Kufta-bozbash
4 servings
120 minutes
By European standards, kufta-bozbash is both a first and a second course: hot soup, a generous portion of meat and a side dish to boot. In Azerbaijan, it is prepared in tens of liters - for large family feasts.
1
Pour 1.5 liters of water over the brisket and onion and place on high heat. Skim off the foam, add the chickpeas (which should be soaked overnight in unsalted water), and simmer covered for about an hour, periodically skimming the foam. At the end, add salt, remove the onion, and strain through a sieve. While the broth is cooking, pour boiling water over the saffron and leave it near the warm stove.
- Lamb breast: 200 g
- Shallots: 180 g
- Chickpeas: 200 g
- Salt: to taste
- Saffron: pinch
2
Wash the lamb and tail fat, dry with a towel, and pass through a meat grinder with onions. Generously salt and add a little pepper, add rinsed and soaked rice for an hour, and a pinch of turmeric. Mix thoroughly, slamming the minced meat on the table to release any trapped air bubbles, and refrigerate for half an hour to an hour.
- Mutton: 500 g
- Fat tail: 130 g
- Shallots: 180 g
- Salt: to taste
- Ground black pepper: to taste
- Rice: 30 g
- Turmeric: 1 tablespoon
3
Moisten your hands with warm water and form balls from the chilled minced meat, each weighing about 200 grams. Cut the plum or cherry plum into small pieces. Make a dent in each meatball with your finger and hide a piece of plum inside.
- Plums: 4 pieces
4
Dissolve half a teaspoon of turmeric in the broth to avoid lumps and pour it into the pot. Then carefully add the meatballs to the broth so they don't deform. For the first five minutes, do not stir with a spoon, just move the pot back and forth. Skim off the foam and cook for ten to fifteen minutes with the lid on over low heat. Then add the potatoes to the broth.
- Turmeric: 1 tablespoon
- Potato: 3 pieces
5
Pour a few spoons of brewed saffron into the broth, and place some of its petals on the meatballs — just for beauty. You can drizzle the meatball with saffron from a spoon for a while to give it an even yellowish color. However, the broth should not be too white or too yellow. Remove the pot from the heat.
- Saffron: pinch
6
Marinate the onion in wine vinegar for about ten minutes. Traditionally, seasonal Govsansk onion is used for kyufte-bozbash. However, shallots are also suitable. They resemble it in small size, elongated shape, and bitterness. Bitter onion, cherry plum, or plum inside the kyufte neutralizes the greasiness of the dish both in taste and chemically.
- Wine vinegar: 50 ml
7
Before serving, strain the broth again from excess rice, onion, and chickpea husks. In a deep dish, place the brisket, meatballs, chickpeas, and potatoes. Pour in the broth halfway. You can sprinkle dried mint and barberry to taste. Pickled onions and flatbread are served separately with the pea soup.
- Dried mint: to taste
- Sumac: to taste