In some areas of Palestine it is called (taqiyet elyahoodi) which means Jew’s hat, in some other areas it’s called (dinen) which means ears. However, the mainly and commonly used term is Shishbarak or Shushbarak. Although it is a very old dish that it’s believed to be originated hundreds years ago, shishbarak is still considered as one of the distinctive dishes of Levantine cuisine nowadays.

Shishbarak is a light and mild main-dish that takes hours of preparation. Mainly consists of small pieces of beef-stuffed dough cooked in yogurt sauce, flavored with fried garlic and seasoned with fresh coriander.

The recipe that I’m sharing in this post belongs to my mother’s friend Aysheh who was born and raised in Damascus, originally from Haifa and now living in Amman. She invited me to her kitchen and chose her favorite dish to share with everyone…

Ingredients

  • Dough Ingredients:
  • 2 cups white flour
  • 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Filling Ingredients:
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 250 gram beef, finely minced (substitute: lamb)
  • 1/4 teaspoon mixed spices (black pepper, ginger, turmeric)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Yogurt Ingredients:
  • 1 kilogram set yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup rice, soaked for 15 minutes
  • 1 cube chicken stock
  • 4 garlic clove, minced
  • 3 tablespoon fresh coriander

Directions:

For the Dough: In a medium size bowl, combine flour, olive oil, vegetable oil, and salt. Rub the mixture together until oil is well combined into the flour. Add half cup of warm water gradually while kneading using one hand (add more water if the dough is dry or flour if it is too sticky). Add some vegetable oil to your both hands and try to form the dough to a ball and then cut it into hand-size balls. Cover the bowel for about 10 minutes to rest.

For the Filling: Meanwhile, in a frying pan, add olive oil and onion and stir for couple of minutes until onion becomes slightly golden in color. Add meat, cover the pan and leave it on a reduced heat for about 10 minutes or until meat is cooked. Stir from time to time.

For the Dumplings: Roll each of dough balls on a soft and floured surface using a rolling pin. Cut the rolled dough into thin circles using an inverted small glass (the smaller is the glass, the smaller is the dumpling). Add meat filling to each circle of dough and fold it into half. Seal the edges very well. Bring both corners of the filled dough together in order to make a proper form of shishbarak dumpling. Place all dumplings in a tray and put it in a preheated oven for 8 minutes (4 minutes for each side, above and below).

Shishbarak: doughShishbarak: rolling doughShishbarak: Cutting DoughShishbarak: Cutting DoughShishbarak: filling dumpling Shishbarak: filling dumplingShishbarak: folding dumpling Shishbarak: bringing edges together Shishbarak Shishbarak: baking dumplings

For the Yogurt Sauce: Blend both yogurt and cornstarch and place them in a pot over medium heat. Keep stirring continuously from the moment you place the pot over heat until yogurt is boiling. After having the yogurt cooked, add soaked rice and chicken stock. Leave rice for about 15 minutes until it’s cooked. Meanwhile, in a different small frying pan, fry garlic and coriander and add them to the yogurt sauce. Add baked dumplings to the yogurt sauce just before serving, cook over a medium heat for about 10 minutes and serve hot.

Shishbarak: frying garlic and coriander Shishbarak: adding dumplings to yogurt sauceShishbarak