Koofte Berenji

Ingredients:

100 grams basmati or long grain rice
500 grams ground beef or lamb
100 grams chick-pea flour
500 grams herbs (spring onion ends, parsley, common-dill, sweet-fennel, mint, tarragon)
3 eggs
100 grams split-peas
3-4 onions
1/2 cup of cooking oil
2-3 spoons of turmeric (or tomato paste)
salt
black pepper
100 grams barberries
100 grams walnuts

Procedure:

Koofteh-Berenji is a delicious ball of meat, rice and herbs with extra goodies inside. Cook rice in some water with a bit of salt until it softens, then filter out the water. Do the same to split-peas. Mix rice, split-peas, chick-pea flour, meat, eggs, salt and pepper very well. Cut the herbs very finely and mix in with the rest. Chop the onions and fry in oil until golden. Save some of the fried onions. Add 5-6 glasses of water to the rest of the onions with a bit of salt, pepper and turmeric (or tomato paste) and bring to boil. Make balls about the size of an orange from the mix, leaving a bit of barberries, walnuts and fried onions at the center. Place the balls in the boiling water and cook for a few minutes. Then continue cooking at low temperature until the koofteh is completely cooked. Make sure the container is not covered during cooking. Makes 6 servings.