Koofteh Tabrizi

About This Recipe

Koofteh Tabrizi is the showpiece of Iranian Azerbaijan — meatballs the size of oranges, sometimes grapefruits, built from ground lamb kneaded with rice, yellow split peas, and fresh herbs until the mixture binds like dough. Hidden inside each one waits a treasure: a whole boiled egg, prunes, walnuts, and tart barberries. The koofteh poach gently in a turmeric-tomato broth and arrive whole at the table, where slicing one open is pure theater. In Tabriz, a cook's skill is judged by whether the koofteh survives the simmer intact; legend holds that the grandest versions once concealed an entire small chicken inside. It is celebration food, demanding patience and rewarding it lavishly.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 600 gground lamb
• 1 cupcooked yellow split peas
• 1/2 cupcooked white rice
• 1 largeonion, grated
• 1/2 cupfresh herbs (parsley, chives, tarragon), chopped
• 1egg
• 1 tspturmeric
• 1 tspcinnamon
• 1 tspsalt
• 6 smallhard-boiled eggs (for stuffing)
• 6prunes (for stuffing)
• 2 tbspwalnuts (for stuffing)
• 2 tbspbarberries or sour cherries (for stuffing)
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 1.5 literswater

Instructions

1. 1

   Make mixture

   Squeeze the grated onion dry, then combine it with the lamb, mashed split peas, rice, herbs, raw egg, turmeric, cinnamon, and salt. Knead vigorously for a full 5–10 minutes, pressing and folding like bread dough, until the mixture turns sticky, smooth, and paste-like.

   The kneading develops the meat proteins that hold these giant meatballs together — undermixed koofteh fall apart in the broth.

2. 2

   Stuff

   With wet hands, take about 200g of mixture and flatten it into a thick disk across your palm. Nestle a peeled boiled egg in the center with a prune, a few walnuts, and a spoonful of barberries, then cup the meat up around the filling, pinch the seams closed, and roll between your palms into a smooth, crack-free ball.

   Check the surface carefully — any visible crack will widen during simmering and split the koofteh open.

3. 3

   Make broth

   In a wide pot, dissolve the tomato paste in the water with turmeric and salt, and bring to a boil. The pot should be wide enough that the meatballs sit in one layer without crowding, with broth reaching at least two-thirds of the way up their sides.

4. 4

   Simmer

   Reduce the broth to a bare, trembling simmer and lower the meatballs in one at a time with a slotted spoon. Cook gently for 50–60 minutes, spooning broth over the tops and turning them once, very carefully, halfway through. Never let the liquid boil hard.

   Don't touch the koofteh for the first 15 minutes — the surface needs time to set before they can survive being turned.

5. 5

   Serve

   Lift each koofteh whole into a deep bowl and ladle the reduced saffron-tinged broth around it. Slice open at the table to reveal the egg, prunes, and barberries inside, and serve with fresh flatbread, sabzi khordan, and torshi.

Variations

• •

  Stuff with dried apricots instead of prunes for a brighter, tangier center.

• •

  Add fried onions and a pinch of saffron to the stuffing in the festive Tabriz style.

• •

  Tuck pomegranate seeds or sour cherries inside for bursts of tartness.

• •

  Make smaller, fist-sized koofteh for a more manageable weeknight version — reduce simmering to 35 minutes.

Storage

Refrigerate the koofteh submerged in their broth for up to 3 days; they reheat best gently on the stovetop in the same liquid. Freezing is possible but the stuffed egg texture suffers slightly.

Frequently Asked Questions