Gondi is a crowd-pleasing Persian-Jewish Shabbat hors d’oeuvres that I love to enjoy as a hearty, filling meal. With substantial and tasty dumplings made from ground chicken and chickpea flour, this recipe passed onto me by my mother holds a special place in my heart. I hope you feel the love when you make it yourself.

A white patterned bowl filled with chicken dumplings and chickpeas in a broth.

⭐️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Hearty, filling meal: Gondi is made from a satisfying mix of ground chicken, chickpea flour, onions, and the warm spices turmeric and cumin. This combination gives you a deeply savory flavor and great aromatics, the perfect combo for a comforting, home-cooked meal. For more hearty stews, try my ghormeh sabzi or my khoresh gheymeh.

Make ahead for an easy dinner: You can make the whole recipe and reheat the next day, or make the raw dumplings in advance, freeze them, and cook whenever you like. The frozen dumplings last for up to three months in the freezer.

Easy step-by-step instructions: My recipe is straightforward and helps you achieve success with easy-to-to-follow steps and photos.

🧾 Key Ingredients You Need

Chicken, chickpeas, and other ingredients for gondi laid out on a marble countertop.
  • Ground chicken: This forms the main bulk of the chicken dumplings. You can substitute this with dark meat turkey, or ground beef if preferred.
  • Chicken legs: These are cooked in hot water and help provide the savory flavor of the broth.
  • Chickpea flour: This helps add bulk and heartiness to the dumplings.
  • Canned chickpeas: The chickpeas soften in the broth and absorb all that amazing flavor.
  • Flavorless oil: (canola, avocado, or sunflower seed)
  • Matzo meal: You can substitute for panko or breadcrumbs. This adds substance to the dumplings while giving them a light, fluffy, airy texture.
  • Spices: We use bay leaves, ground cumin, turmeric, and cumin seed

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

👩‍🍳 How to Make This Recipe

A hand using a silver spoon to remove fat from the top of chicken broth.
  • Bring 6 cups of water and the chicken legs to boil. As foam builds, skim the top with a slotted spoon. Foam doesn’t always build, but remove it if it does.
Chicken, onion, and a bay leaf simmering in a pot.
  • Immediately lower the broth to a simmer. If you boil it at a high boil, the chicken will get too tough. Add the cumin seed, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1/4 teaspoon turmeric, bay leaves, and quartered onion. Let the chicken simmer for ~20 minutes.

✅ Pro Tip

Removing the foam from the top of the soup helps give the final soup a clearer, more appetizing appearance. Skipping this step can make your soup look kind of cloudy and less appealing.

A hand using a silver spoon to remove fat from the top of chicken broth.
  • After 20 minutes discard the bay leaves, quartered onion, and any built-up foam as you see around the edges in the photo above. When the chicken broth is ready, remove the chicken legs from the pot. That way, there is plenty of room for the dumplings to cook. You will add the chicken legs back to the broth later.
Hands mashing ground chicken to form dumplings.
  • Mix the ground chicken (or turkey or beef), grated onion, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup oil, matzo meal, ground cumin, 1/4 teaspoon turmeric, salt, pepper, and chickpea powder. Mix thoroughly without over-mixing. The mixture should feel soft and elastic.
A hand holding a chicken dumpling above a stew pot.
  • Bring the water back to a rolling boil. Make golf ball-sized balls from the ground poultry mixture. At this point, you can freeze the dumplings to make them at another time. Add the chicken balls to the boiling broth.
Hand pouring chickpeas into a large pot of chicken dumplings and broth.
  • Add the chickpeas to the broth. Bring to a boil. Now, add the chicken legs back to the pot.
A chicken dumpling on a black cooking spoon above a pot of chicken broth.
  • Lower to a simmer, cover, and cook for 30-40 minutes. Then, it will be ready to serve and enjoy.

❄️ How to Freeze the Gondi

After forming the raw chicken dumplings, you can freeze them by lining them up on a baking sheet, and when frozen, transfer them to a sealable container. Keeps in the freezer for up to 3 months. They are raw when frozen and must be cooked properly before eating.

🍽️ Serving Suggestions for Gondi

Enjoy as a chickpea stew, served with basmati rice, or as a chickpea soup without the rice. I sometimes garnish it with fresh herbs to add a pop of color since it can be a bland-looking dish with the yellow and beige colors, despite all the amazing flavor.

Dumplings in a white soup pot on a black table.

🍲 More Delicious Persian Recipes

Check out all my Persian recipes here, and these are some of my favorites.

I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m up to.

Dumplings in a white soup pot on a black table.
Author: Candice Walker

Gondi

5 from 17 votes
Print Recipe Save
Gondi is a Persian-Jewish Shabbat hors d'oeuvre that I love to enjoy as a hearty, filling meal. With substantial and tasty dumplings made from ground chicken and chickpea flour, this recipe passed onto me by my mother holds a special place in my heart. I hope you feel the love when you make it yourself.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Course: Main, Main Course
Cuisine: Jewish, Persian
Servings: 6
Calories: 731kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. ground chicken or dark meat turkey or beef
  • 4 chicken legs
  • 6 oz. chickpea flour
  • 1 yellow onion grated
  • 1 yellow onion peeled and quartered
  • ¼ cup flavorless oil like canola, avocado, or sunflower seed
  • 1 tbsp matzo meal panko, or breadcrumbs
  • 16 oz. canned chickpeas rinsed (optional: peeled)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp Cumin seed
  • Salt and pepper
  • fresh herbs for garnish (optional)

Instructions

  • Bring 6 cups of water and the chicken legs to boil. As foam builds, skim the top with a slotted spoon.
    4 chicken legs
  • Lower to simmer. Add the cumin seed, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp turmeric, bay leaves, and quartered onion. Let the chicken simmer ~20 minutes.
    2 bay leaves, 1 yellow onion
  • After 20 minutes discard the bay leaves, quartered onion, and any built-up foam as you see around the edges in the photo above. When the chicken broth is ready, remove the chicken legs from the pot. That way, there is plenty of room for the dumplings to cook. You will add the chicken legs back to the broth later.
  • In the meantime, mix the ground chicken (or turkey or beef), grated onion, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup oil, matzo meal, ground cumin, 1/4 teaspoon turmeric, salt, pepper, and chickpea powder. Mix thoroughly without over-mixing. The mixture should feel soft and elastic.
    1 lb. ground chicken or dark meat turkey, 6 oz. chickpea flour, 1 yellow onion, 1/4 cup flavorless oil, 1 tbsp matzo meal
  • Bring the water back to a rolling boil. Make golf ball-sized balls from the ground poultry mixture. At this point, you can freeze the dumplings to make them at another time. Add the chicken balls to the boiling broth.
  • Add the chickpeas to the broth. Bring to a boil. Now, add the chicken legs back to the pot.
    16 oz. canned chickpeas
  • Lower to a simmer, cover, and cook for 30-40 minutes. Then, it will be ready to serve and enjoy.

Video

Notes

The texture of the ground mixture should be elastic and soft. 
Serve with basmati rice or enjoy as a soup.
I prefer using ground dark meat. It has more flavor and fat.
You can freeze the gondi dumplings on a baking sheet. When frozen, transfer to a sealable bag or container. Keeps in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Calories: 731kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 47g | Fat: 39g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 157mg | Sodium: 505mg | Potassium: 1345mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 94IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 98mg | Iron: 6mg
Did you try this recipe?I’d love to hear what you think! Leave a Review to let us know how it came out, if you have a successful substitution or variation, or anything else.

22 Comments

  2. 5 stars
    I’m a new cook, and living far from my Persian Jewish family. This was my first attempt at gondi. While I didn’t follow the recipe 100%, it was a fantastic guideline that resulted in what tasted like my family’s gondi. I was so pleased, I nearly cried. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.

    Reply

  3. 5 stars
    This recipe is incredible.

    It came out amazing and is so simple to make!

    The only thing I changed was that I put in almond flour instead of the matzo meal so that it was GF.

    Thank you!

    Reply

    1. Hi DK, thank you for sharing… it’s great to know it works well with almond flour, too! I often leave it out, but find that it does help with keeping them fluffy. Thanks again, and enjoy!

      Reply

  4. My Persian jewish friend says their grandma also puts cardamon in this dish too. Can you suggest how you might add that in?

    Thanks!

    Reply

  5. Need advice please. My Gondi is very soft. I did 1lb of ground turkey to about 11/2 cups of chickpea flour plus onion and spices. Do I need more or less flour to make the valleys little harder? Thank you! My mother in law was the best Persian cook and unfortunately she has passed on.

    Reply

    1. Hi Cheryl… I suggest trying my recipe, but until then… your gondi needs less of the chickpea flour. If it is falling apart, it can also be because you did not fully squeeze out the liquid from the onion. Good luck and I hope this helps!

      Reply

  6. Dear Candice,
    Thank you for being here and advising us.
    This is the first time that I will try to make it with lamb, all advice is welcome.

    BTW, We are small community here in Copenhagen, your all welcome to pass by or you have any question 🙂

    Reply

    1. Hi Dan,
      It helps if you use ground meat that is twice-ground, meaning it is run through the grinder twice.
      Welcome, and let me know if you have any other questions 🙂

      Reply

  7. Do you mean freezing after being formed uncooked or cooked? If uncooked, do you have to increase the time for cooking? I’ve made gondi before and it would be a real time saver to be able to freeze them uncooked.

    Reply

    1. I freeze them after being formed. I place them on a lined baking sheet then put the whole sheet in the freezer. Once they are frozen, you can transfer them to a freezer bag.
      They usually need a little longer, but no more than 10 minutes more.
      It’s a huge time saver… enjoy!

      Reply

        1. Hi Ruth! I am not sure I understand your question… You form them into balls out of the raw mixture. Then, if you plan to freeze them, you do so raw on a baking sheet. Hope this helps! If not, please clarify.

          Reply

  9. 5 stars
    Chickpeas were new to me. Your step by step instructions are perfect for an “emerging” cook. The pictures help also. Very tasty and fun to serve.

    Reply
5 from 17 votes (13 ratings without comment)

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