Kaori, Kamo and Marawa Haliqi
Kamo Haliqi and her daughters Kaori and Marawa are members of Wagga’s emerging Yazidi community who fled Iraq due to religious persecution. In February 2017, they were welcomed and assisted to resettle by the Multicultural Council of Wagga Wagga through the Humanitarian Resettlement Services program. Kamo’s recipe for Kubba (or Kibbeh) is a contemporary take on the family of popular traditional Iraqi dishes based on spiced ground meat and travelled with her all the way from Shingal (Sinjar), Khana Sor in Northern Iraq.
What is your earliest memory of eating this dish?
We were very small when we ate this first.
How did you learn to cook it?
We were taught to cook this dish by our grandmother.
Is this a regular “everyday” meal, or something more special?
It is an everyday dish and eaten throughout Iraq in different variations. Kubba can be baked, fried and stewed
Kubba (Kibbeh) Recipe
8 portions, serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 finely diced chicken breasts
- 1 finely sliced onion
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 to 2 tsp curry powder
- 1 to 2 tsp chicken salt
- 2 finely diced large potatoes
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- Bunch of continental parsley
- 2 ½ cups of plain flour
- ½ cup water
- 1 tsp dry yeast
Instructions for dough
- Wash hands thoroughly.
- Mix flour, water, salt and yeast together in a large mixing bowl.
- Add water slowly, bit by bit, and mix gently until a kneadable soft but not watery dough is formed. Don’t over knead or consistency will be chewy.
- Let stand for 30 minutes and allow to rise.
Instructions for filling
- Wash hands thoroughly.
- Heat small amount of oil in frying pan.
- Add onion and brown.
- Once browned, add diced chicken breasts and potatoes with a pinch of salt.
- Once chicken is seared, add diced parsley, tomato paste, curry powder and chicken salt to taste.
- Mix well, turn heat off and allow to cool.
- Roll dough into balls approximately the size of your fist.
- Flatten dough into circles approximately 18 cm in diameter
- Add filling on one side of the dough circle, fold other side over to form a half moon. Pinch open side with fingers to seal.
- Heat cooking oil in frying pan: approximately 3 centimetres deep for shallow frying.
- Once oil is bubbling, add each Kubba to the pan and cook for approximately 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
- Place Kubba on paper towels to drain excess oil.
Variations on this recipe:
Vary the size of the Kubba according to your preference. Chicken can be substituted for beef, or substitute meat with vegetables such as eggplant. Serve with lemon slices and a side salad including cucumber, parsley, radish, raw red onion and tomato.
