Gushtaba

The ceremonial closing dish of the Wazwan feast — minced lamb pounded to a paste with lamb fat, shaped into large, perfectly smooth round balls, and slow-cooked in a white, fragrant yoghurt-fennel gravy until the kofte are impossibly tender and the sauce is silky. The pounding (done by hand with a wooden mallet) breaks down the protein fibres until the meat becomes springy and compact; no other kofte preparation approaches its textural refinement.