Kurdish Kubba Hamuth -Iraqi Kubba Soup
Kurdish Kubba Hamuth or Iraqi kubba Soup is a famous Middle Eastern main dish famous in Iraq and Kurdistan. It started with the Assyrians who lived in Mesopotamia back in 2500 BC. Surprisingly, many of their other dishes are registered on tablets saved in Yale University.
Kurdish Sour kubba Soup is one of Assyria’s unique recipes where they combined the healthy vegetables with the delicious well-seasoned ground beef in the form of meat balls of kubba to form a tasty dish.
Delicious Iraqi Kubba Soup
Kubba Hamouth is a tangy soup mixed with lots of vegetables and delicious dumplings/kubba that are made with cracked wheat and semolina. The kubba are stuffed with perfectly seasoned and cooked ground beef mixture. This dish is also known as (Trshk, طرشك) in Kurdish and (Kubba Hamuth, كبة حامض) in Arabic.
What Is Kubba Hamouth/ Kubbeh Soup?
Kubba Hamuth means dumplings/kubba in sour soup. My family usually adds citric acid to the soup to make it sour. If you don’t have citric acid on hand, you can substitute it with lemon juice.
Kurdish or Iraqi kubba is made with a mixture of cracked wheat and rice flour or cracked wheat and fine semolina. There is no wrong way of making the dough as long as you can get the right consistency.
This delicious kibbeh can be made in various sizes and shapes. You can shape them like balls, make them oval like Kubba Halab, or form them flat like the traditional Kurdish kubbah. I have come up with an easy way for you to shape them using a food can with a piece of cling wrap.
Don’t You Like the Flat Shape? Make it Oval!
Making the kubba is an art by itself. It has to be crunchy but not dry. It must be stuffed with meat but formed in a thin layer. Each bite of kibbeh must be savory. It seems to be hard especially for new cook; yet it is not impossible. Just practice!
One main key to form your oval kubba is to wet the palm of your hand while rolling it in the shape of a ball. Dig your index in the ball to fill it with the ground beef meat.
It is better to press the filling with the back of the spoon, then put the edge of the kubbah in the space between your thumb and index and press gently. Roll it carefully in the wet palm of your hand to get the smooth shape.
Making the Iraqi flat kubba, Lebanese Oval Kibbeh or Halab Stuffed Kubba is rewarding! Once you make it, you will feel that you have formed a piece of art ready to be eaten. Each bite of your kibbeh will make you want to eat more and more.
How to Make Iraqi Kubba Hamuth – Kurdish Sour Soup(Tirshk)
To Prepare Kubba Dough:
- In a large bowl, add cracked wheat (Jareesh), semolina at room temperature water, and salt.
- Mix well and set aside for 30 minutes.
To Prepare the Ground Beef Mixture:
- In a large pan, add ground beef on medium heat.
- Cook ground beef until brown.
- Add chopped onions and fresh parsley, salt, and black pepper.
- Cook for five more minutes.
- Let the ground beef mixture cool down.
THINGS YOU NEED BEFORE STARTING TO FORM YOU KUBBEH
- A large tray lined with parchment paper
- A bowl of water (to dip your fingers in so the dough doesn’t stick to your hands)
To Assemble the Kubbeh:
- Knead the dough for a couple of minutes until a soft dough is formed.
- Make a hole in the middle of the ball with your index finger, then flatten out the sides by rotating the dough ball until the sides are thin.
- Add about 2 tbsp of stuffing and then close the ball.
- Dip your fingers in water to shape out the ball (Watch the video for instructions).
- Lay your stuffed well-shaped kubba in a large tray that can fit in your freezer.
- Freeze them in the tray, once hardened, transfer them into a ziplock bag.
- Repeat until you use up all the dough and ground beef mixture.
Wow! It Is Worth to Try!
Kurdish Kubba: Easy to Fill and Form
To Prepare the Kubba Hamouth Vegetable Soup:
- Add any vegetable you like. I added Swiss chard stems, green pepper, onion, carrot, and eggplant. You can also add colorful peppers, zucchini, and celery stems.
- In a large pot, add the chopped vegetables to heated oil.
- Sauté them for ten minutes or until they are soft.
- Add tomato paste, mild pepper paste, water, salt, citric acid, black pepper, and red peppers. Mix until all combined.
- Add water and your shaped kubba.
- Simmer on medium heat UNCOVERED for 20-30 or until kubbas are soft. Gently stir it to keep the kubba from sticking to the pot.
Tips for Busy Moms:
- You can prepare the dough and ground beef filling ahead of time.
- Store them in the refrigerator to be assembled when you are ready.
- Kubba freeze very well; so once kubba are hard, place them in zip lock bags.
- You don’t have to defrost frozen kubba before cooking them; you can boil them in soup or water.
- Store leftover Kubba Hamuth in the refrigerator.
- Heat leftover kubba on medium heat until warm.
Share you Kurdish Soup with Family and Friends!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can try Assyrian unique dishes in Larsa’s in Skokie or in Zaytune Mediterranean Grill.
You can save it in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer. You can also form your kubbas in a flat shape. Then, roast or fry them as “cheats kubba”.
You can fry it in deep oil or cook it in plain laban/yogurt just like the Lebanese Kibbeh Laban.
Form your kubba. Put a parchment paper on a large tray and set your kubba on. Put the tray in the freezer. When they get hard, pick them up and put them in a zip lock bag. keep them in the freezer till needed. No need to defrost before using them.
Unlike Iraqis, Lebanese prefer to add kamouneh spices and red peper which gives it a different taste and beautiful color.
Other Recipes You Might Enjoy
- Kubba Halab
- Kubba Mosul
- Potato Kibbeh
- Yummy Mediterranean Potato Kubba
- Vegetarian Stuffed Grape Leaves Recipe
- Effortless Beef and Vegetable Casserole Recipe
- Sheikh El Mahshi (Middle Eastern Meat-Stuffed Eggplant)
- Kurdish Biryani – Iraqi Biryani Recipe
Kubba Hamuth
Ingredients
Kubba Dough:
- 2 cups cracked wheat
- 2 cups fine semolina
- 2 cups water ( at room tempeture)
- 1 tsp salt
Ground beef filling:
- 800 grams ground beef
- 1 Medium onion finely chopped
- 1/4 cup paresely finely chopped
Sour Soup:
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 3 carrots,sliced
- 3 swiss chard stems or celery stems
- 1 eggplant, sliced
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 1/4 cup mild pepper paste
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp citric acid
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp red pepper
- 3-4 cups hot water
Instructions
Kubba Dough:
- In a large bowl, add cracked wheat (Jareesh), semolina, room temperature water, and salt. Mix it well and set aside for 30 minutes.
- Knead the dough for a couple of minutes until a soft dough is formed.
Ground beef filling:
- In a large pan, add ground beef on medium heat and cook ground beef until brown. Now add chopped onions and fresh parsley, salt, and black pepper.
- Cook for five more minutes. Let the ground beef mixture cool down.
Assembly:
- Dip your hand in the water and take some dough. Make a ball about the size of a golf ball. Do the same thing with the rest of the dough and place them in a large tray.
- Make a hole in the middle of the ball with your index finger. Flatten out the sides by rotating the dough ball until the sides are thin.
- Add about 2 tbsp of stuffing and then close the ball. Dip your fingers in water to shape out the ball (Watch the video for instructions).
- After you have stuffed and shaped them, lay them in a large tray that can fit in your freezer. Freeze them in the tray, once hardened, transfer them into a ziplock bag. Repeat until you use up all the dough and ground beef mixture.
Making the soup:
- In a large pot, on medium heat, add oil, and your chopped vegetables, saute them for ten minutes or until they are soft.
- Add tomato paste, mild pepper paste, water, salt, citric acid, black pepper, and red peppers. Mix until all combined.
- Add water and your shaped kubba. Simmer on medium heat UNCOVERED for 20-30 or until kubbas are soft. Gently stir it to keep the kubba from sticking to the pot.
I Just made these. They were so good, cant wait to try more of your recipes Thank you for sharing this recipe. 👍🥰