and garlic, sautéed in some samneh (a type of clarified butter), and can also be enhanced with rice for added consistency. Kubbah in a creamy yogurt soup is enjoyed hot, usually topped with fresh mint and fried or toasted pine nuts.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Kubbah safarjalīyah is an Aleppine dish that consists of stuffed meatballs cooked with a quince-based soup. The meatballs, known as kibbeh, are typically made with ground lamb or beef, bulgur, and onions. They are stuffed with a mixture of spiced ground lamb or beef, onions, and toasted pine nuts.
The stuffed meatballs are usually first boiled, and then simmered in safarjaliyeh, which consists of quince, tomato juice, meat, a blend of mint and garlic, pomegranate molasses, and pomegranate juice. Sweet and sour, kubbah safarjalīyah is typically consumed warm, usually as an appetizer.
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