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When I bite into pillows of shish barak, or dumplings filled with ground meat and onions, and scoop them up with their lusciously smooth yogurt sauce studded with cilantro and garlic, it takes me right back to my childhood dinner table.
It’s a favorite family-friendly Middle Eastern meal, specifically in Syria, Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon. While it looks complicated to make dough, fill each individual dumpling, and make the sauce, it’s actually quite simple. The dumplings also freeze well, so it’s excellent to prep ahead and then throw together on any weeknight.
Ingredients
Flour — Just regular, all purpose flour.
Water — Flour and water is the foundation to any dough. The ratio is pretty forgiving.
Ground beef/lamb — Shish barak is stuffed with ground meat, which is cooked in a cast iron skillet over high heat until fully browned. If you have some leftover in the freezer from another recipe (like sambousek or sheikh al mehshi), that will also work.
Arabic 7 spices — Arabic 7 spices is meat seasoning that uses any combination of all spice, black pepper, cardamom, coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and/or fenugreek. It varies from village to village or household to household. You can get one pre-mixed here, or make your own like I did here. If you don’t have a spice grinder, use pre-ground spices.
Onion — We pretty much constantly have sautéed golden onion in the fridge or freezer to use in various dishes, including Stewed Spinach with Ground Meat and Rice (Sabanekh ou Ruz) or Ground Lamb, Onions and Pine Nuts (Hashweh).
Olive oil — Any good quality olive oil will work well to cook the onion. In the US, my favorites are Kirkland Signature (yes Costco) and California Olive Ranch
Yogurt — You will need plain, full-fat yogurt to make the yogurt sauce.
Labneh — Labneh, or tangy strained yogurt, is not a common ingredient in yogurt sauce, but my mom adds it for a bit of complexity. You will just need about 4 oz/130 g, so if you have some around, that’s great. If you want to make your own, line a colander with about 2-3 layers of paper towel, add 1 tsp of salt, and allow to drain on the countertop for about 24 hours. You can use in sandwiches, to spread on toast, or simply top with olive oil and dried mint and dip pita bread.
Vegetable oil —Vegetable oil is neutral, so it won’t compete with the flavors of the yogurt sauce.
Corn starch — Corn starch is the thickener that helps the sauce bind together.
Method
First, mix the dough by combining flour and water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Mix until just combined, and set aside to rest for about 2 hours. You can also mix by hand if you don’t have a stand mixer.
While the dough rests, make the filling by setting a cast iron or large skillet on the stove over high heat. Cook the ground meat, stirring constantly, until it releases the liquid, dries up, and is browned all over. Season with salt, Arabic 7 spices, and black pepper if your spice mixture doesn’t have it.
Add about 1-2 tbsp of olive oil to the pan set over medium heat and add the chopped onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden. Combine with the meat.
When the dough is ready, roll it out until about 1/8 of an inch thick. With a small round cookie cutter, about 2 inches, cut circles in the dough. Flatten out the dough a little bit between your fingers, scoop about 1 tsp of filling in the middle, and close the two ends of the circle over the filling. Pinch closed, and you now have a crescent. Bring the two ends of the crescent together and pinch. Repeat with the rest of the dough. If you have leftover filling, freeze for another use. Place the dumplings on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
In a 350° F/180° C oven, bake them until somewhat firm, about 30 minutes. The shish barak can be frozen at this point or continue with making the sauce if serving the same day.
Meanwhile, prepare the yogurt sauce and cilantro garlic mixture. Preheat vegetable oil in a medium-sized saucepan. Add 1 head chopped garlic and cook until golden, stirring constantly. Immediately add 1 bunch of chopped cilantro and set aside.
For the yogurt mixture, dissolve the corn starch in water. Add the yogurt, dissolved corn starch, water, and vegetable oil to a stainless steel pot set over high heat. Stir constantly as it comes to a boil. Continue stirring and boil for 1-2 minutes to activate the corn starch and thicken the yogurt sauce. Once the dumplings are out of the oven, add them to the yogurt sauce and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Season to taste with salt and serve in bowls and top with cilantro yogurt mixture.
Helpful Tips
Some people are nervous to make yogurt sauce because they’re worried about it separating. Don’t fret!
Stir constantly while it comes to a boil. This allows the moisture to evaporate quickly.
Keep the yogurt sauce uncovered until it’s cool. Covering will trap condensation inside, which will cause it separate.
When cooking, make sure that the only items in the pot are yogurt, corn starch, water, and vegetable oil.
Shish barak dumplings and the garlic/cilantro mixture freeze really well. Place the baked shish barak on a parchment-lined baking sheet in the freezer. Once frozen, you can put them in a zip top bag and store them for several months. The garlic/cilantro mixture can be saved in a zip top bag or container.
Leftover filling can be frozen and used later in Sheikh el Mehshi (Meat-Stuffed Zucchini with Yogurt Sauce) and Sambousek (Meat Pockets).
I hope you give this recipe a try! If you do, don’t forget to put it in the comments so everyone knows how it worked out. I also love to see your creations! You can tag me on social media at #omayahcooks, @omayah.atassi on Instagram, @omayahcooks on Pinterest, and @omayahatassiphoto on Facebook.
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Shish Barak (Meat Dumplings in Yogurt Sauce)
Ingredients
- 270 g/2 c flour
- 177 mL/3/4 c warm water
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2-3 tsp salt
- 500 g/1 lb ground beef
- 1 tsp Arabic 7 spices
- 1 yellow onion, chopped finely
- 1/4 c olive oil
- 8 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 bunch cilantro/coriander, leaves and tender stems chopped finely
- 3 tbsp corn starch
- 1 c water
- 2 kg/70 oz plain, full fat yogurt
- 113 g/4 oz labneh (strained yogurt)
- 2 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
Instructions
- Combine the flour, 1 tsp salt, and oil in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment.
- With the machine running on medium low, gradually add in the water. Increase to medium and knead until it just forms a rough ball, about 2-3 minutes.
- Tip out onto a work surface and gently form into a tighter ball by smoothing across the surface. Place back in the stand mixer bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rest for about 2 hours.
- Meanwhile, in a dry pan over high heat, cook the ground beef, stirring constantly, until browned all the way through, about 5-8 minutes. Break it up into small clumps and season with Arabic 7 spices and 1-2 tsp of salt.
- Wipe out the pan and return back on medium heat with 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the onion and cook until golden brown, about 10-15 minutes. Combine with the ground beef.
- When ready to shape your meat dumplings, roll out the dough until it's about 1/8" thick on a lightly floured surface
- Cut circles with a round, 2" cookie cutter, placing them on a lightly floured baking sheet. Roll the scraps and cut again.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F/180° C. Take a circle and flatten it slightly between your fingers. Place about 1 tsp in the center and pinch the opposite ends of the circle over the filling, closing the dumpling. It should now be shaped like a crescent.
- Take the two ends of the crescent and bring them together to form a round dumpling and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
- Slide the baking sheet into the oven and bake until just firm but not cooked all the way through, about 30 minutes.
- Set the dumplings aside while you prepare the rest of the recipe, store in the fridge up to 2 days, or place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer to zip top bags and store for several months.
- In a medium saucepan, preheat oil over medium high heat.
- Add garlic and stir frequently until light golden.
- Remove from the heat and immediately add the bunch of cilantro to stop the browning process. Stir to combine and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the corn stach and water and set aside.
- In a large pot, add the yogurt, labneh, and oil.
- Turn the heat to high and add the corn starch and water mixture.
- Stir constantly until it comes to a boil. Add in the meat dumplings and cook for 5-10 minutes.
- Serve immediately with soup bowls and top with caramelized garlic and cilantro.
- If making ahead of time, it's best to cook the dumplings in the sauce just before serving so they don't get mushy.
- If you have leftovers, bring the yogurt sauce to room temperature before covering and storing in the fridge.