I had only been at the Y for about a half-hour when my Kurdish friend (why has a 2 1/2 year old daughter) whom I haven't been able to meet up with for some time, called me and invited me over. I thought she was working today, but as it turned out, I was able to visit with her for a while before she left for work and her cousin and her son were visiting, so I hung out with them for about 4 hours. Dilara had a great time playing, jumping on the bed, etc. with the other 2 kids and I learned how to make a new Kurdish food. They called it Kubbeh and in Turkish is is called "Lady's Thigh". I see many variations of the recipe
Kubbeh: Rice (seems short grain is best, but we used regular long grain) was boiled till soft. Usually I make rice that is light and fluffy and the grains are separate. This rice is supposed to be sticky and mushy. Many recipes I see onine call for cracked wheat (bulgur) rather than rice--they seem to almost be interchangeable grains. Meat filling was prepared: Minced beef (browned) cooked with chopped onion, chopped parsley, salt and pepper (you can buy special "kubbeh" seasoning, but we didn't use it) and after cooking, some golden raisins were added. The rice was cooled and we had a bowl of cold water we dipped our hands in to keep the rice from sticking, and we took about a golf-ball size ball of rice and kind of smooshed it/kneaded it a bit then made a shell by making a ball, sticking a finger in the middle and hollowing it out (not by removing rice, but by shaping it). Then we filled it with a bit of meat mixture and closed up the open end and shaped the whole thing into kind of a foot-ball shape. These little "croquettes" were dipped in beaten egg and deep fried. I think they are great hot or cold!
They also had some leftover dolma (I brought some home!) and some homemade pickled vegetables. Looked like cabbage, cauliflower, beets, carrots. I need the recipe for that. I don't like beets, but they make a pretty color to everything they touch!
Dilara and I both had a wonderful time and I'm always glad to make a new friend and learn a new recipe!
Dilara is spending the night with her Dad and I watched a DVD of Mansfield Park from Masterpiece Theatre. Hope tomorrow I get my energy back, but it is nice to sit and watch a movie.