Often called “the Middle Eastern ravioli,” shish barak is a warm and filling meal that takes meat dumplings to a whole new level.
Rich, savory, and filling, shish barak are meat- and spice-stuffed dumplings that get cooked in a thick yogurt sauce. They’re sometimes referred to as a stew. They can take a bit of effort to prepare, but if you have the time, they can serve as everything from a family dinner to a party food.
What Is Shish Barak?
Shish barak is a multicultural food that dates back centuries and was enjoyed all across Central Asia and the Middle East. While we’re not sure of its exact origins, one of its first written records is a 15th century cookbook out of Damascus called Kitab al-tibakha.
Shish barak is known by many names, including chuchvara, joshpara, tatarbari, tushbera and shush barak. This is because it’s traveled across mountains and deserts to reach countless cultures over the years, and everyone describes it in their own way. The names are usually descriptive of dumplings in some way: In Turkish, for example, dusbərə comes from the words for “filled up” and “food.” In Arabic, joshpara stems from the words for “to boil” and “bit.”
How to Fold Shish Barak Dumplings
Many shish barak recipes are easy to whip up in terms of ingredients. The tricky part is folding the dough in such a way that it doesn’t break open as the dumplings cook in the sauce. Here’s a quick guide to folding dumplings:
– Roll the dough until it’s thoroughly flat with no lumps or bumps.
– Don’t overstuff with filling. Only spoon it on one half of the dough so that you can fold over the other half.
– After folding, tightly pinch the dough at the seams.
– Fold or curl the two ends together. The final result should look like a tortellini.
How to Make Shish Barak
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 3 cups flour
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the filling:
- 1/2 pound ground beef
- 1 small onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons pine nuts
- 1 tablespoon allspice
- 1/2 tablespoon smoked paprika
- A pinch of parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the yogurt sauce:
- 32 ounces plain yogurt
- 1 cups water
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Instructions:
1. Prepare the dough by mixing all ingredients together while adding the water in increments. You can mix by hand or with a kitchen appliance. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
2. Get started on your filling. Using a food processor, blend together your onion, garlic, and parsley.
3. In a saucepan, cook the ground beef on a medium heat until it browns. As it cooks, add the allspice, paprika, salt, and your blended mixture of the rest of the ingredients.
4. When the meat is mostly done, add your pine nuts and continue cooking for a minute or two. Then take the entire pan off the heat and set aside.
5. When your dough is ready, place it on a cutting board dusted with flour. Roll it into a large sheet with a thickness of around 1/8th inch or 1 – 2 coins.
6. Cut the dough into small circles. You can do this with a cookie cutter or the bottom of a cup or thermos. The circles should be around 3/4th inch in diameter.
7. Add one teaspoon of filling to one circle. Roll into a dumpling with the instructions listed above.
8. Place your dumplings in a nonstick pan and cook them in the oven at 400°F for about 10 minutes. They should be lightly browned. You can also broil them for 1 – 2 minutes if you’d like more color.
9. Prepare the yogurt sauce by mixing all ingredients together. For best results, use a blender.
10. Add the yogurt sauce to a pot. Simmer on medium heat for 10 – 15 minutes while constantly stirring. When it starts to boil, add the dumplings and cook for another 10 minutes or so. If the sauce turns out too thin for your liking, stir in more cornstarch.
Voila! You’re done!
Tips for Making Great Shish Barak
This is an easy shish barak recipe made with basic, traditional ingredients, but you can customize it in many different ways. For example, you can use lamb or turkey instead of ground beef, or you can put different spices in your filling mixture.
A key component to making shish barak is making sure that the dumplings don’t break open while they simmer in the yogurt sauce. Avoid overstuffing, and make sure that you pinch and fold the edges together tightly.
Don’t rush the recipe. Let the dough rest for the allotted amount of time, and brown the meat and dumpling skins thoroughly.
If you want to save some dumplings for later, it’s okay to freeze them, but freeze them by themselves without the yogurt sauce.
FAQ
Shish barak is considered one of the best dumpling dishes in Middle Eastern and Central Asian cuisine. Recipes are handed down through the generations, and many people have fond memories of it being cooked by a mother or grandmother. It’s often eaten as a warm, filling comfort food.
There are usually around 30 – 50 calories in a single piece of shish barack. However, the exact calorie count will depend on what you put in your filling, how much oil that you use to cook, how much cornstarch is in your sauce, and other personal decisions.
Since it’s a complete meal, shish barak is usually eaten alone without any side dishes. At your own table, however, you can serve whatever extras that you’d like.
The calorie count of shish barak depends on how you make it. Usually, however, it isn’t a very diet-friendly food. Between its fried dumplings and thick, simmering sauce, it’s an indulgent kind of meal, the type that you savor for its deliciousness rather than use as a weight loss tool.
The Best Shish Barak Recipes
This is just a single shish barak recipe. There are many ways to experiment with the dish, and innumerable cultures have already done so throughout time and history. Don’t be afraid to join them!
