Breads & Pastries
Dumplings in Yogurt
Shishbarak
شيشبرك
Dumplings are an authentic gourmet meal. The distinctive flavor comes from the yogurt sauce seasoned with cilantro and garlic. This is a building block dish: start with the dough, roll it out and add meat and onion filling, then cook the dumplings in the boiling yogurt sauce. Serve with rice and lentils.
Dumplings are an authentic gourmet meal. The distinctive flavor comes from the yogurt sauce seasoned with cilantro and garlic. This is a building block dish: start with the dough, roll it out and add meat and onion filling, then cook the dumplings in the boiling yogurt sauce. Serve with rice and lentils.
Procedure
- Split the prepared dough in half and roll to 1/8-inch thickness with a rolling pin on a flour-covered work surface.
- Cut the dough with a 2-inch, circle-shaped cookie cutter.
- Turn the circles upside down and put 1 teaspoon filling in the middle of each circle, keeping the edges free of filling. Fold the circle in half and close the edges tightly. Gather the two sides together, overlap them and press together, forming a near crescent shape (see DVD).
- Finish the remaining circles the same way, about 36 dumplings, and set aside.
- Place yogurt in a cooking pot and stir briefly with a wire whisk.
- In a small bowl, dissolve water into cornstarch, and add it to the yogurt while beating it with a wire whisk.
- Place the pot over medium-high heat and stir regularly in one direction with a wooden spoon until it comes to a boil. Sprinkle with salt and white pepper, and stir again.
- Gently drop dumplings a few at a time into the boiling yogurt, stirring constantly
- Boil dumplings in yogurt 5 minutes while stirring gently. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 5 more minutes. Turn off heat.
- Melt butter in a pan over medium heat. Stir in cilantro and sauté for 1 minute. Add garlic and cook for another minute, then turn off the heat.
- Transfer dumplings to a deep platter and top with cilantro mixture. Serve hot or warm with rice and lentils.
Tip — Rice and lentils can be prepared at the same time or a few minutes before you prepare the dumpling yogurt. * Leftover dough and filled dumplings freeze well for up to 2 months in a covered container.