Bazeen (Tunisian Barley Dumpling with Tomato-Chili Soup) 🍽

Name: Bazeen (Tunisian Barley Dumpling with Tomato-Chili Soup)
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 100 min
Yield: 2-4 servings
Cuisine: Tunisian
Ingredients: 2 cups (250 g) barley flour (stone-ground if you can find it; a mix 3:1 barley:wheat works for beginners); 1 tsp salt + 1 tbsp olive oil for the dough; ~1 cup water; 500 g lamb shoulder or neck, chunked (bone-in better); 1 onion; chopped; 3 garlic cloves; 3 tomatoes grated, or 2 tbsp tomato paste; 1 tbsp harissa (rose harissa from Nabeul is the connoisseur's choice), plus extra to finish; 1 tsp ground caraway; 1/2 tsp ground coriander; 1/4 tsp cinnamon; pinch turmeric; salt & pepper; 1 cup soaked dried chickpeas (or 1 can), 200 g squash or pumpkin in wedges, 2 zucchini halved (optional); 3 tbsp olive oil + 1 tbsp smen/clarified butter if you have it; 1.5 L water; To serve: nothing else — it is a full bowl; mint tea after

The dish of Sfax and the Sahara's northern rim, and one of the great communal plates: a firm, malty dumpling of stone-ground barley flour — worked with water and salt into a smooth dome, then poached in the soup until it drinks flavor without losing its shape — sitting in a fiery tomato-pepper broth loaded with lamb, chickpeas and squash, crowned with a rust of harissa and a pool of olive oil. Families eat it from one wide bowl, tearing wedges of the dough and scooping meat and sauce with each bite. The barley's nutty sweetness against the harissa's heat is the whole point. In Sfax it's Friday food and wedding food; the harder the dough is worked, the prouder the cook.

North Africa Tunisian ⏱ 100 min Hard

Ingredients

2 cups (250 g) barley flour (stone-ground if you can find it; a mix 3:1 barley:wheat works for beginners)
1 tsp salt + 1 tbsp olive oil for the dough; ~1 cup water
500 g lamb shoulder or neck, chunked (bone-in better)
1 onion, chopped; 3 garlic cloves
3 tomatoes grated, or 2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp harissa (rose harissa from Nabeul is the connoisseur's choice), plus extra to finish
1 tsp ground caraway; 1/2 tsp ground coriander; 1/4 tsp cinnamon; pinch turmeric; salt & pepper
1 cup soaked dried chickpeas (or 1 can), 200 g squash or pumpkin in wedges, 2 zucchini halved (optional)
3 tbsp olive oil + 1 tbsp smen/clarified butter if you have it; 1.5 L water
To serve: nothing else — it is a full bowl; mint tea after

Method

1

Make the dough: whisk barley flour and salt, drizzle oil and water while stirring, then knead 10 hard minutes until a smooth, firm, non-cracking ball. It should feel like cold playdough, not bread dough. Rest covered 30 min.
2

Build the soup base: warm olive oil + smen, fry onion soft (8 min), add garlic, caraway, coriander, cinnamon, turmeric and harissa; stir 1 minute, then grated tomato; cook 10 minutes until oil breaks red to the surface.
3

Add lamb, chickpeas and water; salt. Bare simmer, lid ajar: 50 minutes (pressure cooker: 15 min from whistle, no squash yet).
4

While the meat finishes, shape the dough into a thick lens/disc about 20 cm wide — it will ride in the center of the bowl later. Score the top in a cross so it poaches evenly.
5

Add squash and zucchini to the pot; lay the barley disc gently into the simmering broth over the meat. Poach 20-25 minutes uncovered, spooning hot broth over the crown twice. The dough is done when a skewer comes out clean and the edges have drunk red.
6

Assemble the proper way: lift the disc onto the center of a wide communal bowl, flood with broth, scatter meat and vegetables around and over it, drop a spoon of harissa and a ribbon of olive oil on top. Everyone tears a wedge of dough, dips, eats. Pass no plates — one bowl, shared, hands welcome.

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Bazeen (Tunisian Barley Dumpling with Tomato-Chili Soup) 🍽

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