Stuffed Rice and lamb sausages
stuffed rice and lamb sausages (tribes and intestines) is one of the most exquisite traditional Armenian meals. In the old days people would use every piece of the sheep, even intestines and tribes.
Ingredients
1 ½ pounds of lamb casing
4 cups basmati rice rinsed
3 lbs chuck roast cut in small cubes
4 garlic cloves minced
Salt
ground black pepper
2 cups dried chick peas or 4 15 oz cans of chick peas
3 -5 pounds lamb shank or other meat with bones
3 pounds of Lamb tongue (optional)
Lamb feet (optional)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 lemons or limes sliced
The stores usually sell mumbar in bags so you may not be able to pick the amount you want. You can clean and freeze whatever you don’t use for another time.
If you are using dried chick peas, soak the chickpeas in water overnight.
Meat Soup Preparation
The meat soup is done in a separate pot than the mumbar. First rub some flour on the lamb shank or other meat with bones, tongue, and feet and then rinse well. Add to a large pot of boiling water. Boil on high for about 20 minutes then discard water. Rinse all of the meat/bones with cold water. Add the meat/bones back to the pot and add enough water so that it is a couple inches over the meat/bones. Add 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper, mix and bring to a boil. Cover and boil on medium/low heat for about 2 – 3 hours or until your meat is tender. The tongue usually takes about 2 – 3 hours to become tender. If you are adding dried chick peas, add them the last hour of boiling. If you are using canned chick peas, add them the last 15 minutes of boiling. When the broth is done, remove the tongue from the pot and allow to cool enough to handle. Peel the tongue and add both back to broth.
Mumbar/Casing Preparation
Rinse the casings. Cut into 14 -18 inch pieces. Add the casings to a bowl and add about a cup of water and ½ cup of flour and gently rub them to clean. Rinse the casings and place in a bowl with enough water to cover and about 2 lemons/limes sliced. Soak for at least a half hour.
The next few steps are going to turn the casing inside out. This is done so that you can clean the other side and because when you stuff them, you use the same process of tucking them into themselves (described more below) so that the rice and meat mixture slides in. After you stuff them, they will not be inside out anymore.
Run water through the inside of one by placing under the kitchen faucet. Take the top end of the casing and start to tuck it in to itself about an inch. Take a wooden spoon with a narrow end and stick it in the casing where you tucked it in. Keep pushing the casing through the spoon until you have reached the end. Pull your casing off the spoon by pulling the bottom of it off the spoon. The casing should be inside out now. The inside part has some texture so you should be able to tell if you did it right. Place in a bowl. Repeat until you have done this to all of the casings.
Clean again by adding about a cup of water and ½ cup of flour and gently rub them. Rinse the casings and place in a bowl with enough water to cover and about 2 lemons/limes sliced. Soak for at least a half hour. Discard water and rinse the casings. Add a little water in the bowl so that they stuff easier.
Rice Mix Preparation
Gently mix the rice, chopped meat, garlic, 5 teaspoons salt, and 2 teaspoons of ground black pepper (more if you like spicy) by hand.
Mumbar Stuffing Directions
The casings are inside out still. Tuck one end in about one inch. Hold that end of the casing between your thumb and forefinger and use your other hand to stuff the rice mixture in with your thumb. As you keep stuffing, the tucked in part will get tucked in more and more until your casing is right side out again. They will not look very full but the rice will expand when cooked. Repeat. You should have about ¾ inch with no stuffing on each end. If it close to the edge, grab both ends and give it a shake so that the rice moves more toward the middle. Rinse the casings to remove any of the rice on the outside of the casing.
Mumbar Cooking
Boil a large pot of water. Put all of the mumbar in and boil for about 15 minutes. Remove the mumbar and dump the water out. Add your mumbar back to the pot, enough water to cover plus 2 inches over, and 1 tablespoon salt and gently mix. Cover and boil on medium/high heat for 1 ½ -2 hours or until the casings are tender. Start checking at 1 1/2 hours for tenderness. A fork should easily cut through cashing when they are ready.
When the mumbar are done, remove from the broth and set aside because sometimes they fall apart from being in the broth too long. Save the broth they cooked in and mix it with meat soup. Add more salt to the meat soup if necessary.
Serve the mumbar with the meat soup.
Enjoy
