Parcha bozbash (lamb soup with chestnuts quin

4 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 pounds Boneless lean lamb
; cut in 1\" cubes
Salt; to taste
Pepper, black; to taste
3 tablespoons Butter
1 medium Onion, finely chopped
4 cups Beef broth
1 medium Potato, peeled and cubed
1 small Quince; peeled/cored/cubed
½ cup Dried pitted prunes
OR 1 c fresh sour prunes
¼ pounds Chestnuts, shelled & peeled
⅔ cup Canned chick-peas*
; drained & rinsed
2 tablespoons Ghi

Directions

Season the lamb with salt and pepper. In a heavy pot, melt the 3 tb.

butter over moderate heat. Add the lamb and onion; saute until browned, stirring frequently. Add the broth; season to taste with salt. Cover; simmer 30 minutes. Add the potato, quince, prunes, and chestnuts. Cover; simmer 20 minutes. Add the chick-peas and simmer, covered, about 15 minutes or until done. Stir in the clarified butter and allow to melt before serving soup.

Note: ¼ tsp. ginger or a pinch of powdered saffron dissolved in 2 tb. warm water may be added with the chick-peas, and the soup served sprinkled with 1 ts. crushed dried mint, accompanied by chopped onion and sumakh on the side. In the Caucasus, ground kyurdyuk is normally used instead of the clarified butter, and dried chick-peas* rather than canned ones. The dried chick-peas are soaked several hours, drained, and added at the beginning with the broth.

Personal note: I've found sumakh (labelled as sumac, a spice mixture) at Middle Eastern groceries.

The author describes this soup as an "outstanding" Azerbaidzhani soup.

From "Cooking from the Caucasus" by Sonia Uvezian. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1978. Pp. 52-53. ISBN 0-15-622594-8. Posted by Cathy Harned. Submitted By SAM WARING <SAM.WARING@...> On WED, 01 NOV 1995 134731 GMT

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