Cookies Preferences
My husband's Auntie Adla is famous for her shishbarak recipe, one of my all time favorite Winter dishes. She boils her meat dumplings in water and then adds them to the yogurt sauce, but I've found that baking them makes them lovely and crispy which is a delightful contrast to the yogurt sauce and more like the Turkish or Armenian manti which is so divine. Instead of a more traditional spiced meat filling, I thought the merguez sausage I make would add extra flavor and the smoked yogurt is good with everything in my opinion. Of course, you could buy the sausage and use the same technique on plain Greek yogurt to make life easier!
250g merguez sausage (recipe here)
for the dough
2/3 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup semolina flour
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
pinch of salt
for the smoked yogurt sauce
2 cups smoked yogurt (technique here)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
for the tahdig garnish
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 teaspoons sumac
First make the dough by combining the two flours and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the eggs and olive oil, stirring to incorporate the flour with a fork. Continue to mix and add a teaspoon of water at a time until the dough comes together (but isn't too sticky) and you have a coherent ball. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it for about 8-10 minutes until it's lovely and smooth (add more water or flour as needed). Wrap this in plastic wrap and set aside on your counter to rest for 20 minutes.
Once the dough has rested divide it in half and roll it out until it's just 1/16" thick. Cut the dough into 3 inch circles and place a teaspoon of the merguez in the middle of each circle. To form the shishbarak, fold each circle in half and seal the edges well. Then take the ends of the semi-circle and bring them together (like tortellini) and place them each seam side down on a lightly floured tray. Repeat the process with all of the dough, you should get about 36 pieces. Heat your oven to 200C/400F degrees and bake the shishbarak for 20 minutes, until golden and crispy.
While it's baking make your yogurt sauce by combining the smoked yogurt, cornstarch, salt, garlic, and water. in a large heavy bottomed saucepan. Whisk over medium low heat and bring to a boil, cooking until it thickens, about 4-5 minutes. Finally melt the butter in a saute pan and add the pinenuts, cooking until they just become fragrant. Remove from the heat and sprinkle over the sumac.
To assemble the dish I place the smoked yogurt on a large platter and arrange the shishbarak on top. Drizzle over the tahdig and eat.
