In my Iraqi Kitchen: Recipes, History and Culture, by Nawal Nasrallah (2024)

عروق

For those of you accustomed to eating the regular all-meat hamburgers, this will be an exciting new take on this staple food. These are lusciously aromatic meat patties; lighter in texture than the all-meat ones, and are not as greasy despite the fact that they are fried. This is because the meat-veggie mix is moist and will not allow fat to penetrate, as you will see. You can tell this by the amount of fat left after frying. And if you hate frying for the mess and spatter it creates, rest assured 'uroogis 'userfriendly'.

In Iraq,'uroogis very popular, served as sandwiches for breakfast, along with hot sweet tea, and for the evening meal, which is usually lighter than lunch, the main meal of the day, when the staples rice and stew and other elaborate stuffed dishes like dolma and kubba are eaten. The perfect 'uroog meal would include along with it some scrumptious slices of fried eggplant and potatoes, with pickles, and lots of fresh herbs and salad vegetables, and of course the feathered onion with sumac (recipe below).



Eking out meat with vegetables and grains is a common Middle-Eastern cooking technique, done partly to lighten up the dishes and partly for economical necessities. With big families to feed, the expensive meat can really go a long way by creating nourishing and delicious dishes, such as'uroog.

'Uroogis definitelynot a new invention. Middle Eastern cooks have been fixing such dishes for centuries,albeit under different names such astardeenandisfeeriyya,for which we have recipes preserved in medieval Arabic cookbooks. One of thetardeenrecipes, for instance, calls for pounding lean red meat, and mixing it with pounded nuts, onion, a bit of honey, eggs, cinnamon, ginger, mastic,aniseed, black pepper, and white wheat flour. all this is to be moistened with some water, and then formed into discs and fried. Similarly, anisfeeriyyarecipe requires pounding lean red meat, and mixing it with some water, bread dough , eggs, and ground black pepper, saffron, cumin, and coriander seeds. This mix was supposed to be rather thin in consistency, It was taken in ladlefuls and poured into hot oil, and fried into thin discs, and hence the nameisfeeriyya(looking like a thin disc).




'Uroog is traditionally made withfermented dough. Some cooks, including myself, more conveniently use flour and a small amount ofdried yeast or baking powder, instead. Although parsley is the traditional herbused, feel free to add other herbs like mint, basil, dill, or chives.Nowadays, the majority of cooks prefer to shape them as oblongs, but some prefer make them round.

1.In a big bowl, mix meat, onion, parsley, other herbs if used, salt, pepper, egg, curry powder, and coriander.

2.Dissolve baking powder or yeast in water. Add water to the meat mix,and fold well. Add the flour, and knead lightly with one hand for a few minutesuntil well combined. The final mix will be a little soft but it should hold itsshape when formed into patties (see photo below). Add a small amount of flour if needed. Thisdough is easier to handle with wet hands.

3.Heat ½ inch-deep oil in a medium-size frying pan. With wet hands, take a pieceof the dough, size of a golf ball. Put it on the palm of one hand, and with theother, form it into an oblong patty, about 3 inches long and ⅓ inch thick. Carefully(don’t fry your fingers!) put the piece in the hot oil the moment you finishshaping it, and repeat until you fill the frying pan comfortably.

Let pattiesfry until golden brown, turning only once to fry on both sides. Remember to wetyour hands while handling this dough to prevent it from sticking to yourfingers. Drain fried pieces on white paper towels put in a colander (this willprevent them from getting soggy). Repeat the process with the rest of dough.These patties cook very fast. Frying them will not take more than 15 minutes.

بصل مريّش