Silky Chickpea & Lamb Soup

Name: Silky Chickpea & Lamb Soup
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 2 h
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Morocco
Ingredients: 1 bay leaf; 250 g/9 oz/1⅓ cups brown lentils, rinsed; a few pitted dates, to serve; ¼ tsp ground cumin; 350 g/12 oz lamb shank; ¼ tsp ground cardamom; ¼ tsp ground cinnamon; ¼ tsp smoked paprika; ¼ tsp ground coriander; 20 g/¾ oz/4 tsp salted butter or smen; 700 g/1 lb 9 oz tomatoes; 1 onion, finely chopped; 2 tbsp rye flour (optional); sea salt and freshly ground black pepper; 2 tbsp strong bread flour (optional); 1 tbsp chopped coriander/cilantro leaves, plus extra for sprinkling; 1 wedge of Preserved Lemon, rind rinsed and finely chopped, or zest of half a lemon; warm Arabic Bread (optional), to serve; 2 l/70 fl oz/8¾ cups Vegetable Stock; 5 cm/2 in piece of root ginger, peeled and finely chopped; a pinch of ground saffron (optional); 125 g/4½ oz/½ cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked, or 250 g/9 oz/1¾ cups canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed; 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped; 1 lemon, quartered, to squeeze

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
2 hr

Appears in

The Jewelled Kitchen

By Bethany Kehdy

Published 2013

About

During the holy month of Ramadan in North Africa, this silky textured soup is the first dish with which the fast is broken. It goes well with Pan-Fried Squares.

Ingredients

2 tbsp rye flour (optional)
2 tbsp strong bread flour (optional)
350

Africa
Morocco
Starter
Preserve
Spicy
Mediterranean
Soup

Method

If you are using the starter, which will give a thicker, smoother soup, early in the morning of the first day, put 2 teaspoons each of the rye and bread flour in a mixing bowl and mix together. Pour over a