This recipe for cooking plum meatballs with Iranian saffron wraps a barberry, walnut and prune filling inside tender meatballs, then simmers them in a gently spiced tomato and saffron plum sauce.
The original recipe is recognizably an Iranian stuffed meatball, but its English translation confuses several ingredients and actions. “Cobs” means yellow split peas, “we break the chickens” means adding the eggs, and “spit” means sauté. Those errors are corrected here without losing the rice, herbs, optional peppers, stuffed center or 30–40 minute sauce finish.
What are plum meatballs?
Plum meatballs combine a ground-meat shell with sweet-tart dried plums, often called prunes in English. Rice and yellow split peas soften the interior, while egg helps bind it. The filling brings small bursts of fried onion, barberry and walnut to each slice.
Iranian saffron belongs in both the aromatic profile and the sauce. It should not make the dish sweet on its own; the balance comes from tart barberries, savory meat, tomatoes and dried plum. Depending on the plums, the finished sauce can lean gently sweet or noticeably tangy.
Ingredients
This recipe makes about eight palm-size meatballs.
For the meatballs
- 700 g ground lamb, beef or a mixture, with a little fat
- 100 g yellow split peas
- 120 g long-grain rice
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped summer savory
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped tarragon
- 1/2 cup finely diced sweet bell pepper, optional
- Salt, black pepper and turmeric, as needed
- 1–2 tablespoons chickpea or rice flour, only if needed
The old ingredient list says “safflower” among the aromatic vegetables. In this context it is most likely a mistranslation of summer savory, or marzeh, which is used with parsley and tarragon in Iranian meatballs. Safflower petals are not a substitute for savory here.
For the filling
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 50 g dried plums or prunes, pitted and chopped
- 1/3 cup barberries, picked over and rinsed
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- Oil, as needed
For the saffron plum sauce
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 50 g dried plums or prunes, left whole
- 2 cups boiling water
- 2 tablespoons bloomed Iranian saffron
- Turmeric, salt, black pepper and preferred warm spices, as needed
- Olive oil or another cooking oil, as needed
Prepare the saffron and dried fruit
Finely grind the saffron, cover it with a few tablespoons of hot water and leave it for 10–15 minutes. Use two tablespoons of the saffron liquid in this recipe. For more detail, see our checked method for brewing Iranian saffron.
Inspect every dried plum and remove its stone before it goes into a filling or sauce. Rinse the barberries in cool water and drain them well. Their fine stems and grit are easier to remove in a shallow bowl.
Make the tomato and saffron plum sauce
Heat two tablespoons of oil in a wide, heavy pot. Add one chopped onion and sauté over medium heat until golden. Stir in turmeric, then add the chopped tomatoes. Cook for about 10 minutes, until they soften and release their juice.
Add two tablespoons of tomato paste and cook for another minute to remove its raw taste. Pour in two cups of boiling water, season lightly with salt and pepper, and simmer for 10 minutes over gentle heat. The sauce should be fluid enough to surround the meatballs but not so watery that they float and knock against one another.
Add the whole pitted plums and one tablespoon of bloomed saffron. Keep the sauce at a quiet simmer while the meatballs are assembled.
Cook the rice and split peas
Put the rice in a small pot with water and a pinch of salt. Simmer until it is partly cooked but still firm in the center, then drain. Cook the yellow split peas separately until tender but not collapsed, and drain them very well.
Spread both on separate plates to cool. Warm, wet rice or peas will loosen the meat mixture and can start cooking the eggs before the meatballs reach the pot.
Mix the meatball shell
Put the ground meat in a large bowl and knead it for several minutes until tacky. Add the cooled rice and split peas, parsley, summer savory, tarragon, optional diced bell pepper, salt, pepper and a little turmeric.
Beat the two eggs in a separate cup, then add them with one tablespoon of bloomed saffron. Knead until the rice, peas and herbs are evenly distributed and the mixture holds together when pressed.
Do not taste the raw mixture, despite the instruction in the older article. Fry a teaspoon-size test portion in a small pan, taste that, and adjust salt or spice in the bowl. If the mixture remains loose after resting for 10 minutes, add chickpea or rice flour one tablespoon at a time.
The old recipe also allows small pieces of chicken with the ground meat. Mixed raw pieces can cook unevenly inside a large meatball, so omit them or use a small amount of fully cooked, finely chopped chicken in the filling.
Prepare the barberry, walnut and plum filling
Warm one tablespoon of oil in a small pan and sauté the second chopped onion until golden. Add the drained barberries and stir for only 30 seconds; they burn quickly. Fold in the walnuts, chopped pitted plums and one teaspoon of tomato paste, then remove from the heat and let the filling cool.
The filling should be moist enough to hold together but contain no loose sauce. Large or sharp walnut pieces can puncture the meat shell, so chop them into small, even pieces.
Shape and fill the plum meatballs
- Divide the meat mixture into eight portions.
- Flatten one portion across a damp palm into a thick circle.
- Place one spoonful of filling in the center, leaving a clean border.
- Bring the edges over the filling and pinch them closed.
- Roll gently between both hands until the seam disappears and the ball is compact.
The original describes a ball about the size of a palm. Keep every meatball close to the same size so they cook together. If a seam opens before cooking, patch it with a small piece of meat mixture rather than adding more filling.
Simmer the meatballs without breaking them
The meatballs can be browned lightly in an oiled non-stick skillet, as the old recipe suggests, or placed directly into the sauce. Browning adds a firmer exterior but is optional.
Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer, then lower each meatball into the pot with a spoon. Leave space between them. Do not stir during the first 15 minutes; spoon a little hot sauce over their tops instead. Once the exterior has set, turn them carefully if part of each ball sits above the liquid.
Cover partially and simmer gently for 35–45 minutes. The old instruction gives half an hour to 40 minutes; the added range accounts for meatball size. Check the center of one with a clean thermometer. Ground meat should reach 160°F (71°C).
Taste the cooked sauce and adjust salt, pepper or saffron. If the plums make it sweeter than desired, a small squeeze of lemon can restore balance. If it is too sharp, let it simmer a little longer before making any correction.
Serving plum meatballs with Iranian saffron
Transfer the meatballs to a shallow serving bowl and spoon the saffron plum sauce around them. Scatter a few visible barberries and walnuts over the top so diners understand what is inside. Serve with bread, plain rice or fresh herbs.
The best plum meatballs stay closed when cut, show a distinct filling and remain moist rather than dense. Cooling the rice and split peas, cooking a seasoning test and keeping the sauce at a gentle simmer are the steps that protect that result.
