Name: Kofteh Tabrizi
Total time: 3 hours
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: ¾ cup basmati rice, rinsed until water runs almost clear; ¾ cup yellow split peas; ½ cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped; ½ cup dried prunes, coarsely chopped; 3 Tbsp. dried barberries, rinsed, or dried currants, divided; 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil; 1 medium onion, thinly sliced, plus ½ small onion, coarsely grated; 1 6-oz. can tomato paste; 1 tsp. ground lemon omani (dried black lime); 1 tsp. ground turmeric; ½ tsp. freshly ground white pepper; 2 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 Tbsp. plus ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, divided; 2½ tsp. dried mint, divided; ¼ cup fresh lemon juice; 3 large eggs; 1 lb. ground beef; ½ cup finely chopped chives; ½ cup finely chopped parsley; ¼ cup finely chopped cilantro; 2 Tbsp. finely chopped tarragon; 1 Tbsp. dried summer savory or oregano; ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper; 12 walnut halves; 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter; Pinch of ground cinnamon; Pinch of sugar

Braised beef and rice meatballs with nuts dried apricots prunes and barberries and served with picked vegetables and olives.

Photo by Yasara Gunawardena

“Kofteh is a showstopper dish,” says Cody Ma, who, along with his partner Misha Sesar, runs Persian all-day café Azizam, one of our Best New Restaurants of 2024. “It's seen as a feat, especially for larger parties; you hardly ever see it at a restaurant in the US.” At Azizam, Ma and Sesar serve a version of these hearty fruit-and-nut-stuffed balls of beef and grains inspired by the kofteh their grandmothers made growing up—served individually in a pool of sauce and topped with barberries.

Because the mixture of ground beef, basmati rice, and parcooked split peas is particularly tender, it can be a little tricky to form and stuff these oversized balls. At the restaurant, Ma and Sesar make a ball out of the dried fruit and walnut pieces to press into the center of the mixture, but if your fruit isn’t very sticky, it’s easier to add a scoop of the chopped fruit and the nut halves to the top of a flattened meat patty, then wrap the mixture around the filling. —Kendra Vaculin, test kitchen editor

Editor's Note: Lemon omani, also called dried black or Persian lime, is worth seeking out—for this recipe and other braises or stews. Boiled in salt brine, then dried in the sun, just 1 tsp. of ground limes packs a bunch of tart, earthy flavor.