Lamb Broth with Dumplings (Azeri Dushbara)

Dushbara is a favourite and popular Azerbaijani dish that is meat filled dumplings cooked in a lamb broth. According to tradition every Azerbaijani woman not only needs to know to make this dish, she also must be able to make the dushbara as small as possible, to fit ten of them in a Tbsp. This dish is very time-consuming to make. It takes some practice to make the dumplings that small, but you can do it and your friends and family will love you for it. Dusbara is absolutely delicious and I now understand why every Azerbaijani woman must make it.

Broth:
1 lb lamb or beef
1 small onion
½ tsp. saffron
sea salt

Dough:
2-3 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
1 egg
½ tsp. sea salt
1/3 cup water

Filling:
½ lb ground lamb or beef not to exceed 15% fat content.
1 small onion
½ tsp. sea salt
¼ tsp. black pepper, freshly ground

Garnish:
fresh mint leaves, chopped
vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced

For the Broth:
Place the meat in a saucepan and cover it with water. Bring to a boil. Add in the peeled onion and saffron, season with sea salt. Simmer for one hour.

Strain liquid through a fine mesh colander or cheesecloth. Reserve liquid.

For the Dough:
Sift 2 cups of flour into a bowl, add in the egg, salt and water. Start to knead the dough until it is soft and elastic. Add flour as needed. Shape the dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 20 minutes before rolling.

For the Filling:
In a bowl, mix together the ground beef or lamb and finely minced or grated onion, season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

Prepare the Dushbara:
Dust your work surface with flour, roll out the dough very thin. Cut the dough into very small squares, about 1" each. Place ¼ tsp. of the filling into the middle of each square.

Fold the square edges corner to corner to form a triangle and seal them, then seal the far ends together to form the shape.

Put the dushbara in the boiling broth and gently mix them with a wooden spoon, so they don't stick together.

Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for ten minutes until the dough is tender.

Serve hot with a side of vinegar and chopped garlic to taste.

Garnish with chopped fresh mint.

Makes 6-8 servings.