Ourfai Kololak (Armenian Ourfa Meatballs)

Ingredients:

  • 3 medium long eggplants 🍆 (Asian or Armenian)
  • 2 pounds of ground beef 🥩
  • 1 medium onion (finely ground)
  • Black pepper & paprika (half a tsp)
  • 1 tbsp of dried parsley, & basil 🌿
  • Half a tsp of allspice
  • 2 grated garlic 🧄 cloves
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tsp of sumac
  • Olive oil (half a cup)

 

For tomato 🍅 sauce:

  • 5 large tomatoes 🍅 skinned and ground
  • 3 tbsp of Armenian pepper 🌶️ paste
  • 2 cloves of garlic 🧄

You will need a round baking sheet

Instructions:

  1. Wash and cut the eggplants in one and a half inch thick circles
  2. Baste the eggplants with olive oil on both sides and fry them in preheated oven until the colour is golden.
  3. For the meatballs, mix all the ingredients and make meatballs, matching the size of the round cut up eggplants
  4. Cook the tomato sauce separately with the pepper paste, Armenian hot pepper, and garlic
  5. At the bottom of the round pan, add half of the tomato sauce 🥫
  6. Start placing, in alternating order, eggplants and meatballs in upright position. Should be placed in a spiral 🌀 until reaching the centre.
  7. Pour the rest of the tomato sauce 🥫 over it
  8. Garnish with a few cloves of garlic 🧄 and small hot peppers of different colours (uncut). 🌶️
  9. Sprinkle with sumac
  10. Put in the preheated oven covered with foil
  11. The temperature of the oven should be 375 F.
  12. Leave in the oven for half an hour
  13. Remove the foil, raise the temperature to 400 F, and bake for another 20 minutes (uncovered).
  14. Take it out from the oven and let it rest for another 15 minutes
  15. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley 🌿 and coriander and serve hot

Enjoy!

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