Shared by Charles Dabah
Shared by Charles Dabah
Kiftahs (Meatballs in Sour Tomato Sauce)
Yield: 4 to 6 servingsTime: 2 hours
Kiftahs (Meatballs in Sour Tomato Sauce)
Yield: 4 to 6 servingsTime: 2 hoursFamily Journey
Aleppo, SyriaIstanbulParis
Manchester, EnglandBrooklynMarlboro, NJ
Chicago, IL
Charles Dabah’s grandmother Julie served a rotation of traditional Syrian recipes like lachmagine, a flatbread topped with meat and spices, chicken with stuffed eggplant, and these meatballs in a tangy tomato sauce.
This recipe was shared by Charles Dabbah. Read more about his family in "A Grandmother’s Syrian Legacy Wrapped Up in Grape Leaves" and try his recipes for ou', yebra, and chicken with meshi sfeeha.
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup ou’
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the meatballs
- 1 pound ground beef
- ¼ cup short-grain rice, rinsed and drained
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 egg
Preparation
Step 1
Make the sauce: Combine the tomatoes, water, ou’, and salt in a pot. Place over medium to high heat. Bring the mixture up to a boil and lower the heat to medium low to maintain a steady simmer. Continue to cook for about 20 to 30 minutes until the flavors combine and the sauce thickens.
Step 2
Meanwhile make the meatballs: Combine ground beef, rice, salt, all spice and egg in a large bowl. Use your hands to mix ingredients together to ensure that they are all well distributed. Shape about ½ tablespoon of the meat mixture into a ball and tuck it into the tomato sauce in the pot. Continue shaping and placing the meatballs into the sauce.
Step 3
Place a lid ajar and cook the meatballs in the sauce, maintaining a simmer. Cook for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste sauce in the middle of cooking, and correct for salt and sweet and sour levels. Add more salt if needed, a bit of sugar if you want it sweeter, or more ou’ if you want it tangier.
Step 4
Serve hot over white rice.
