Oriental cuisine has come into our life for a long time and is strong. Pilaf has generally become an almost everyday dish. Oriental sweets are sold in almost every store. And many tourists, fishermen and hunters often and lovingly prepare during their trips a dish called shurpa in a cauldron. Of course, this is not exactly the soup that its "inventors" have in mind, but in some ways it is very close to the original dish. So let's figure out how to cook shurpa - a tasty, satisfying and aromatic dish.
The right choice of meat
In all versions of such a soup, no matter what it is called: chorba, shurpa, sorba - exclusively mutton is used. This is not surprising, soup came to us from hot countries, where the main population is Muslims. The pig for them is a dirty animal, and cows do not survive well in the local climate. We use lamb less, so before you cook the shurpa, you need to figure out which part of the carcass to take as a base. Most often they take a neck, shoulder blade or back, depending on what they prefer: a rich broth or an abundance of meat. A thick broth is obtained from the former, a lot of โfillingโ is obtained from the latter, and the shoulder blade gives something in between.
The second subtlety: the basis for shurpa is prepared only from sheep, the sheepโs meat is not so fatty and tasty, and an unpleasant smell is often present. The question you are not always answered honestly. So, if you doubt the integrity of the seller, pay attention to the color of the lamb. In females, the shade of meat is much darker than in males. And we recall: it is clear that lamb must be fresh. But the size of the pieces to be laid is very important, since it is necessary to cook the shurpa from large chunks.
Now the original recipe is adapted to our habits and tastes. The meat can be chopped finely; lamb is replaced by something else, right down to the bird; vegetables are complemented by those that never grew in the East. But if you are interested in how to cook shurpa for real, if you want to feel the initial taste, try to cook it according to the rules at least once.
How to cook Shurpa broth
It turns out to be most successful if the lamb is soaked for an hour in ordinary cold water. Many people think that the meat from this will become "shaggy", soften, and the broth from it will turn muddy. This is a common misconception! On the contrary, excess blood and anemia will come out of the mutton, and after cooking it will become soft and fragrant. Of course, the shurpa in the cauldron turns out to be the most delicious, but for lack of it a large thick-walled pan is suitable. The broth should be cooked on the slowest fire, and for a very long time - from 3 to 5 hours. Foam will appear during the first hour or two. It must be removed regularly to make the broth transparent.
What to take spices and spices
This is one of the most important, and at the same time, the most democratic moment. Laurel, onion, black pepper, zira and cilantro - most chefs agree on this set. However, spices can vary. Quite often, shurpa is seasoned with hops-suneli and coriander. They put savory, tarragon, and basil in it. Caraway seeds, root and leaf parsley, peppers (both Bulgarian and hot), dill are permissible. The only thing that is clearly prohibited is all sorts of substitutes, amplifiers and dyes. Therefore, do not take spices in bags. Better go to the market and buy real spices.
Shurpa with lamb
Now that the basics of preparation have been clarified, we proceed to the process itself. Of course, it is absolutely perfect when your shurpa is cooked in a cauldron at the stake. If you will use just such a camping method of cooking, keep in mind that you will need either two fires, or one, but a long one, where you can install two vessels on the fire. Lamb for this dish needs 2 types: bones and meat. You can take fleshy ribs and cut the bone. The broth is cooked from it (do not forget about pre-soaking!). In large chunks, the meat is quickly fried in a pan or in a pot and added to the broth somewhere after an hour of cooking, when the foam ceases to appear. A whole bulb rushes along with it.
When the lamb is almost ready, the bones and onions are removed, and instead of them, coarsely chopped and fried carrots and another onion are laid. According to this recipe, it is also necessary to put small cubes of tomatoes peeled from the skin into the shurpa. When the broth boils again, large slices of potato are dropped. After the next boiling, salt and all selected spices are put. Note that the bay leaf after removing the cauldron from the fire will need to be thrown out. When the potatoes are cooked, the pot is covered with a lid and set aside for about 10 minutes, so that the shurpa is infused. And remember: you only need to eat it hot. Frozen mutton fat (and shurpa is a rather fatty dish) is very tasteless.
Beef Shurpa
Now we will tell you how to cook shurpa for those who do not like fat or disapprove of lamb. Take a kilogram of beef with bone, cut into large pieces and cook the broth from it. Remove the peel from the tomato, chop into cubes. Also chop 2 onions and carrots, one bell pepper. When the beef is ready, load the vegetables in a cauldron. Boil - add a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste, a teaspoon of ground pepper (or a mixture of peppers), 2 slices of finely chopped garlic and salt. 5 Coarsely chop the potatoes, add to the almost finished shurpa and cook until the potatoes reach. It remains to add a bunch of parsley and dill (chopped), close the lid and insist for half an hour. You can eat!
How Uzbeks cook it
In this republic, beef (300 g) is also used for the base. Boil the broth from it the same way as in the previous recipe, except that immediately with the meat put laurel, salt and 3 chopped onions. While boiling the broth, you need to rinse 50 g of Uzbek peas, which should be soaked in advance, and cut another onion, 5 potatoes and 3 carrots into 4 parts. When the beef is almost ready, peas are put in the shurpa, and after 20 minutes - vegetables. When they are cooked until half cooked, the potato rushes and the shurpa is cooked for another 10 minutes. Five minutes before removing from the fire, add spices: 2 sweet peppers, cut into strips, zira, crushed garlic, basil, lotus, curry, dill with parsley. After turning off the fire, such a shurpa should again be infused.
Pork based
Our compatriots nevertheless love neither lamb nor beef. Probably, it was they who developed the recipe for how to cook pork shurpa . It is prepared much faster than from other types of meat. For example, the broth will cook for less than an hour. The potato is still cut large. Then it is put in a salted broth and cooked for about 15 minutes. Onions crumble in rings, carrots in circles. All this is added to the shurpa when the potatoes are almost ready. At the same stage, you can throw lavrushka into the soup. When it is cooked, parsley is placed in the pan, and with sprigs, selected spices are poured. You need to boil another five minutes. Before pouring on plates, parsley must be removed. Unlike other recipes, you do not need to insist on such a soup, you can immediately serve it on the table. There are other ways of making pork shurpa, however they differ only in a slight difference in spices, which is why we leave it to you to choose them.
Duck soup
It can be made at home, from poultry, but more often such a shurpa is prepared at the stake by hunters from prey. The duck is first pickled in white wine (at least 2 hours). Then it must be washed and the broth made from it with the addition of not only peppercorns, onions and lavrushki, but also cloves, cumin, fennel and coriander. The bird will cook for about an hour. When it is almost ready, you need to remove it, strain the broth, put the duck in it again and send the carrots, potatoes and rice to the cauldron. After a quarter of an hour of boiling, bell pepper is put, and after another 8 minutes you can turn it off (or remove it from the fire) and insist. A subtle nuance: when bottled in bowls, chopped (rather than crushed) garlic, finely chopped greens and lime or lemon are added to the shurpa. It will turn out much tastier than shurpa! The recipe (with photo) can be implemented at home.