Kibbet La’teen – Vegetarian Pumpkin Kibbe

Queensland Blue Pumpkins

I have noticed that lately my blog has focused on Lebanese food. I don’t know why especially. The fact that I am Lebanese might have something to do with it, but I live in bicultural home were we live on a multicultural diet, as is befitting for a Sydney lifestyle. In my little corner of the world I can eat anything from ayam goreng to zabaglione, and I do. But lately, I often think of home. I miss my little village, our olive trees anxious for the summer time, and my parents who are waiting for that weekly phone call from their three boys who are scattered around the world. I find some solace in that phone call, and I spend hours talking to my mom, discussing day-to-day life, sharing worries and triumphs and swapping recipes. Easter is near, and normally I would have felt it approaching. You see, though Sydney has given me so much, it has also made me a stranger to traditions I used to identify with. That’s what nine years does to a migrant. In the period of Lent leading up to Easter Sunday, I would have been more aware of the approach of Easter, possibly because I usually would have had a lot of kibbet la’teen.

Kibbet La’teen – Pumpkin Kibbeh with Labneh

The days of Lent traditionally meant abstinence from meat. This has now changed, but in keeping with tradition, I wanted to make kibbet la’teen, or pumpkin kibbeh. Kibbeh is the national dish of Lebanon and we have so many variations on the theme. The most famous is the torpedo shaped balls filled with minced meat and pine nuts. Any decent or even terrible Lebanese restaurant would have kibbeh on the menu. But pumpkin kibbeh is the only kibbeh to have during Lent. I love the regional name kibbet heeleh. This names translates to “trick kibbeh”, the trick is, of course, the sneaky substitution of meat with pumpkin. The filling varies, and you can use anything. You would normally fill the little kibbeh balls with silver beet or spinach, fennel, raisins, chickpeas and onions. Another filling would be labneh (a creamy spread made by straining yoghurt) with onions and dried mint. I decided to go with the labneh filling and I also made a filling with fetta and walnuts, which turned out great. I got this recipe from yet another weekly phone call to the folks back home. Mom emphasised that I MUST squeeze the pumpkin after boiling. So please, do as Mom says.

Kibbet La’teen – Pumpkin Kibbeh Recipe

A visual guide to making kibbeh

Ingredients

For the kibbeh dough

• Pumpkin – 2 kilos
• Burghul – 400 grams (burghul is also known as bulghur wheat)
• 1 finely diced onion
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 loaf of Lebanese bread

Labneh Filling (adjust quantities to suit)

• Labneh – 2 cups
• ½ cup finely diced onion
• Salt, to taste
• Dried or fresh mint (optional)

Fetta Filling (adjust quantities to suit)

• 2 cups Fetta
• Handful of chopped walnuts
• ½ cup finely diced onion

Method

• Cut the pumpkin into equally sized pieces
• Boil enough water to cover the pumpkin and add to the boiling water
• Remove after around 15 minutes. You want the pumpkin to be cooked, but still firm. Set aside to cool
• Put small amounts of the pumpkin in an old, but clean pillowcase. Squeeze to drain as much water as possible. Preserve the liquid that comes out
• Repeat the above step with the remaining pumpkin. You should be left with around 650 grams of dry pumpkin flesh
• Wet the Lebanese bread in the strained pumpkin water and then squeeze the excess liquid. Afterwards, shred the bread
• Put the pumpkin flesh, shredded bread and the diced onion in a food processor, and whizz away
• When the flesh and the onions are well processed, put in a big mixing bowl and add the burghul, salt and spices and knead well

Putting it together

• Put a bowl of water nearby and wet your hands when necessary
• Grab a small handful of kibbeh dough
• Shape into a ball and hold in your left hand
• Use the index finger on your right hand to make a hole in the ball
• Gradually flatten the dough making it longer around your index
• Make sure you don’t create any holes
• It doesn’t have to be perfect, as long as it holds the filling. It gets better the more you do it. When the kibbeh is around the length of your index, place the filling of choice inside and close it up by either rounding the edges or flattening them.
• Use the different edges to distinguish different fillings
• Now to cook them, you can either bake, deep-fry or boil them. Deep-frying is the tastiest but least healthy, which is of course what I did. You want the colour to deepen to a nice dark brown. If boiling, do so for around 5 minutes. The colour will not go brown, but they will be cooked.
• Eat hot or cold. It doesn’t matter, as long as you eat them. Enjoy, and if I don’t see you, Happy Easter.