Wheat Balls With Tomatoes (Vegan Meatballs, Aka Kibbeh Heelah)

photo by Syrinx

- Ready In:
- 1hr 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 11
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
-
Wheat Balls
- 2 cups bulgur (wheat, finely ground)
- 1 1⁄4 cups flour
- 1 grated onion (and the juice)
- 1 tablespoon coriander, ground
-
Sauce for Wheat Balls
- 3 ounces tomato paste
- 1⁄2 cup water
- 1⁄4 cup oil (preferably olive)
- 3 onions, sliced in long slivers
- 3 garlic cloves (at least!)
- 2 tablespoons ground coriander
- 5 ounces lemon juice (juice of 5 lemons)
directions
-
For Wheat Balls:
- Knead with water to form into 1 to 1 1/2" balls.
- Fill a large pot halfway with water, bring to a boil, gently add balls to water and cook for about twenty minutes.
- Check the inside of a ball to make certain that they are done. If so, they should not have clumps of flour on the inside.
-
For Sauce:
- Bring tomato paste and lemon juice to a low boil, then simmer for fifteen minutes.
- Meanwhile, fry onions in oil until cooked; add garlic and coriander and cook for another minute.
- Add to tomato sauce and simmer for half an hour.
- Pour sauce over kibbeh and serve.
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Reviews
-
This is a very interesting recipe, quite unlike anything I have ever eaten before. The Wheat Balls are very dense, and I wondered at first whether I had made them correctly. The sauce (with five lemons) was extremely lemony, but had a fabulous texture and appearance, and it went very well with the chewy blandness of the Wheat Balls. The recipe made 32 Wheat Balls, which I served with the sauce, and with salad and mint, as recommended - we all agreed that it worked very well as a dish and that we liked it a lot. Next time, I will add more coriander, because we couldn't really taste it in the finished product. I reheated leftover Wheat Balls by boiling them in water for ten minutes - not only did they hold their shape, but they tasted great with butter and chopped mint! Thank you for introducing me to something truly new to us! Reviewed for Pick A Chef, Fall 2007.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
dogsandwoods
Sarasota, Florida