Lifespan of a Chennette

This is one of the Syrian dishes that our family grew up with, courtesy Mom and her father. We generally make it for certain occasions, such as ‘Id, or when some family member who hasn’t had it in a while returns home. While it may be common food in parts of the Middle East, because of the onetime rarity of bulgur wheat in Trinidad it is more a specialty dish in our house. And perhaps because, when made properly, the baked kibbe can be fairly rich for our tastes – all the olive oil and melted butter!

In honour of Ramadan which started last week, I am finally trying to post this recipe, although I don’t have proper internet, and I am about to travel So forgive me for lack of clarity!

We usually make the baked in a pan, layering the meat and bulgur. And although a few Arab friends and acquaintances have mentioned knowing about that version, I’ve never seen it until the day Lilandra and I were watching the Travel Channel visit Lebanon. I think there are so many twists to the way this dish can be prepared, from the seasonings to the constructions. This page has a few of those as ideas. I attempted to make sure these recipes were simple, which may in turn have made them seem more complicated. At the very least, it should give some ideas for this dish. There are 3 or 4 ways of making the actual kibbe presented here. Enjoy!

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

(a) 1 cup bulgur wheat (bulgur No. 1 – the least coarse)

(b) 1/2 lb minced lamb, chicken or beef seasoned well with salt, black pepper, 1 tbsp each of minced garlic, chives and parsley

(c) 1 medium onion grated or chopped finely

(d) 1 tsp ground cumin/geera

(e) 1 tsp dried thyme

(f) 1/2 tsp black pepper

(g) 1 tbsp olive oil

(h) 1 tbsp chopped mint

(i) 1/4 cup toasted chopped pine nuts, slivered almonds or walnuts

(j) Melted butter or olive oil

METHOD:

Fried Kibbe (1)

1. Place bulgur in a bowl and cover completely with water (cold water if not needed immediately but can cover with hot water if needed in 30 mins)

2. After soaking for 2 to 3 hours, drain and wash bulgur and squeeze out all water completely (Optional: mince the bulgur in a food processor to get it even finer)

3. Combine bulgur with all ingredients and mix well

4. Shape the bulgur/meat mixture into balls, flatten a little into elongated ovals, and deep fry.

OR

Fried Kibbe (2)

1. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 above.

2. Brown minced meat with the onions, add nuts

3. Mix bulgur with ingredients (d) to (i), take golfball sized portions, make an indentation and place a spoonful of meat mixture in, close bulgur around meat, and shape into elongated ovals.

4. Deep fry.

OR

Baked Kibbe

This is the most common way that Mom makes it. And yet again there are 2 variations:

1. Place bulgur in a bowl and cover completely with water (cold water if not needed immediately but can cover with hot water if needed in 30 mins)

2. After soaking for 2 to 3 hours, drain and wash bulgur and squeeze out all water completely (Optional: mince the bulgur in a food processor to get it even finer)

3. Mix bulgur with ingredients at (d) to (h)

4. Sauté onions in olive oil, add meat and brown, then add pine nuts and cook till they are golden

5. Layer the bulgur and meat mixture into a greased pan: bulgur, meat, bulgur, meat (thinner layer of meat on top) and drizzle with melted butter/olive oil to keep moist (to your taste, but at least a couple tablespoons)

Alternatively, you can cook the meat as in Step 4, mix in about 3/4 of the meat with all the other ingredients, place in greased pan and top with remaning meat mixture and drizzle with butter. Some people may mix in the raw seasoned meat with the bulgur etc and bake.

These recipes are from my mother, with some variations to attempt to clarify on my part. Questions are expected.

Note (13 October 2009): In all the recipes I have seen for baked kibbe (or any kind of kibbe), they all have the meat mixed into the wheat for the “crust” part. But we never did that – wheat and meat separate layers. I just saw in Saveur online, a recipe for baked kibbe made like Mom’s, that is said to be “distinctly Syrian Jewish”. Now, Mom’s family isn’t Jewish, but we’re narrowing down the geographical source of our version In case anyone’s interested her family is from Tartous in Syria.