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Prague · 28 Cheshvan 5787

Shabbat this week · 16:02–17:11

Mizrahi

Kubbeh hamusta

Awaiting expert review

A sour lemon soup with zucchini and Swiss chard and semolina dumplings stuffed with ground meat. Iraqi-Kurdish Jewish cuisine.

Servings
6 servings
Prep
60 min
Cook
45 min
Difficulty
demanding
Kashrut · meatCategory by ingredients, not a certification. Details below.
For holidaysSukkot
Kubbeh hamusta

Ingredients

6
servings

Dough

Filling

Soup

Method

  1. Step 1: Mix the semolina with the salt, oil and water and knead for 5 minutes into a smooth, pliable dough. Cover and let it rest for 30 minutes.

  2. Step 2: For the filling, mix the ground meat with the finely chopped onion, parsley, cumin, salt and pepper.

  3. Step 3: Separate the Swiss chard and celery into individual leaves, wash and check them carefully; chop them coarsely, and cut the zucchini into half-moons.

  4. Step 4: In a pot, sauté the chopped onion and garlic in the oil until soft, add the celery and Swiss chard and braise for 5 minutes.

  5. Step 5: Pour in the water, add the lemon juice, sugar, mint and salt and cook for 15 minutes.

  6. Step 6: Meanwhile shape the kubbeh: with wet hands take a walnut-sized ball of dough, flatten it into a thin disc, put a teaspoon of filling in the center, close it and shape it into a ball.

  7. Step 7: Add the zucchini to the soup and then carefully drop in the dumplings. Simmer gently for 20–25 minutes, until the dumplings float and the dough is tender.

  8. Step 8: Adjust the seasoning (the soup should be distinctly sour with a slightly sweet undertone) and serve with white rice.

Tips

  • Shaped dumplings can be frozen on a tray and cooked straight from frozen (add 5 minutes to the cooking time).

History and origins

HistoryMizrahimIsrael⁂ To verify

Kubbeh (kibbeh) are dumplings of grain dough stuffed with meat, widespread throughout the Middle East. Kubbeh soups were part of the cuisine of Iraqi and Kurdish Jews; after their mass emigration to Israel around 1950–1951 they became popular in Jerusalem, especially around the Machane Yehuda market.

MinhagMizrahim⁂ To verify

Hamusta means "sour" in Arabic, after the lemony taste of the soup. In Iraqi families kubbeh hamusta was reportedly served mainly on Friday or for Shabbat lunch.

Regional variations

MinhagMizrahim⁂ To verify

There are many other kubbeh soups: the red beet kubbeh adom (shwandar), the pumpkin kubbeh kara and the okra kubbeh bamia.

Sources