Shish Barak bil laban - lamb dumplings in yogurt sauce - شيش برك باللبن

Shish barak are dumplings filled with seasoned lamb, onions, and pine nuts that are can be boiled, baked, or fried and served in a warm yogurt sauce with garlic, cilantro, olive oil on top with toasted pine nuts. They are made in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Palestine. This recipe will make 6-8 servings (50-55 shish barak dumplings) INGREDIENTS Shish Barak Dough 2 cups all purpose flour (330 g) 1 teaspoon salt 200 ml warm water 1 teaspoon yeast 1 teaspoon sugar Meat Stuffing 350 g ground lamb ( or beef) salt to taste black pepper to taste 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder 1 medium onion 30 g pine nuts (roasted) olive oil (if you use the lean beef) Shish Barak yogurt sauce 1 L (1 kg) plain Yogurt ( Laban) 1 tbsp corn starch 100 ml of water ( you may add more if you like more liquid sauce) dried mint salt to taste Olive oil + garlic + cilantro (coriander) 1. Start with activation the yeast and after 15 minutes mix all the dough ingredients together and let the dough rest of 1-2 hours 2. Saute meat (lamb or beef) with the onions ( you can add olive oil if the meat is lean) then add salt, pepper and cinnamon, all spice until the meat turns brown. Add pine nuts (roasted) 3. Roll out the dough into 2-3 mm thick and cut into small disks 4. Place the meat into each of the pieces of dough and fold the edges 5. Place the dumplings in the oven until they turn golden brown ( you can skip the step of baking and cook shish barak directly with laban (yogurt) sauce) 6. Corn starch dissolve with water and combine with Yogurt, on the low heat bring to gentle boil, continuously stirring to avoid the yogurt split. Once the yogurt sauce is ready, add the dry mint and place the shish barak, cook it with sauce for 5 mins (for baked one) and 10 - 15 mins if it is uncooked. Serve shish barak with rice aside. NOTE: Shish barak (dumpling) can be frozen after they are fold directly without cooking.