Chorba

Some historical facts on chorba preparation

There are two major types of Uzbek chorba recipes: Kovurma, when the main components are pre-fried and the dish is more like a stew, and Kaynatma, which is a thick soup, the ingredients of which are not subjected to any additional processing. The second kind is more classical form of chorba preparation, it’s more similar to that used by the ancestors of modern Uzbeks. It’s not surprising, because for nomadic people, constantly being on the road and having only a bowler to cook something, grilled meat and vegetables were not an option. Moreover, less fatty Kaynatma should definitely please the fans of a healthy lifestyle. Now, it’s time to follow this chorba recipe with photos that we present on our site today and make something delicious out of it!

Key ingredients to be included in your basket

• 0,7 lb of mutton
• 3 onions
• 2 liters of water
• 2 carrots
• 3 potatoes
• 1 inch of Chile pod
• salt
• Uzbek spices
• parsley
• 3 tomatoes

Traditional chorba recipe:

1. Wash a pice of mutton on a bone (preferably with normal amount of fat), the dry it with a paper towel and cut into large pieces.
   

   Low-fat pieces of mutton should be washed, dried and cut into cubes

2. Then put the meat into the pot and fill it with water, then put a full peeled onion inside. Also, place the bone on the bottom of the pan.
   

   Place the meat and the bone in a pan with water, then add a full peeled onion

3. Now, put the mutton soup on the stove and cook it for about 2 hours, the liquid should evaporate at least twice. When you notice that time is running out, gently remove the bone that we no longer need, peel the carrot and cut it in large circles.
   

   Put the pan on the heat and boil the soup for about 2 hours. When the time is over, take out the bone and cut the carrot into large slices.

4. Having put the vegetables in boiling [chorba], peel potatoes, cut them in half (if large one - in 4 parts), and also add to the pot.
   

   Once the soup is boiling again, add pre-sliced and peeled carrots and potatoes.

5. Now, chop the chili pods with seeds and cut the remaining two onions into large ring halves.
   

   Chop the chili and cut the remaining onions.

6. Put all the ingredients into the soup. Then cover lamb chorba with a lid torment it for about 15 minutes, then add salt with Uzbek spices.
   

   Put everything into the pot, cover it with a lid and boil for 15 minutes. Pour some salt spices afterwards.

7. The importing thing about buying spices is, when you’re in the shop, you better ask the salesmen for a particular set of spices for the chorba soup, since it’s rather different from any other (the set for pilaf, for instance). However, unless you find these special spices, you may use those you like the most. So, the last step is to add some finely chopped parsley and blanched tomatoes (already cut in 4 pieces).
   

   Now it’s time to put the finely chopped greens and previously blanched tomatoes on the pot.

8. Close the Uzbek chorba tightly and leave it for at least an hour, after which the dish can be served to the table, decorating it with fresh herbs and add some freshly baked crusty bread.
   

   Now cover the soup tightly and leave for at least and hour. Only afterwards pour the soup into the plates and serve. Don’t forget to decorate it with herbs.

Different options of cooking

In addition to the proposed option on how to cook Shurpa, there are several popular recipes, both in Asia and far beyond its borders. Here are just few of them:

• Kovurnma, to make which you’ll need to fry all the ingredients in mutton fat, then fill the pot with water, cover it and boil until it’s cooked;
• [chorba] with milk, which means that you should use a small amount of water to cook it, but after you add the vegetables high-fat milk goes there too;
• [chorba] with beef or chicken which will substitute traditional mutton;
• Balkan [chorba] which goes with bell pepper plus some other local herbs;
• vegetarian [chorba] which contains, of course, no meat but chickpeas or other beans.

Heathy features of chorba soup

Naturally, home-made chorba differs largely from the one cooked in a cauldron over an open fire. However, modern cookware allows you to make it very similarly to the original dish, which has, by the way, in spite of its fat content, a whole set of different nutrients. So, mutton can the nourish your body with protein and gelatin, carrots - with carotene and fiber, onion - with essential oils and vitamin B, parsley - with vitamins C and A, and tomatoes - with pectin and serotonin. Moreover, it’s worth noting that fresh vegetables cooked in a broth retain more essential elements than those that have been pre-fried in mutton fat.

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