Gondi (Persian Chickpea Dumpling Stew with Chicken)

Gondi is a Persian-Jewish Shabbat hors d’oeuvres that I love to enjoy as a hearty meal. With dumplings made from ground chicken and chickpea flour, this recipe from my mother holds a sweet spot in my heart. I hope you feel the love when you make it yourself.

🧾Ingredients in this recipe

For this chickpea dumpling stew, you will need the following 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
• 1/4 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
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp Cumin seed
• Salt and pepper
• Optional: fresh herbs for garnish

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

The Simple 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.

Immediately lower the broth to a simmer. If you boil it on high boil, the chicken with get tough. 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. After 20 minutes discard the bay leaves, quartered onion, and any built-up foam like you see around the edges in the photo above.

Making Chickpea & Chicken Dumplings

Mix the ground poultry, grated onion, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup oil, matzo meal, ground cumin, 1/4 tsp turmeric, salt, pepper, and chickpea powder. Mix thoroughly without over-mixing. The mixture should be soft and elastic.

When the chicken broth is ready, remove the chicken 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. Bring the water back to a rolling boil.

Make golf ball size balls from the ground poultry mixture. Add to the boiling broth. At this point, you can freeze the dumplings on the baking sheet, and when frozen, transfer to a sealable container. Keeps in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Add the chickpeas to the broth. Bring to boil. Now, add the chicken legs back to the pot. Lower to a simmer and simmer 30-40 minutes.

How to Serve Gondi

Enjoy as a chickpea stew, served with basmati rice or as a chickpea soup without the rice. I sometimes garnish with fresh herbs to add a pop of color since it’s a bland-looking dish, despite all the packed flavor.

🫛 More Chickpea Recipes

If you love chickpeas as much as I do, you’ll love these other chickpea recipes:

Chickpea & Fennel One-Pan Chicken

Cilantro Jalapeño Hummus

🍲 More Persian Recipes

Check out all my Persian recipes here, and these are some of the blog favorites:

Ghormeh Sabzi – Persian Herb & Beef Stew with Dried Limes

Khoresh e Beh (Persian Quince & Plum Stew)

Kuku Sabzi (Persian Herb & Spinach Frittata)

4-Ingredient Tahdig (Persian Crispy Rice)

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Author: Candice Walker

Gondi

5 from 16 votes

Print Recipe Save Saved!

A traditional Persian-Jewish Shabbat hors d'oeuvres that I like to enjoy as a hearty meal. Made from ground chicken and chickpeas, this recipe from my mother holds a sweet spot in my heart.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

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
• ▢ 1/4 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
• ▢ 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• ▢ 1/2 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.
• 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. After 20 minutes discard the bay leaves and quartered onion.
• In the meantime, mix the ground poultry, grated onion, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup oil, matzo meal, ground cumin, 1/4 tsp turmeric, salt, pepper, and chickpea powder. Mix thoroughly without over-mixing. The mixture should be soft and elastic.
• When the chicken broth is ready, remove the chicken from the pot. Bring the water back to a rolling boil.
• Make golf ball size balls from the ground poultry mixture. Add to the boiling broth.
• Add the chickpeas to the broth.
• Bring to boil. Add the chicken back to the pot. Lower to a simmer.
• Simmer 30-40 minutes.
• Garnish with your favorite herbs (optional). Noush-ie-jan!

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.

This post was originally published in January of 2017, but was republished with new photos, step by step instructions, and tips October of 2019.