KUBBAH SHAWANDER

Kubbah Shawandar is one of the most beloved dishes of Iraqi Jewish cuisine. It is a soup of meat-filled dumplings, once made with rice and now often semolina, simmered in a sweet-and-sour beet broth that turns the pot a deep red. The word shawandar means beetroot in Iraqi Arabic, and its color is unmistakable. Though kubbah appears across many cultures in Mesopotamia, this version became especially tied to Jewish homes in Baghdad and Basra.

Because the original recipe is time-consuming, I’ve adapted my own quick version.

In Iraqi Jewish families, kubbah shawandar was winter food, Shabbat food: true gathering food. Several generations would shape the dumplings by hand, filling them with spiced beef or lamb, parsley, and onion. The balance of lemon, and beets reflects the sweet-and-sour style central to Iraqi Jewish cooking, a cuisine shaped by centuries of life in the region.

Kubbah Shawandar - (beetroot broth)

Ingredients:

• 20 –25 pieces of kubbah hamev

• 600 g beetroot, diced

• 2 tbsp cooking oil

• 1 tsp salt

• ½ tsp black pepper

• 1 tbsp tomato puree

• Juice of 1lemon

• 1½ liter boiling water

Instructions:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the diced beetroot and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in salt, black pepper, and tomato puree. Mix well.

Add 1 liter of boiling water and let the mixture boil for about 15 minutes.

Pour in the remaining ½ liter of boiling water and add the lemon juice.

Once it begins to boil again, gently drop in the kubbah one by one. Shake the pan gently a few times to prevent them from sticking together.

Cook uncovered over high heat for 30 minutes, then reduce to low and simmer for another 30 minutes until the broth is rich and the kubbah are tender.