Large Iraqi Kubba/Kubba Mosul/Bulgur Meat Pie

This recipe is pretty foolproof even for beginners.​ The ingredients are simple but the challenge is mastering the assembly. I've included lots of tips to help. It is time consuming but once you are done you can freeze them and have multiple quick dinners prepared and ready for when you don’t have a lot of time.




Makes about 12 Kubba using the 10 inch diameter top
Each Kubba serves approx 2 people
Prep Time approx 3 -4 hours

​Note: If you end up making less Kubbas and have left over stuffing, you can use it for another recipe like spaghetti, burek, or an omelet. When you first start making them, you may tend to make the paste thick (which will have you end up with extra stuffing) but as you get better you will make them thinner which results in more kubba.

Stuffing Ingredients
3 tablespoons cooking oil
5 medium onions chopped (or 4 cups chopped)
4 pounds lean ground beef or 8 cups (some like to order coarse ground from butcher but it's not necessary)
5 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons baharat (middle eastern spice blend)
1 tablespoon black pepper (add more if you like spicy)

Paste Ingredients
3 pounds (or 6 cups) lean ground beef (90% lean or more)
4 cups bulgur/gurgur #1 (you can rinse and squeeze water out but it's not necessary)
2 cup cream of wheat (aka farina)
4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
3 1/2 cups ice cold water

Cooking Stuffing

• ​Heat oil in a pan over medium heat.
• Add onions to pan and saute. When the onions are soft and translucent add meat, salt, baharat, and black pepper. Mix well and then turn burner off. The meat will not be fully cooked. You can taste an onion to see if spices are the way you like and adjust if necessary.
• Place in a colander to cool and to drain any extra liquid. Mash meat mixture by hand to make sure spices were blended well.

Preparing Paste

• Mix dry ingredients (bulgur, cream of wheat, baking soda, salt).
• Add the meat and water.
• Mash by squeezing through fists until it is mixed well.
• If the mixture feels dry, add ice cold water a couple tablespoons at at a time.
• Run through meat grinder or food processor (you can skip this step - I tried both ways)
• Mash again by hands. Add more ice water as necessary (a little at a time) to get into a dough consistency that shapes well. Roll some into a ball and flatten out to see if it is shaping well.
• If you added too much water and it feels sticky, you can sprinkle a little cream of wheat to fix

Assembly

• Leave the paste covered when you are working with it so it doesn’t dry out.
• Have a bowl of ice water ready for dipping your hands in and adding more water to paste if necessary.
• You will need a thick plastic bag that has been cut (I save the bags that Royal rice comes in).
• Wet the surface you are working on a little or add a couple drops of oil on the surface and spread out (so your plastic will stick to it better).
• Lay piece of plastic out.
• Dip hands in ice water. Get about a cup and half of paste.
• Put your paste on top of the plastic and mash down by hands into a thick circle.
• Place other plastic on top.
• Use rolling pin to roll out as thin as possible while still being able to work with it (make sure your plastic on the bottom is not wrinkling).
• Your circle should be about as thick as a nickel.
• If your paste seems to be falling apart or cracking add more ice water a little at at time.
• Remove top plastic
• Use a pot lid or something else that has about a 10” diameter lip and place over the paste and firmly push down and rotate a little. The Farberware 8 quart pot lids work great for this. You can use a smaller lid for this but it will take more time to assemble as you will have more to make.
• Run your fingers across the outside edge of lid all the way around to remove extra paste. Put the extra paste back in the covered bowl.
• Grab the edges of the plastic that your paste is on and set the circle aside (do not remove the from the plastic).
• Repeat the paste cutting process for the other side of the kubba.
• Get about a cup of meat mixture. Press down meat mixture with fingers onto the circle you just made. Make sure to not put any on the ½ inch outer edge
• Grab your other circle by using the plastic edges to hold. Flip it over the bottom piece.
• Leave plastic on and start to gently press the top piece on. Now press the edges down to seal except leave one area un-pressed. Gently push the top of the kubba toward the area you left un-pressed to let out any air. Once you have pushed all the air out, seal the edge that you had left open. Remove the top piece of plastic and use the bottom plastic to press the edges once more and smooth edges. Check the paste (bottom and top) to make sure there are no holes by lifting up with plastic. Patch if necessary with paste.
• I recommend cooking the one you just prepared to see if you want to make any adjustments. You may want to add more spices to meat or that you may find that you made the paste to thick, etc.
• Test run - Boil water in a pan that is wider than the kubba and deep enough to cover it with water. Add a teaspoon of salt. Place kubba in the pan. Allow to boil again and then leave boiling for about 15 minutes. You may need to use a metal spatula on top of kubba to weigh down and allow it to cook evenly. Remove from pan.
• After the test run make adjustments if necessary and assemble the rest.
• ​You can cook right away or freeze.

Freezing

• Lay kubba in a tray that fits in your freezer. Use cut plastic bags in between each kubba so they don’t stick. Freeze in the tray covered with plastic wrap for 24 hours and then put in freezer bags. Leave the plastic on if you put more than one in a bag. You should be able to fit 2 in a gallon freezer bag.

Cooking

• Boiling Method - boil water in a pan that is wider than the kubba and deep enough to cover it with water. Add a teaspoon of salt. Place kubba in pan. Allow to boil again and then leave boiling for about 15 minutes. You may need to use a metal spatula on top of kubba to weigh down and allow it to cook evenly. Remove from pan.
• Pan Fry - If you like a crispy outer shell, after boiling (instructions above) brush both sides of the kubba with oil and pan fry for about 5 minutes each side or until it gets a little brown and crispy.
• Oven Method - Another alternative is to brush both sides with oil and wrap in aluminum foil. Bake from frozen at 400 for 40 minutes.

Serve with some Amba (mango pickles). I like to chop some onions and tomatoes and mix with the Amba.

---