The Levantine dumpling made from meat-filled dough cooked in yogurt is shishbarak.
Shishbarak consists of small wheat-dough parcels filled with ground meat, commonly beef, along with onions and spices. The dumplings are cooked in a yogurt-based sauce and served hot, making the dish distinctive among Levantine dumplings. It is prepared in Lebanon and across neighboring parts of Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.
The dish has older connections beyond the modern Levant. Shishbarak is considered an Arabic form of the wider joshpara dumpling tradition, a name associated with Persian and Central Asian culinary history. Related dumplings include Azerbaijani düşbərə, Uzbek chuchvara, and Russian pelmeni, although their broths and seasonings differ.
A 15th-century Arabic cookbook from Damascus contains a recipe for shushbarak, while the dish is also mentioned in earlier medieval culinary sources. It is sometimes mistaken for manti or ravioli because of its shape, but the yogurt sauce is the key identifying feature. Regional versions may use jameed or other sour dairy products instead of fresh yogurt.