Lamb shurpa - 3 cooking recipes

The traditional, classic dish of oriental cuisine, which eventually became known as shurpa, was always prepared with lamb meat. It owes its name to the ancient Turkic “chobra”, which means “brew”. In the process of culinary evolution, many branches have formed from the dish, with different names, cooking technologies and composition of ingredients.

So, in Afghanistan, where it is called “shorwa”, it is cooked in beef with potatoes and beans for at least two hours. In Romania and Moldova, where it is known as “chobra”, in addition to those listed, other vegetables and different types of meat are put into the soup. Properly cooked chobra is believed to support the immune system and is especially effective against seasonal colds.

In Arab countries, the dish is also known as “shorba”. The Arabs attribute Persian roots to it. If you translate it into Russian, you get something like “salty thick soup”, or just “soup”. In addition to those listed, lamb shurpa recipes are included in the national cuisines of Uzbekistan, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, India, Iran, North Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East. In a number of regions of Russia it is actively prepared, called as we are more accustomed to - shurpa.

Depending on the composition of the products, shurpa can be classified as either a first or second course. That is, in essence, it is a rich soup in which there is little liquid, or a liquid stew. Any lamb can be used for it, but the meaty part with bone and a minimum of fat is preferable. Because fat tail fat is intended here for frying vegetables.

It is noteworthy that shurpa will look different in different parts of the country. Somewhere it is prepared as a light liquid aperitif, with a minimum of vegetables and homemade noodles. And somewhere this is a solid, serious main, high-calorie dish, in which, as they say, the spoon is worth it.