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Chorba

Name: Chorba
Prep time: 57 min
Cook time: 1 h 11 min
Total time: 2 h 8 min
Yield: 6 people
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 1 onion; 2 cloves garlic; 3 carrots; 2 turnips; 300 g cauliflower; 200 g chicken breast; 5 tablespoons olive oil; 30 g spices for couscous; 70 g tomato paste; 1 litre 500 ml water; 150 g tinned (canned) chickpeas; 150 g vermicelli; Fresh coriander (cilantro); 1 lemon; Salt; Pepper

Chorba is a spicy meat and vegetable soup, typical of the Maghreb. This is my own personal version.

169 K 4.5/5 (10 reviews)529507

Duration

2 hours 15 min.

Difficulty

Easy

Last modified on: October 24^th 2026

Step by step recipe Ingredients Duration Nutritional facts Cost Comments Support the site ❤️

For 6 people, you will need:

1 1 onion
2 2 cloves garlic
3 3 carrots
4 2 turnips
5 300 g cauliflower
6 200 g chicken breast
7 5 tablespoons olive oil
8 30 g spices for couscous
9 70 g tomato paste
10 1 litre 500 ml water
11 150 g tinned (canned) chickpeas
12 150 g vermicelli
13 Fresh coriander (cilantro)
14 1 lemon
15 Salt
16 Pepper
Total weight: 3,465 grams

Times for this recipe

Preparation

1 hour

Cooking

1 hour 15 min.

All in all

2 hours 15 min.

Preparation 1 hour

Cooking 1 hour 15 min.

When should you start or finish this recipe?

If you start now, at , you will finish around: ?.Change start time

To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe

Step 1 - ⌛ 10 min.

Prepare 1 onion and chop, leave 2 cloves garlic "en chemise".

Step 2 - ⌛ 10 min.

Prepare and grate 3 carrots.

Step 3 - ⌛ 10 min.

Peel and wash 2 turnips, then grate.

Step 4 - ⌛ 15 min.

Wash 300 g cauliflower and only keep the small florets.

Step 5 - ⌛ 5 min.

Cut 200 g chicken breast into small dice.

Step 6 - ⌛ 3 min.

Heat 5 tablespoons olive oil in a large pan and add the chopped onion and garlic clove, salt and pepper.

Cook without colouring.

Step 7 - ⌛ 2 min.

Add the carrots, turnip and cauliflower. Mix well.

Step 8 - ⌛ 2 min.

Add the chicken and 30 g spices for couscous*. Mix well.

(* see below).

Step 9 - ⌛ 3 min.

Cook like this (dry) for 2 or 3 minutes, stirring frequently.

Step 10 - ⌛ 1 hour

Pour in 1 litre 500 ml water, add 70 g tomato paste and mix well.

Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and leave to simmer uncovered for about an hour.

Step 11 - ⌛ 3 min.

After this, remove the garlic clove and discard, then add 150 g tinned (canned) chickpeas...

Step 12 - ⌛ 5 min.

...and 150 g vermicelli.

Leave to cook for a further 5 minutes (check the cooking time of the pasta on the paquet).

Check seasoning.

Step 13

Serve piping hot with a generous squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of chopped fresh coriander.

Remarks

As with any "regional" recipe, please remember that this is only ONE chorba recipe and not THE chorba recipe.

The proportions are for guidance, so do vary them to your own taste.

The diced chicken can be either raw or cooked (as in the photos) and this is a good way to use up leftovers.

If you can't find a ready-made mix of couscous spices, you can make your own from: cumin, coriander (ground), cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom and turmeric. Paprika, cloves and caraway are also sometimes used.

And to drink?

An Algerian red wine, one from the Medea region, for example, or any other full-bodied red.

Keeping: A few days in the fridge in a covered container.

Source: Homemade.

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Nutritional information

	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats	Calories	Energy
Per 100 g	3 g RDI=4 %	7 g RDI=3 %	3 g RDI=4 %	62 kcal RDI=3 %	259 kJ RDI=3 %
Per person	15 g RDI=23 %	41 g RDI=16 %	15 g RDI=20 %	357 kcal RDI=18 %	1,497 kJ RDI=18 %
Whole recipe	89 g RDI=137 %	247 g RDI=93 %	89 g RDI=122 %	2,145 kcal RDI=107 %	8,980 kJ RDI=107 %