DUSHBARA (DUMPLING SOUP)
Dushbara, also spelled as Dushbere or Dushpara, is a most favorite and popular Azerbaijani dish. It is sort of dumplings of dough filled with ground meat and cooked in a lamb broth. Per tradition, in Azerbaijan every woman have to, not only cook this popular dish, but also should be able to make dushbara as small as possible, to fit ten of them into a tablespoon.
*A full-sized picture of this dish is available in the Gallery.


Ingredients for the Broth:
450 g (1 lb) lamb or beef
1 small size onion
½ teaspoon saffron or turmeric
Salt
Ingredients for the Dough:
2 cups flour
1 egg
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup water
Ingredients for the Filling:
250 g (8 oz) grounded lamb or beef
1 small size onion
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Preparation:
Preparing the broth in advance.
Place the meat in a saucepan and cover it with water. Bring to a boil. Add peeled onion, a pinch of saffron or turmeric, and season broth with salt to taste. Simmer for about an hour. Strain through a fine mesh colander.
Alternatively you can use meat stock or broth, or simply cook in a water.

Preparing the dough.
Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the egg, salt and water, and start kneading the dough until it is soft and elastic. (The quality of flour can vary, so keep in mind that you may have to add more or less than the amount listed in the ingredients.) Remember to save some flour for dusting the layers.



Shape the dough into a ball, cover with a plastic wrap, and set aside for 20 minutes to rest before rolling.



Preparing the filling.
In a bowl, combine the grounded meat with finely chopped (or grounded) onion, and season with salt and pepper. Mix filling well and set aside.



Preparing Dushbara.
Dust your working place with flour and start rolling out the dough into a large thin circle, approximately 1-2 mm thick. Cut the dough into very small squares. Place a quarter a teaspoon of filling into the middle of each square. Fold the square edges into a rectangle or corner to corner into a triangle and seal them, then seal the far ends together to form the shape.



Cooking Dushbara.
Put Dushbara in the boiling broth and gently mix them with a wooden spoon, so they don’t stick together. Lower the heat and simmer Dushbara for a 10 minutes until dough is tender.
Serve hot with vinegar mixed with chopped garlic to taste, and garnish with chopped fresh or dried mint.



Bon Appétit! Enjoy!