Vegetarian potato kibbeh

Ingredients

2 cups of Burghul (cracked wheat/bulgur)
2 cups dry chickpeas
3 medium sized potatoes, boiled, mashed
2 cups general purpose flour
½ bunch parsley
½ bunch mint
½ bunch spring onions
1 medium sized white onion
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, or to taste
½ teaspoon Lebanese 7-spices
⅔ teaspoon of salt
2 cups of Olive oil (about 1 cup per pan of Kibbeh)

Preparation:

1. Chickpeas: The goal of the process here is to skin and halve the chickpeas. If you are able to find skinned chickpea halves at your grocery store, you can just soak them overnight and skip the remaining steps in this process. If you have regular chickpeas, then soak them in water overnight. On the day of, rinse them well then warm in a pot of water on the stove for a few minutes. Drain, then spread warm chickpeas on a towel then break them open by rolling a rolling pin on them a few times with force. Place broken chickpeas back in a pot, fill with water then rub them with your hands to separate the skin. Repeat the process a few times so that you rid the all of the chickpeas from their skin. Once done, drain the skinless chickpeas and place in the “mixing” pot.

2. Potatoes: Boil the potatoes for 15-20 minutes, let cool down a bit, peel, mash and add to the “mixing” bowl.

3. Burghul: rinse the burghul with water, let dry for 30 minutes and then add to the “mixing” bowl

4. Mint and Parsley: Cut stems away, then finely chop the leaves and add to the “mixing” bowl

4. Green Onions: Chop finely then add to “mixing” bowl

5. White Onions: Chop finely then add to “mixing” bowl

6. Flour & Spices: Add flour on top of all ingredients in the “mixing” bowl, add the 7 spices and cayenne pepper and salt, and mix and knead well with your hands for a few minutes. The result should be a dough.

Cooking Method

1. Brush olive oil on your Pyrex glass baking pan (or your preferred aluminum baking pan)

2. Pat Vegetarian Kibbe dough into pan with a thickness of about ½ to ⅔ of an inch but not too thick

3. With a knife, cut deep lines into the dough to form square shapes. Then makes small cuts in the center of each square. The purpose of this is to allow the olive oil to seep through the dough and make it easy to cut when cooked.

4. Gently and slowly soak the pan with olive oil until it’s fully covered and the olive oil level is right above the surface of the dough. This should be about 1 cup of olive oil per pan.

5. Bake at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes, or until the dough turns brown and a bit crispy. Poke to make sure the inside is well cooked.

Source: Beirut Restaurants