January 23, 2025

On long hot summer Friday afternoons, my grandmother Savta Rosa would preside over a legendary table in the garden of her Ramat Gan home. As the widowed mother of six sons and three daughters, her kitchen was always filled with delicious Iraqi food. As her family grew with in-laws and grandchildren, her table also grew.

For these al fresco lunches, my grandmother would fry piles of crispy, delectable vegetable fritters called aruk. On the table would be a stack of Iraqi laffa, a toothsome, chewy flatbread baked in a stone oven, as well as all the other ingredients to make a flavorful sandwich. The stained yellow of her homemade turshi—a mix of pickled cauliflower, carrots, green beans and red pepper. The earthy, deep orange of her homemade amba, green mangoes pickled with turmeric, fenugreek and chilies. The bright reds and greens of her tomato and cucumber Israeli salad. The velvety brown fried eggplant. A platter of green onions and of grassy green herbs called “hath’ra” in Arabic.

A mainstay of the Babylonian Jewish kitchen, aruk are made with caramelized onions, fresh green herbs, like parsley and cilantro and mashed potatoes mixed with egg and a little potato starch. But aruk can also be made with ground beef, ground chicken or ground fish.

Growing up in Australia meant that my relationship with my Savta Rosa was limited by my visits to Israel. But my memories of her are incredibly vivid.

To this day, I am humbled by her strength and resilience as a mother. A decade after my grandparents made aliyah, my grandfather Rafi passed away, leaving her a widow in her 50s.

I cherish the stories that my father told me about her life in Iraq. How a young blind man trusted only her judgment on the beauty of the bride he had been offered.

How she finessed their simple Arab neighbor who would walk by their house and damage their wall with his stick. She flattered him and told him he was the only one smart enough to stop the neighborhood children from damaging her wall.

How brave she must have been to live through the Farhud, the Arab Nazi pogrom in June 1941. How courageous she was knowing that her sons were part of the T’nuah, the Zionist youth movement at a time when membership was punishable by hanging.

How smart that she was able to smuggle gold and jewelry from Iraq, when the government had confiscated their business and bank accounts.

I will never forget the beautiful clothes that she sewed for seven-year-old me. How did she know that red is my favorite color? Or is red my favorite color because she sewed a red blouse for me?

Every Friday evening, before lighting my Shabbat candles, I light a memorial candle for my father and all four of my grandparents. It gives me comfort to offer a silent prayer in their honor.

From my perspective as a newly minted grandmother, the best thing I can do is gather my family around the Shabbat table.

From my perspective as a modern, practical cook, I see the appeal of this old Iraqi recipe. Aruk are incredibly versatile — they taste amazing hot and crispy, straight out of the frypan, and they are also delicious at room temperature. They are perfect as a quick snack, cute as an appetizer or the perfect filling for a middle eastern style sandwich.

Last week, with my two elder daughters home from college, I decided to create some new food memories and fry up a batch of chicken aruk.

The first step is to boil potatoes in their skins and mash them, then to combine the potatoes with ground chicken breast, caramelized, onion, Italian parsley, scallions, paprika, turmeric, egg and potato starch. The result is a fragrant, crispy, golden fritter. Memorable and legendary!

—Sharon 

Chicken Aruk

3 medium russet potatoes

1 large yellow onion, finely diced

1 lb ground chicken breast 

2 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup flour or potato starch 

1 cup green scallions, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups Italian parsley, finely chopped

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp black pepper 

Vegetable oil, for frying

Carrots, for frying

In a pot, boil the potatoes in their skin, until fork tender. Allow the potatoes to cool, then peel and roughly mash in a big bowl.

In a frying pan, warm two tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until golden brown.

Add the onions, chicken, eggs, flour, scallions, parsley, turmeric, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to the mashed potatoes. Mix thoroughly.

Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour. 

Pour 1/4 cup oil into a large nonstick frying pan and warm over medium high heat. Add carrots. When oil starts to sizzle, form 3-inch patties of the mixture and drop into the pan. 

Fry until they are golden brown, then flip and fry the other side. 

Notes: 

Serve hot or room temperature with your choice of dipping sauce, like amba aioli, tahini or matbucha. 

Store in a container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. 

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Sharon Gomperts and Rachel Emquies Sheff have been friends since high school. The Sephardic Spice Girls project has grown from their collaboration on events for the Sephardic Educational Center in Jerusalem. Follow them
on Instagram @sephardicspicegirls and on Facebook at Sephardic Spice SEC Food. Website sephardicspicegirls.com/full-recipes.