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Method

You will need: A wide pan · A mixing bowl

1. Knead the swollen bulgur with the flour and salt for ten minutes, until it feels like an earlobe.

   Look for Rolled in the palm it should form a smooth ball that does not crack.

   Why Kneading brings the gelatinised starch to the surface and glues the grains together. Kneaded less than ten minutes the dough falls apart in the pan, and there is no short version of this step.

   If it went wrong

   If the dough crumbles, add another tablespoon of flour and knead three minutes more. If it still crumbles the bulgur has not swollen enough: add two tablespoons of warm water and wait ten minutes.

   Salt · 2.78% High. Osmosis is pulling water out, the texture is tightening and the flavour is closing.

2. From half the dough make walnut-sized pieces, hollow them, fill them with the mince and close them: these are the mothers. From the other half roll chickpea-sized plain balls: these are the daughters.

   Look for The filled ones must have no cracks, or the filling escapes into the water.

   Why The two sizes are function rather than whimsy: small and plain cook in eight minutes, large and filled in fifteen. Made the same size, one disintegrates while the other is raw inside.

   Starch still asleep The granules are just floating there doing nothing. No body arrives before 62 °C.

   Salt · 1.79% High. Osmosis is pulling water out, the texture is tightening and the flavour is closing.

3. Fry the remaining onion in the butter, add the paste, pour in the water and bring it to the boil. Add the chickpeas.

   Look for The water must be at a full boil, with bubbles breaking constantly.

   Why The dumplings must go into boiling liquid: dropped into warm water a bulgur dumpling dissolves before it cooks, because its surface has to set at once.

   Starch gelatinised The granules soaked up water, swelled and burst into a network. It has thickened, and it will firm further as it cools. no way back

   A gluten web is forming Gliadin and glutenin hydrated into an elastic net. This is what will hold the gas. no way back

   Salt · 0.32% Low. Everything reads flat and nothing steps forward.

4. Drop the mothers in first, then the daughters seven minutes later, and give it eight minutes more.

   Look for The dumplings should rise to the surface, which means the air inside has expanded and they are done.

   Why The staggered timing gives two different cooking times in one pan: fifteen minutes for the large, eight for the small, and both finish together.

   If it went wrong

   If they have broken up, the soup becomes a bulgur and chickpea soup and is good. Knead another spoon of flour into the remaining dough and drop the rest in that way.

   Starch gelatinised The granules soaked up water, swelled and burst into a network. It has thickened, and it will firm further as it cools. no way back

   A gluten web is forming Gliadin and glutenin hydrated into an elastic net. This is what will hold the gas. no way back

   Salt · 0.32% Low. Everything reads flat and nothing steps forward.

5. Add the mint a minute before you take it off.

   Look for You should smell the mint rising from the pan.

   Why Menthol leaves in a long boil; the last minute keeps its smell.

   Starch gelatinised The granules soaked up water, swelled and burst into a network. It has thickened, and it will firm further as it cools. no way back

   A gluten web is forming Gliadin and glutenin hydrated into an elastic net. This is what will hold the gas. no way back

   Salt · 0.32% Low. Everything reads flat and nothing steps forward.