Name: The Bride’s Chicken Meatballs (Dar Laarch, or Boulettes de Poulet Dites la Mariée)
Yield: Serves 6 to 8
Cuisine: Tunisian
Ingredients: 2 pounds ground chicken; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 2 eggs; 1 bay leaf; good pinch of ground turmeric or saffron threads, crushed; four 1-inch-thick slices country bread, soaked in water and squeezed dry; salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste; couscous for serving; ½ teaspoon ground turmeric, or ¼ teaspoon saffron threads, crushed; ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley; 2 teaspoons salt; freshly grated nutmeg to taste; freshly ground black pepper to taste; 6 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander (cilantro); 3 teaspoons crushed dried unsprayed rose petals (optional); 4 small onions, finely chopped; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped

Preparation info

Serves
6 to 8

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Saffron Shores

By Joyce Goldstein

Published 2002

About

Chicken meatballs can be a wonderful weeknight supper, served with rice or couscous. In Tunisia, Daisy Taieb’s family served chicken meatballs seasoned with crushed dried rose petals to break the fast after Yom Kippur. If you can’t find dried rose petals, the chicken balls will still be delicious.

Ingredients

For the Meatballs

2 pounds ground chicken
4 small onions, finely chopped
¼ cup

Method

To make the meatballs, in a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and knead the mixture until it holds together. Form one meatball and poach it in lightly salted water to test the seasoning. Adjust as necessary. Form the mixture into walnut-sized balls.

To make the sauce, in a large sauté pan or skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add all the remaining ingredients and about <