Vegan Kibbat Halab ( Rice Kibbah) كبة حلب نباتية

Описание: This is a very popular traditional Iraqi dish. The filling is usually made with mince beef. I used crumbled tofu. You can use whatever “meat replacement you like, mushrooms, lentils, crumble grounds, or just mixed vegetables and greens. The important thing is that when the filling is done it should be completely dry.
Kibba or kibbeh ( depending where you are from in the Middle East) are basically stuffed dumplings, they can be disc shaped or croquette shapes. The shaping of the dumpling is the hardest and most time consuming part of the whole process, especially if you are a beginner which is why I put in the pie idea. I will link the video where I got the idea below. That video is in Arabic.
Until now I’d never made kibba pies before, I think for me that’s the way to go. It took me 5 minutes to make the pie, almost 30 to make the dumplings.
Dried limes can be found in Middle Eastern, Indian and Iranian food shops. If not available replace 1 tbsp of the poder with juice and peel of 1 lime or lemon.

This is the link to the pie video    • Видео  

Ingredients
1 cup of rice . I used long grain but you can use any rice you want
Plenty of salted boiling water to cook the rice pasta style
A pinch of turmeric (only a pinch this is for colour you shouldn’t be able to taste it)

Filling
1/2 block of firm tofu crumbled
1/4 cup of caramelised onions
1tsp roasted garlic or garlic paste
2tbsp roasted pine nuts or slivered almonds
2tbsp raisins or sultanas ( can be omitted)
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp of each of mixed herbs, cumin, sumak (my addition not traditional) and dried lime powder
Salt and black pepper to taste.

Cook the rice as you would pasta, plenty of salted water. When cooked drain. The rice should be dry so keep it in the sieve until it cools. Once cool knead into a sticky dough.

Add all the ingredients of the filling except the parsley and dried lime powder.
Cook for 15
Add the dried lime powder and parsley and takeoff the heat.
Allow to cool completely.