Author Notes
I don't think I've ever seen this recipe in a cookbook available in English so this may be a first. The Lebanese tend to like their food salty and sour and this one will definitely be a challenge to most tastebuds but I remember it warming us up in the mountains after we came in from being out in the snow. Reminds of all of the wonderful cooks I grew up with who have passed on so "Sahtain!" (Enjoy!) —TXDjinn
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Ingredients
- Burghul Dumplings
-
1 cup
Coarse Burghul
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1.25 cups
Flour
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1
small onion finely diced
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1 teaspoon
Mint - finely chopped
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1 teaspoon
Parsely - finely chopped
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1 cup
Water
- The Soup!
-
1 cup
Lentils - I prefer Persian Golden
-
8 cups
Water
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2
Lemons
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1/4 cup
Olive Oil - don't skimp on quality, it really makes a difference
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1/2
Head of Garlic mashed - I've seen this roasted prior to the mashing and it's delicious!
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1 cup
Fresh Spinach - cleaned
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1/4 teaspoon
Salt
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1/4 teaspoon
Ground Black Pepper
Directions
- Burghul Dumplings
-
Combine all of the ingredients with one cup of water to make the dough - doesn't need to be elegant as you're going to make dumplings out of it.
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On a sheet of wax paper, roll out the dough into about 1/2 inch thick tube and pinch off 1/4 to 1/2 inch sized dumplings and put them aside on another piece of wax paper. You'll definitely need to flour your hands/fingers for this as it's quite sticky.
- The Soup!
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In a large pot, boil then simmer the Lentils with the water, salt and pepper until they are soft
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Add the juice of the lemons, the dumplings, oil and garlic and boil until the dumplings have at least doubled in size. This is really impossible to time but the last time I made this it was about 10 minutes or so.
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Add the spinach and keep boiling until it's cooked through. Tasted one of the dumplings, if it's cooked through and the burghul is soft, you're done!
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Serve in bowls and drizzle a little olive oil on top. My late Aunt Marta used to zest the lemons before she squeezed them and sprinkled some on top of the bowls for a little more oomph in the tart department (like it needed any more)...
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