{"id":2497,"date":"2019-07-11T18:48:43","date_gmt":"2019-07-11T15:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/test.thebitterolive.com\/?p=2497"},"modified":"2019-07-11T18:48:50","modified_gmt":"2019-07-11T15:48:50","slug":"shishbarak-meat-dumplings-in-yogurt-sauce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.thebitterolive.com\/?p=2497","title":{"rendered":"Shishbarak (meat dumplings in yogurt sauce)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

These dumplings stuffed with ground meat and onions enrobed in a soft dough and cooked in yogurt sauce are the ultimate Levantine comfort food. There is a lot of debate about the where this dish has originated from. One thing for sure, it has survived for centuries in the region and that says a lot about how good it tastes. Countries in the region have various names and methods to cook this dish, but this is the Levantine version of it, which also varies slightly in different countries. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been increasingly popular for people to buy pre-frozen shishbarak, which I think is a shame. There has been this misconception about this dish being hard to prepare, but this can\u2019t be further from the truth. It is definitely not a 30-minute dish and can be a little bit time consuming but making it from scratch is so rewarding. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personally, I find working with dough therapeutic and this dough recipe is very easy, you just can\u2019t mess it up. Also, I love repetitive tasks, like making a big batch of these dumplings, there is something about it that makes me wind down.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Let\u2019s get the shishbarak ready!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The dough is a basic flour, water and salt dough, nothing fancy. To make this recipe, I use \u00be cup of water. This turns out perfect for me every time, but I live in a hot dry climate, so adjust the amount of water based on humidity where you live. Also, adding a little vegetable oil towards the end of the kneading, keeps the dough moist and prevents it from sticking when rolled out. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The <\/strong>dough has to be rolled out thin, but not too thin, around 2 mm. A dough that is too thick will taste chewy, and a dough that is too thin will tear up during shaping.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people use raw meat for the filling, which tastes good. My paternal grandmother did. However, this is the recipe from mom\u2019s side, in which the filling is cooked. I personally prefer it this way, and I think is the more common way of cooking shishbarak.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start by cooking the filling as it needs to be completely cool before filling the dough, otherwise the dumplings will tear up.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Size of shishbarak varies widely, I use a 5 cm cookie cutter and consider this a large cutter. Some people make them way smaller and others make them way larger. I personally think this is the perfect size to get the right meat to dough ratio.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n