Koofteh Tabrizi

Ingredients

• 800g minced beef, around 15% fat
• 80g yellow split peas
• 100g short-grain rice
• 3 large onions
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 3 tbsp dried summer savory
• 80g garlic chives or spring onion greens, finely sliced
• 1/2 tsp ground saffron
• 40g walnut halves
• 3 tbsp dried barberries
• 8 soft dried apricots
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 tsp fine salt
• 5 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 litre hot water

Before you cook

• Rinse the split peas and the rice separately under cold water.
• Peel two of the onions and grate them coarsely, then squeeze out and discard most of the liquid.
• Peel the third onion and slice it thinly.
• Rinse the barberries in cold water and drain them at once so they do not go soggy.
• Bloom the saffron in 3 tablespoons of just-boiled water.

Steps

1. Put the split peas in a small pan with 400ml of cold water and simmer for 25 minutes until soft, then drain them.
2. Put the rice in another small pan with 200ml of water and cook for 15 minutes until it is very soft and sticky, then leave it to cool.
3. Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a wide pan and fry the sliced onion for 12 minutes until deep golden brown.
4. Lift half the fried onion out for the filling and leave the rest in the pan.
5. Stir the tomato paste into the onion left in the pan and cook for 2 minutes.
6. Pour in the hot water, add 1 teaspoon of salt, half the cinnamon and half the bloomed saffron, then bring it to a bare simmer and leave it there.
7. Put the minced beef, cooked split peas, cooked rice, grated onion, eggs, turmeric, remaining cinnamon, black pepper, savory, garlic chives, remaining saffron and 2 teaspoons of salt into a large bowl.
8. Knead the mixture hard for a full 10 minutes, lifting handfuls and slapping them back into the bowl, until it turns smooth, pale and tacky enough to hold a shape.
9. Chill the meat mixture for 30 minutes so it firms up.
10. Mix the reserved fried onion with the walnuts, barberries and apricots to make the filling.
11. Wet your hands, take a sixth of the meat mixture and flatten it into a disc in your palm.
12. Spoon a sixth of the filling into the centre, then draw the meat up and around it and seal the seams completely.
13. Pass the ball from hand to hand a few times until the surface is smooth and seamless, then set it aside and shape the other five.
14. Lower the meatballs into the simmering broth one at a time, using a slotted spoon, and leave space between them.
15. Cook uncovered at a bare simmer for 30 minutes, without stirring or moving the pot.
16. Cover the pot and simmer for a further 1 hour 15 minutes, basting the tops with broth every 20 minutes.
17. Turn off the heat once a slick of red oil floats on the surface and rest the pot for 15 minutes.
18. Lift each koofteh into a shallow bowl with a slotted spoon, ladle broth around it, and serve with flatbread.