Meatballs in Sour Cherry Sauce (Kabab Karaz)

Adapted by The New York Times

Total Time: 45 minutes
Rating: 4(124)
Notes: Read community notes

The writer Anissa Helou put this bright and tart Syrian dish on the cover of her cookbook "Feast: Food of the Islamic World," which gathers recipes from across the Muslim diaspora. "If there is a dish that symbolizes the cooking of Aleppo, this has to be it," she writes inside; the recipe is adapted from Maria Gaspard-Samra, a chef who taught cooking classes in Aleppo. These small lamb meatballs are browned — take care not to overcook them — and then simmered in a pool of pitted sour cherries, raw cane sugar and pomegranate molasses. Then they are piled on a bed of pita bread triangles drizzled with butter and dusted with chopped parsley and toasted pine nuts. If you can’t find fresh or frozen sour cherries, use dried, which you can rehydrate by soaking overnight in water. —The New York Times

Featured in: The Vast World of Islam, in 300 Recipes

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Ingredients

Yield:3 to 4 servings

For the Meatballs

1pound/450 grams lean ground lamb, from the leg or shoulder
¾teaspoon fine sea salt
½teaspoon Lebanese 7-spice mixture (see notes) or allspice
1tablespoon/15 grams unsalted butter

For the Cherry Sauce

2¼pounds/1 kilogram fresh or frozen pitted sour cherries (see notes)
1tablespoon raw cane sugar
1tablespoon pomegranate molasses

For Assembly

2 to 3pita breads, each split into 2 disks and cut into medium triangles
1tablespoon/15 grams unsalted butter, melted
A few sprigs flat-leaf parsley, most of the bottom stems discarded, finely chopped
¼cup/50 grams pine nuts, toasted in a hot oven for 5 to 7 minutes, until lightly golden

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Make the meatballs: Mix the lamb, salt and spice mixture (or allspice) and shape into small balls, the size of large marbles. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté the meatballs just until lightly browned. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Step 2
Put the cherries, sugar and pomegranate molasses in a pot large enough to eventually hold the meatballs and bring to a bubble over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and, stirring occasionally, simmer for 15 to 25 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened. Add the meatballs and simmer for another 15 minutes, until tender.
Step 3
Assemble the dish: Arrange the pita bread triangles all over a serving platter, coarse side up, making sure the pointed ends are nicely arranged on the outside. Drizzle the melted butter all over the bread. Spoon the meat and sauce over the bread. Sprinkle the chopped parsley all over, then the toasted pine nuts. Serve immediately.

Tips

To make the Lebanese 7-spice mixture, combine 1 tablespoon each of finely ground black pepper, ground allspice and ground cinnamon with 1 teaspoon each ground coriander, ground cloves, ground ginger and freshly grated nutmeg. This makes about ¼ cup/25 grams; transfer the remaining spice mixture to an airtight container and store away from both heat and light. Use leftover spice mixture in tomato sauce and marinades for grilled meat or chicken, or on tabbouleh.
If you can’t find fresh sour cherries, use dried sour cherries and rehydrate them by soaking them overnight in water: 2 cups/500 milliliters water for 14 ounces/400 grams pitted dried sour cherries. Add the soaking water along with the cherries when you make the sauce.

Ratings

4 out of 5

124 user ratings

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Becky6 years ago

Made this tonight with cherries from our back yard. It was fantastic. I needed more servings, so I doubled everything except the cherries. (Four and a half pounds seemed overwhelming.) The sauce would probably be great with any other ground meat, or even with roasted salmon. A keeper!

Becky6 years ago

Hi, Cyndy - My cherries are regular eating cherries, but not as sweet as Bing. I think you could use any cherries for this, and just adjust for tartness with some lemon juice. I also subbed brown sugar for the raw, and baked the meatballs rather than frying them.

Christine6 years ago

Kroger's sells sour cherries packed in water. I use them for cherry pie all the time. I plan to use a can or two for the recipe. Can never find them frozen either.

Penny6 years ago

I served this dish to guests this evening, and everyone loved it. I doubled the amount of meatballs. Following Becky's recommendation, I didn't double the cherries, definitely a good decision. Recipe says to use the soaking liquid for the sauce; I used about half of it. Next time, I'll serve the meatballs on a rice pilaff instead. The pita was good, but home-made pita is more work than rice. (The store-bought pita I have access to could not be nice enough.)

Penny6 years ago

Yes, readily available dried cherries are Montmorency cherries, which are sour. I poured boiling water over the cherries and let soak for 3-4 hours before cooking; worked fine. I think used about half the soaking liquid in the sauce.

Christina X3 years ago

Love this recipe! I used dried tart cherries and soaked them over night like the recipe suggested. The only thing I did differently was puree the sauce in my blender. This made a more cohesive sauce. The first time I made the recipe I didn't, and the sauce just never seemed to come together (which is why I wanted to puree). Maybe with fresh or canned cherries it's different?! The recipe is quite sweet, so you may want to up the salt a bit in the meatballs, or maybe a dash in the sauce as well.

Ohiobaba2 weeks ago

Served with orzo. Everyone enjoyed it, but felt there was more sauce than necessary. I would agree with other comments, and either double the meat balls, or reduce the cherries by 30-50%.

Brittany11 months ago

Even with tart cherries, the sauce came out a little sweet. I think it needs a more savory base with onions, beef stock, etc. Also lamb meatballs needed some moisture in them, maybe in the form of egg and soaked breadcrumbs.

pchips2 years ago

I used ground chicken and ground turkey cooked in a broth. I used preserved sour cherries. Worked out really well. Another keeper for weekly meals

E2 years ago

Made with Strawberries and grapefruit due to new cherries. Do not leave enough for leftovers next time, the strawberries turn an unappealing gut red.

E2 years ago

Sour cherries are weirdly hard to find where I live in Florida, I substituted strawberries and grapefruit/lemon juice. Would make again!

Christina X3 years ago

Diane3 years ago

This was good. I made as directed (get fattier ground lamb - mine was too lean and dried out some) but cut the cherries down some because fresh sour cherries are expensive! I made a hastier but still very tasty version using ground beef that I browned with a little bit of chopped onion, then added frozen cherries, molasses, and Lebanese spice mix to simmer a bit. Served with rice and it was just as delicious!

Candace Gallagher3 years ago

This sounds wonderful but we don't eat lamb. I'm wondering if anyone has tried this with ground turkey or ground chicken?

Sarah3 years ago

I have done it with half beef half pork and it works fine. Turkey and chicken meatballs tend to fall apart. You may need some binder like egg and breadcrumbs.

Jo3 years ago

Was really nice. I subbed beef meatballs because ground lamb isn't that easy to find here. Served with rice and zaatar roasted carrots. But the kicker was my side was a chicken liver pate on baguette. It added a great (fatty) richness that this dish needed. Used the chicken liver recipe from NYT. And it remained halal I believe. No pork!

Moira3 years ago

Will make again but will tweek. Will cut the amount of cherries by a quarter. Mine were Turkish vișne. Totally authentic but they really overpowered the meatballs even tho I love fruity meat dishes. I'd also add a cinnamon stick to the cherries. Some salt maybe? Or Lebanese spice. Felt they needed to complement the meatballs more. That said I'll make the dish again. Looked so fabulous.

Melissa4 years ago

Used dried rainier cherries, soaked overnight in hot water with the suggested ratio. Needed more water once they got cooking on the stove, but overall delicious with a hit of sugar and a few tablespoons of homemade pomegranate molasses (Pom wonderful cooked down with a bit of sugar and lemon juice until thickened). Spice blend worked well with Beyond Beef, baked in oven for 15 mins at 350 then added to sauce to simmer. It was too long and I will reduce the baking time next time.

Erin S.4 years ago

This recipe was delicious. I doubled the sugar and molasses, but my cherries were particularly sour. I also wanted to make more, so I added a pound of lean beef to the lamb and doubled the spice. Absolutely worth it to make the Lebanese 7-spice mix, too. I served it with the pita and a side of hummus. Yum!

michael sheehy5 years ago

I was disappointed with this recipe. Lacking any pita, I served the meatballs with Sam Sifton's baked rice which so splendid that it shamed its companion. Just my taste?

LindaL5 years ago

Delicious, interesting, relatively easy. The amount of cherries seemed right. I pitted the cherries and made the sauce yesterday, reheated it tonight while making the meatballs. Here in eastern Pennsylvania, we have access to local sour cherries at our farmers’ market in late June and early July. They are quite perishable, so usually are not transported far away or in bulk. They also are excellent for cherry pie and for homemade maraschino cherries.

Penny6 years ago

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