Chorba

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

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: 3,470 grams

Times:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
57 min.	1 hour 11 min.	2 hours 8 min.

Step by step recipe

1	Prepare 1 onion and chop, leave 2 cloves garlic "en chemise".
2	Prepare and grate 3 carrots.
3	Peel and wash 2 turnips, then grate.
4	Wash 300 g cauliflower and only keep the small florets.
5	Cut 200 g chicken breast into small dice.
6	Heat 5 tablespoons olive oil in a large pan and add the chopped onion and garlic clove, salt and pepper. Cook without colouring.
7	Add the carrots, turnip and cauliflower. Mix well.
8	Add the chicken and 30 g spices for couscous*. Mix well. (* see below).
9	Cook like this (dry) for 2 or 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
10	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.
11	After this, remove the garlic clove and discard, then add 150 g tinned (canned) chickpeas...
12	...and 150 g vermicelli. Leave to cook for a further 5 minutes (check the cooking time of the pasta on the paquet). Check seasoning.
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.

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