Malqasa (bulgur dumpling soup)

Malqasa is a meatless winter dish of small balls kneaded from nothing but fine bulgur and flour and cooked in water. The balls are cooked either as a soup in their thickened broth or dry with onion, and they are finished with garlic, parsley, lemon or pomegranate molasses and olive oil. It goes by this name at both ends of Hama province, in Salamiyah and Masyaf. On the coast the same balls are called laqqasat or da’ibulat.

Where the name comes from

So that the kneaded balls do not stick together, flour is sprinkled over them and the tray is swirled in a circle. That movement is called “talqis”, and it gives malqasa its name.

How the dough is made

Fine bulgur soaks in cold or hot water for about an hour, then is rubbed until it holds together. Flour, salt and red pepper go in, and water is added a little at a time as the dough is kneaded. The proportions change from house to house: the Salamiyah recipe on eSyria uses 1 kg of bulgur to half a kilo of flour, the Masyaf recipe in Snack Syrian one cup of bulgur to one cup of flour. The dough is shaped into balls slightly larger than a chickpea, or into small discs pressed flat with a finger.

Soup or dry?

The balls go into boiling water. In Masyaf there are two ways. For the soup, it cooks until the water thickens, then crushed garlic, parsley, lemon or pomegranate molasses and olive oil go in. For the dry version, it cooks over low heat with onion, garlic and a little olive oil, and comes with radishes and spring onions. In Salamiyah the garlic is fried in olive oil and poured over the soup.

In Masyaf some homes use part of the same dough to make kbeibat, filled with pepper paste, garlic and walnuts.

When it is cooked

It is a winter dish and rarely made in summer. It is not a feast or wedding dish. In Masyaf it is the food women knead together at their gatherings for fun and conversation. On the coast it appears at the first iftar of Ramadan.

Other names on the coast and in the Qalamoun

In Tartus and Latakia the same balls are called laqqasat or da’ibulat. Athr Press reports from the coast that balls of fine bulgur, boiled and kneaded with flour, are fried with sumac, olive oil and onion and served at the first iftar of Ramadan. The Latakia version adds chickpeas, lentils, beans, black-eyed peas, finely chopped chard and pepper paste. In the Qalamoun, lentils, black-eyed peas, onion, potatoes and boiled chickpeas go in, with cumin sprinkled on top. Another name for the dish is rasas er-rab.

How it differs from kbeibat, kibbeh and qarimouta

The kbeibat on this site are also balls of flour and bulgur, but they are filled with chard and onion. The balls in malqasa have no filling and are very small. The difference from kibbeh is simpler: there is no meat in the dough. Qarimouta from Salamiyah is also meatless and made with bulgur, but it is not shaped into balls; cooked bulgur is mixed with lemon, mint and sumac and spooned onto vine leaves.

Where to eat it

At home tables in Salamiyah and Masyaf through the winter, and in Tartus and Latakia, as laqqasat, at the first iftar of Ramadan. There is no verified information about restaurants serving it.