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

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
Mediterranean
Soup
Spicy

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