Welcome to Arabia . . . Land of Mystery

First, let us consult Wikipedia . . .

Baharat - Bahārāt is a spice mixture or blend used in Arab Cuisine.

Kibbeh - Kibbeh is an Arab dish made of bulgur or rice and chopped meat.

Thank you Wikipedia.

Now, there are many different varieties of Baharat and Kibbeh.  They vary by region.  You can do a little research and see if you find one you like better than the version I am going to present.  If you come across a great version, let me know so I can try it.

To begin, let us look at making baharat.

This would work perfectly with a mortar and pestle.  But since I don't have one, I used a small kitchen chopper called The Ultimate Chopper.

It is a great little miniature food processor.  But with its size, mixing spices, grinding coffee beans or chopping very small amounts of veggies is all it is really good for.

So, I threw in some ingredients and got my baharat.


4 parts black pepper
3 parts coriander seeds
3 parts cinnamon
3 parts cloves
4 parts cumin seeds
1 part cardamom pods
3 parts nutmeg
6 parts paprika

Grind these ingredients until you have a nice, fine, aromatic powder.  Store in an air tight container.

Once I had my baharat, I needed something to put it in.  So I decided to try kibbeh.


KIBBEH
Ingredients

• 2/3 cup medium coarse bulgur
• 1 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons baharat
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds lean ground lamb
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Jasmine rice

Directions

1. Place bulgur in a microwave-safe bowl and cover with water just to the top of the bulgur. Place in the microwave and cook on High 1 to 2 minutes until bulgur is swollen and the water is absorbed. Toss briefly and allow to stand until cool. 
2. Place the mint leaves in the bowl of a food processor. Process, gradually adding onion through the feed tube, until both mint and onion are finely chopped. Stir the mint-onion mixture into the bulgur, with the baharat, salt, and pepper. Stir the bulgur mixture into the ground lamb and mix thoroughly. Using damp hands, shape the lamb mixture into small, palm-sized patties. 
3. Place the olive oil in a skillet and heat over medium heat. Add the kibbeh patties and cook until outside is golden brown and center is cooked through, turning once, about 6 minutes on each side.
4. Serve over Jasmine rice.  Makes 8 patties.

Kibbeh ingredients laid out and ready to go.

Prepared kibbeh patties ready to be cooked.

Kibbeh patties in the frying pan.

Kibbeh over Jasmine rice.  So delicious!

Coming up next . . . Another use for baharat . . . Baharat roasted sweet potatoes!!!