MWA's Eren Cervantes-Altamiranov shares a favorite recipe, Kibbeh Charola

Growing up in Mexico City, one of my first interactions with Arabs and Muslims was through the Lebanese community in Mexico. Although Mexico is a largely multicultural country and its cuisine has been largely recognized as a mix of different cultures, the dominant identity discourse these days is the mix between Indigenous peoples and the Spanish colonizers (mestizaje). (Read More)

    Kibbeh Charola
    Ingredients:

    500 gr. Extra lean ground beef or lamb

    1 cup of corn semolina

    Half an onion diced

    Salt (according to taste)

    2 table spoons of olive oil

    1/3 cup of pine nuts

    2 table spoons of pomegranate molasses (if you don’t find them just use one spoon of regular molasses and one spoon of pomegranate juice)

    ½ cup of fresh mint

    Black pepper to season
    Directions:
    1-      Mix the meat with the salt and the pepper. Divide the meat in two balls.

    2-      Fry the onion in the olive oil and add the molasses.

    3-      Take one of the balls of meat and add the semolina and the pine nuts.

    4-      Fry the meat mixed with the pine nuts, along with the onion and the molasses, until golden. This is your filling.

    5-      Prepare a round baking pan and make a thin layer with part of the second half of the meat (you will use the rest to cover the filling).

    6-      Put the filling on top of the first layer of meat. Make sure it is well distributed.

    7-      Cover the filling with the rest of the second ball of meat.

    8-      Sprinkle a bit of pepper at the top.

    9-      Pre-heat your oven to 375 F (180 C).

    10-    Bake the kibbeh for 40 minutes or until well cooked.

    11-    Sprinkle with fresh mint and serve warm.

ABOUT EREN CERVANTES-ALTAMIRANOV
Eren Arruna Cervantes is a University student in Canada. She specializes in gender politics and feminist religious movements, particularly Islamic Feminism. She is a convert to Islam since 2009 and hopes to become an Islamic scholar in the future. In addition to being a member of Muslimah Writers Alliance, Eren also writes for Muslmah Media Watch and hosts a travel blog.