Chorba in Serbian. Recipe for Turkish shkembe, Montenegro, Moldavian, fish, meat

Chorba is a thick, rich soup that is prepared in Moldova, Turkey, Bulgaria and the Balkans. A distinctive feature is the addition of lemon juice or kvass.

This first hot dish is prepared in meat, chicken or fish broth. There are also vegetarian recipes. A lot of spicy spices and fresh herbs are added to chorba. Chorba soup consists of colorful vegetables, so it turns out beautiful, thick and aromatic.

Classic recipe

Serbian-style Chorba (the recipe is more often used for preparing lunch) has a spicy taste and unusual appearance. The kvass included in the recipe gives the soup a special taste and aroma.

What ingredients will you need?

To prepare a classic Serbian Chorba for 4 servings you will need:

• chilled meat tenderloin (in the classic version you need to use beef or veal) – 500 g;
• peeled potatoes (medium size) – 3 pcs.;
• large onion without peel (choose a turnip onion) – 1 pc.;
• washed carrots (medium size) – 1 pc.;
• paprika in powder form – 3-5 g;
• purified vegetable oil – 30 ml;
• table salt (it is recommended to use fine crystalline salt) – 7-10 g;
• wheat flour – 20 g;
• sprigs of fresh dill – 15 g;
• parsley leaves – 10 g;
• celery – 2 stalks;
• distilled water – 1 l;
• natural kvass – 500 ml.

Chorba in Serbian.
The recipe is classic. It is recommended to adjust the amount of paprika and salt to taste.

Step-by-step cooking process

The process of creating Serbian-style Chorba with a classic set of products consists of the following steps:

1. The veins need to be cut out of the meat; if there is a film, it should also be removed. Then the fillet needs to be washed in running water.
2. Next, it is recommended to cut the meat into 2x2 cm cubes.
3. The celery stalk must be washed and cut into small cubes.
4. The onion should be cut into medium-sized pieces.
5. After this, you need to heat the oil in a frying pan with high sides.
6. When the oil is hot, add onion, chopped meat, salt and fry the contents over moderate heat until browned.
7. When the ingredients are browned, the heat power needs to be reduced to low and the contents simmered for approximately 30 minutes.
8. After 30 minutes, add chopped celery to the pan. Fry the contents until the celery softens.
9. Then remove the pan from the stove and chop the dill and parsley.
10. Potatoes and carrots need to be cut into medium-sized cubes.
11. Place the ingredients from point 10 in a large saucepan and add distilled water.
12. When the water in the pan boils, add the fried meat from the frying pan to the contents and add salt. Cook food for approximately 20 minutes.
13. It is recommended to fry the flour in a dry frying pan for 20 minutes.

14. When the flour begins to darken, add paprika. It is important to constantly stir the ingredients and prevent lumps from forming. When the mass becomes homogeneous, the pan must be removed from the heat.
15. After 20 minutes, you need to add chopped fresh herbs and flour frying to the pan.
16. Cook the soup for approximately another 20 minutes. If the cooking time is reduced, Chorba will have a floury taste.
17. After 20 minutes, you need to boil the kvass and pour it into the pan, mix the soup ingredients.
18. Then the soup should be immediately removed from the stove and left to rest in a warm place for approximately 30 minutes. During this period of time, the taste and aroma of the ingredients used will fully develop.

When serving soup, it is recommended to place deep plates. Along with Chorba, it is recommended to serve rye bread or garlic donuts, as well as sour cream. It is important that the soup is recommended to be consumed all at once, since during storage not only the taste, but also the appearance of the dish deteriorates.

General information about the dish

The unusual name is taken from the sound of the word from the Turkish language - “shurpa”. Having found its way to the Near and Middle East, it was adopted by various nationalities and underwent some changes without losing its recognition.

The word “shurpa” became the name for stews with quite different ingredients and preparation technologies among representatives of the Turkic people and other tribes who lived on the lands of the Ottoman Empire.

This is how the following variants of recipes and names appeared:

• shurva;
• shurba;
• shurbo;
• shyurpe;
• shchorba;
• shurbo

Each new sound of this word became a separate dish for a separate people located on the territory of the empire. Moreover, it became one of the dishes of traditional cuisine.

And now, almost one of the variants of the sound of the word implies completely different recipes from the cuisine of different nations.

Here readers will be offered options for chorba from different national dishes.

Turkish skembe chorba

Serbian-style Chorba (the recipe, which is described later in the article, is popular on post-holiday days due to its anti-hangover effect) with this set of products turns out to be moderately fatty and spicy.

At the same time, it is recommended to use a hood when preparing the main ingredient, otherwise the unpleasant smell will spread throughout the apartment.

What ingredients will you need?

The Turkish version of the soup includes the following ingredients:

• fresh or chilled beef tripe – 800 g;
• raw table chicken egg – 3 pcs.;
• wheat flour (preferably sifted) – 80 g;
• natural yogurt without additives or kefir – 200 ml;
• ground red paprika – 7-10 g;
• garlic in the form of peeled cloves – 4 pcs.;
• natural wine vinegar – 70-90 ml;
• table salt – 7-12 g;
• purified olive oil – 40-50 ml.

In the Russian version, it is recommended to additionally add carrots (1 pc.), potatoes (2 pcs.) and onions (1 pc.) to the soup.

Step-by-step cooking process

The soup algorithm contains the following procedure:

1. It is recommended to initially rinse the tripe thoroughly in running water, then soak it in water for approximately 1 hour.
2. Next, the tripe should be rinsed in running water and cut into large pieces.
3. Place the tripe slices in a saucepan and cover with water.
4. Boil the tripe for approximately 2 hours. During the cooking process, it is necessary to add water, otherwise the tripe will not cook well.
5. Approximately 15 minutes before the tripe is ready, add salt to the broth.
6. Then you need to remove the boiled tripe from the pan and leave the broth to cool.
7. Remove fat from the cooled broth and cut the tripe into smaller pieces.
8. Place the tripe cuts back into the broth.
9. Next, mix the raw egg with yogurt and flour in a bowl. Stir the mixture until lumps are eliminated.

10. After this, you need to carefully pour approximately 200 ml of cooled broth (from the pan) into the egg mass. The process of pouring the broth must be combined with simultaneous stirring of the products.
11. Then the mixture from point 10 must be carefully poured into a pan with broth and tripe. Pre-mixing the egg mass with the broth makes it easier to combine the ingredients.
12. Place the pan with the contents on moderate heat and cook until it boils. Do not allow it to boil, as this may cause the egg to curdle. It is important to constantly stir the products.
13. At the same time as cooking the contents from point 12, fry the paprika in a frying pan with oil. The frying process lasts approximately 1-2 minutes.
14. Pour the flavored oil into the pan with the contents.
15. After adding oil, it is recommended to cook the soup for no more than 2 minutes (avoiding boiling). After this, the pan must be removed from the heat.
16. Then you need to chop the garlic cloves (preferably finely chop them with a knife), mix the chopped garlic with wine vinegar.
17. Pour the garlic sauce into the prepared soup, stir and leave the shkembe chorba to rest for approximately 15 minutes.

When using additional vegetables, it is recommended to cut them into small cubes and boil them in a separate pan with salted water until almost ready. You need to add the ingredients to the soup at step 11 along with the egg mass.

Chorba in Montenegrin style (fish)

Chorba in Montenegrin style is prepared on the basis of white fish meat (unlike the Serbian version).

An additional difference is the inclusion of vegetables in the recipe.

What ingredients will you need?

To prepare Montenegrin-style Chorba you will need the following ingredients:

• chilled fillet from “white” fish – 400 g;
• ready-made fish broth - the amount of the ingredient must be adjusted during the cooking process;
• washed carrots (large) – 1 pc.;
• fresh parsley root, peeled – 1 pc.;
• sweet pepper, seeded – 2 pcs.;
• turnip onion without peel – 2 pcs.;
• washed celery stalk – 1 pc.;
• peeled potato tubers – 3-4 pcs.;
• washed large tomatoes – 3 pcs.;
• peeled garlic cloves – 2-4 pcs.;
• tomato paste without additives – 20 ml;
• fresh dill – 10 g;
• fresh cilantro – 10 g;
• fresh parsley – 10 g;
• salt (preferably fine sea salt) – 7-10 g;
• ground white pepper – 2-3 g;
• wheat flour – 30-40 g;
• freshly squeezed lemon juice – 7-10 ml;
• purified olive oil – 30-40 ml.

It is recommended to adjust the amount of garlic and salt to taste.

Step-by-step cooking process

It is recommended to prepare fish chorba in Montenegrin according to the following algorithm of actions:

1. It is recommended to cut the carrots, onions and sweet peppers into small cubes.

2. It is advisable to cut the celery across the grain into small pieces.
3. Cilantro, parsley leaves and dill need to be chopped with a knife, not very finely. The greens will be used to serve the soup.
4. The fish fillet should be washed and any remaining bones removed. Cut the fish meat into medium-sized pieces.
5. It is recommended to grate parsley root and garlic alternately on a track.
6. Potatoes should be cut into medium-sized pieces.
7. It is recommended to peel the tomatoes (to do this, they should first be doused with boiling water). After this, the tomatoes need to be cut into small cubes.
8. Then in a cauldron/duckpot with heated oil (20-30 ml) you need to fry the onions and bell peppers.
9. When the onion becomes transparent, add carrots, celery and parsley root to the cauldron. Sprinkle the contents with lemon juice and fry the ingredients until softened.
10. After softening the vegetables, fish broth should be poured into the cauldron/duckpot; it should rise approximately 1 cm above the contents.
11. Since lemon juice has been added to the cauldron, it will slow down the cooking of the potatoes. Therefore, it is recommended to boil the potato slices separately until half cooked.
12. When the contents of the cauldron/duckpot boil, you should add chopped tomatoes and tomato paste to the products. Simmer the ingredients for approximately 10 minutes.
13. After 10 minutes, you need to add pieces of fish to the cauldron/duckpot. Add fish stock to cover the ingredients.
14. While the contents of the cauldron/duckling pot are boiling, you need to fry the flour in oil in a separate frying pan. It is important to constantly stir the flour mixture to prevent lumps from forming. When the flour begins to darken, remove the pan from the heat and transfer the fried flour to a cauldron/duckpot.
15. Next, you need to transfer the potatoes into the cauldron, salt and pepper the contents.
16. When the potatoes are ready, the cauldron/duckpot needs to be removed from the heat.

Place chopped herbs and garlic into the prepared chorba. Mix soup ingredients. Leave the dish covered to steep for approximately 15 minutes.

Pike on an onion bed

Photo: shutterstock

• 2 medium sized pike. You can take any other low-fat river fish: carp, perch, bream, catfish.

Clean the fish from scales and gut it.

Peel the onion; you need quite a lot of it to completely cover the dish in which the fish will be cooked with a thick cushion. About a kilogram.

Cut the peeled onion into half rings. Place a thick, approximately 3-5 cm, pillow in a deep heat-resistant dish or on a deep baking sheet. Add bay leaf, peppercorns, you can add a little ready-made Vegeta seasoning.

Salt the pike and place on an onion bed. Spread finely chopped butter around - 125 grams.

Cover the dish or baking sheet with foil and tuck the edges in.

Bake in an oven heated to 200–220 degrees for two hours.

15 minutes before cooking, remove the foil to allow the pike to brown.

Divide the pike and onions into plates. If desired, you can add boiled potatoes as a side dish, but it’s delicious just the same.

Chorba in Moldavian style with meat on the bone

Chorba according to the Moldovan recipe is similar to the Serbian one, but in this version it is possible to replace kvass with lemon juice.

Preparation next.

What ingredients will you need?

Before you start preparing the soup, you need to prepare the following ingredients:

• peeled potato tubers (medium size) – 4 pcs.;
• washed large carrots – 1 pc.;
• juice from a large lemon (or natural kvass) – 1 lemon;
• chilled lamb on the bone – 500 g;
• green beans (choose young pods) – 20 pods;
• onions without peel - 2 pcs.;
• small fork of white cabbage - ½ part;
• peeled garlic cloves – 4 pcs.;
• fresh parsley roots, peeled and washed - 2 pcs.;
• washed medium-sized tomatoes - 3 pcs.;
• fresh dill – 10 g;
• parsley leaves – 5 g;
• green basil – 5 g;
• bell pepper (preferably red) – 2 pcs.;
• fine crystalline salt – 10-12 g;
• ground hot pepper – 1-2 g;
• dried cloves – 1-2 pcs.;
• black pepper in the form of peas – 2-4 pcs.;
• laurel leaves – 2 pcs.;
• purified water – 1.5-2 l;
• natural kvass – 500 ml.

If desired, green beans can be replaced with boiled colored or white beans. This ingredient should be added to the soup at the end of cooking along with the tomatoes.

Step-by-step cooking process

The recipe for creating soup according to a Moldovan recipe contains the following points:

1. First you need to prepare the ingredients. Potatoes should be cut into cubes.
2. It is recommended to cut the carrots into large pieces.
3. The lamb must be washed.
4. Green beans also need to be washed, cut off the ends and cut each pod into 2-3 parts.
5. It is advisable to chop the cabbage with a knife.

6. It is recommended to finely chop the garlic with a knife.
7. Cut the tomatoes into cubes. If desired, they can be peeled first.
8. Bell peppers need to be cut into small strips.
9. The greens need to be chopped with a knife.
10. After preparing the food, place the meat in a whole piece into the pan.
11. Add whole onions, cloves, peppercorns, as well as parsley rhizomes, bay leaves and water to the pan. The water should rise approximately 2 cm above the meat.
12. Place the pan over moderate heat.
13. When the contents boil, reduce the heating power and boil the meat for approximately 40 minutes. During the cooking process, add water if necessary, and remove any foam that forms.
14. After 20 minutes from the start of boiling, you need to add carrots to the pan.
15. 40 minutes after the meat starts boiling, remove the beef and carrots from the broth.
16. Strain the broth into a clean saucepan. The remaining spices from the broth (including onions) must be discarded; they are not used further.
17. Place the pan with the broth over moderate heat.
18. When the broth boils, add potatoes and beans. Cook the ingredients for approximately 10-15 minutes.
19. After 10-15 minutes, add bell pepper, salt and cabbage to the pan. Continue the cooking process for another 10 minutes.
20. Then add tomatoes to the contents of the pan and cook the soup for another 3 minutes.
21. After 3 minutes, the pan must be removed from the heat.

Divide the chorba into deep plates. Add chopped herbs, garlic and pepper to each plate. You also need to add sour cream, hot pepper and lemon juice to the soup (the amount of ingredients should be adjusted according to taste preferences). If kvass is used instead of lemon juice, then it must be boiled and poured into the soup at stage 20.

Potato soup

The recipe is similar to our traditional soups, but it has an integral part of Serbia. Let's find out which one.

Ingredients:

• potatoes – 0.5 kg;
• carrots - 2 medium vegetables;
• onion – 1 onion;
• sweet pepper – 2 pcs.;
• tomato – 2 pcs.;
• flour - one tablespoon;
• olive oil – 2 tbsp;
• salt, red and black pepper, herbs - to taste;
• vegeta - to taste (favorite spice of Serbs).

Instructions:

1. Fry chopped onion.
2. Add flour and continue frying until a crust appears.
3. Add pepper and continue frying a little.
4. Add chopped potatoes and carrots.
5. Continue frying, stirring quickly.
6. Fill with water to 2 liters and boil.
7. Constantly stir the soup ingredients.
8. Add salt and continue stirring until it boils.
9. Cover with a lid and cook over low heat.
10. Add fresh pepper.
11. After 15 min. add tomatoes, continue boiling for up to 10 minutes.
12. Add salt, spices, herbs to taste.
13. Continue boiling for up to 10 minutes.

After tasting this soup, you will feel a part of Serbia, and your kitchen will be filled with a pleasant aroma.

Useful tips and tricks

Serbian-style Chorba, the recipe for which is varied, can be prepared not only based on meat broth, but also fish, mushroom or vegetable broth.

In order for the soup to turn out rich and with the required taste characteristics, it is advised to take into account the following subtleties when preparing the dish:

Chorba should be served only hot, while in addition to the soup it is advisable to put sour cream and chopped fresh herbs on the table. In Serbian soup, it contains up to 50% liquid; in other countries, it is customary to prepare it in a thick variation. An important nuance of the dish is the mandatory use of fresh vegetables; carrots, cabbage and celery are most often included in the recipe.