Tıkliye

A perfect soup for rainy #autumn days

This hearty soup is perfect for rainy days. It uses lamb shoulder and ground lamb. To start this soup out, soak the lamb shoulder in enough cold water to cover with 1 TBSP of vinegar added for 30 minutes or so. This not only tenderizes it also leaches out some of the impurities that give the lamb its gamey flavor.

This is a soup that take a few hours so if you have an instapot or a crock pot it should work rather nicely. Just don't add the lamb meatballs until about 30 minutes before you serve.

Here is what you need:

prep time: 20 minutes

total soaking time: overnight for chickpeas and 30 minutes for lamb

total cooking time: 2 hours on the stove

serves: 4-6

For the Soup

1/3 c chickpeas soaked overnight

1 lb of lamb shoulder with bones, soaked in

cold water with 1 tsp of vinegar added

3 TBSP rice

1 carrot chopped in 1" pieces

1 onion chopped in quarters

1 bulb garlic - halved

2 ribs of celery chopped in half

1 bay leaf

1 bunch of thyme

3 cloves

For afterwards:

Juice of 2 lemons

1 egg plus 1 egg yolk

1 c chopped parsley

1. cover everything except the chickpeas and rice with cold water and bring to a simmer. Skim off excess scum that rises to the top. Cook until meat on the lamb shoulders is tender and falls off the bone - about 2 hours.

2. Add the chickpeas and continue to cook until the chickpeas are tender.

3. Add salt and black pepper to taste

For the Meatballs:

5 oz minced lamb

1 1/4 c fine bulgur wheat

1/4 c grated onion with juice

1/4 c finely chopped parsley

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. coriander

1 tsp. Black Pepper

1/2 tsp. fenugreek

1. knead the meat, bulgar, onion, parsley and spice blend with 1 1/2 tsp salt. Let set for 20 minutes. Form 1/2" meat balls

Putting it all together:

1. After the broth is skimmed and the chickpeas are tender, remove the onion quarters, herb bundle, bayleaf, and celery ribs - these are done at this point and will just make the soup mushy.

2. add the meatballs and the rice and cook on low for 20 minutes until meatballs are done

3. in a separate bowl mix the egg, egg yolks and lemon juice with a whisk. Gently ladle some of the broth into the eggs and temper them into the soup. It may take 2 ladles to bring up the temperature of the eggs so they don't scramble.

4.continue to cook on very low heat until soup has thickened slightly - add parsley

5. when ready to serve: heat some butter in a pan and cook 1 tsp of et Oliva Anatolian Spice Blend with one clove of minced garlic until fragrant - Ladle soup in bowls and drizzle over the soup

Serve with fresh bread and extra lemon wedges