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Chickpea and beef soup

Chickpea and Beef Soup

A hearty, warming, and very tasty soup! This recipe is a simplified take on bozbash, a soup popular across the Caucasus — rich, fragrant, and beautifully colorful. If you like, stir a little dried mint into the finished soup; it pairs wonderfully with beef, chickpeas, and tomatoes.

Pearl

Recipe author

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Beef

400

Chickpeas (canned)

220

Potatoes

250

Onion

150

Tomatoes (medium)

Vegetable oil

Tomato paste

Garlic

Water (200 ml for the beef and 700 ml for the soup)

900

Turmeric (level)

Fresh herbs

Salt

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 37 % 7 g

Fats 11 % 2 g

Carbohydrates 53 % 10 g

88 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Step 1:

Here are the main ingredients you'll need for chickpea and beef soup. It's best to cook in a heavy-bottomed pot. Peel the potatoes, onion, and garlic. Wash the herbs and all the vegetables.
Step 2:

Halve the onion and chop each half into small pieces.
Step 3:

Cut the beef into medium pieces. Add the vegetable oil to the pot and heat it over high heat. If your meat is lean, add a little more oil; if it's marbled with fat, use just a teaspoon. Add the meat and fry, stirring constantly, until browned on all sides.
Step 4:

Add the onion to the meat and keep stirring and frying until the onion turns golden and the meat takes on its aroma.
Step 5:

Add the turmeric and stir again. Season with salt.
Step 6:

After a minute, pour in 200 ml of boiling water. Once it's bubbling, lower the heat to medium and simmer everything, covered, for about an hour.
Step 7:

Meanwhile, prep the rest. Prick the tomatoes in several places with a toothpick. Cover them with boiling water, leave for about a minute, then carefully drain.
Step 8:

Once the tomatoes have cooled a little, peel them (after the boiling-water treatment, the skins come off easily).
Step 9:

Cut the tomatoes into small cubes, or however you like. Finely chop the garlic.
Step 10:

After the hour is up, check whether any water remains in the pot. If so, uncover it, turn the heat to high, and let the liquid cook off. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, and minced garlic to the meat. Stir and fry briefly, about one minute.
Step 11:

Cut the potatoes into fairly large pieces. Add the potatoes and chickpeas to the pot. Pour in 700 ml of water, stir, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to its minimum and cook the soup, covered, for about 30-40 minutes. Go by the potatoes — when they start to fall apart under pressure, the soup is nearly done. Just a couple of things left.
Step 12:

Roughly chop the herbs. Taste the soup and add more salt if needed. Stir in the herbs. Take the pot off the heat and let it rest at least 15-20 minutes.

Chickpeas are also known as garbanzo beans. They're healthy and tasty. The recipe uses canned chickpeas to speed things up. If you don't have any, use dried chickpeas — but you'll need to soak them in cold water overnight first, then boil them separately until tender (30 to 50 minutes), and proceed with the recipe. Sprinkle the soup with allspice before serving. Enjoy!