Chorba

Ingredients

Meat

• 500 glamb, in small cubes
• 3 tbspolive oil

Base

• 2onions, finely chopped
• 4 clovesgarlic
• 3 tbsptomato paste
• 3tomatoes, grated
• 1 tbspharissa, or to taste

Spices

• 1 tbsptabil, the Tunisian coriander and caraway blend
• 1 tspground coriander
• 1 tspcaraway
• 1 tspsweet paprika
• 1 tspblack pepper
• salt

Body

• 150 gfrik, green cracked wheat
• or 150 g small pasta such as orzo

Also

• 1.5 litreswater or stock
• 1large bunch coriander, chopped
• juice of 1 lemon

To serve

• at iftar, with bread and dates

Directions

1. Rinse the frik thoroughly before use, since it is a field grain and there is usually grit and chaff in it. It is sold ready-made and it is easily approximated with ground coriander and caraway.
2. Cut it into small cubes, since the soup is eaten with a spoon and large pieces are awkward. Brown the lamb hard in olive oil, in batches with space around it.
3. Brown it properly rather than crowding the pan, since crowded meat releases water and stews grey. Add the onions and cook until soft, then the garlic. Now add the tomato paste and fry it for three or four minutes until it darkens.
4. Stir in the harissa, tabil and remaining spices. Add it gradually and taste, since harissa varies enormously in heat between brands and households. Add the grated tomatoes and cook them down for five minutes. Simmer, partly covered, for thirty minutes until the lamb is tender.
5. Simmer it for a further twenty-five to thirty minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir it regularly and scrape the base, since the grain settles and catches readily.
6. Add more water as it thickens, since frik absorbs a great deal. It should end up thick and hearty rather than thin, but still a soup rather than a porridge. Stir in a large handful of chopped fresh coriander off the heat. Coriander is a defining flavour here rather than a garnish, and it should be used in quantity.
7. Add the lemon juice at the very end. The acid lifts a rich spiced soup and stops it tasting heavy, and it is not optional. Taste it and season it firmly with salt. Serve it hot in deep bowls with bread, and with lemon wedges at the table.

Technique

• Frik is green harvested wheat, roasted and cracked, and is the same as freekeh.
• Caraway is used far more heavily in Tunisia than elsewhere in North Africa.
• It thickens considerably on standing.

Substitutions

• Small pasta such as orzo in place of frik, which is very common.
• Ground coriander and caraway in place of ready-made tabil.

Variations

• Made with pasta rather than frik.
• Made with chicken or fish instead of lamb.
• Chorba beida, the white version without tomato.

History

A spiced soup, most often built on lamb or chicken with vegetables and a small pasta called langue d’oiseau, or vermicelli, generally traced through Ottoman and broader Arab culinary influence across North Africa, with the name chorba itself derived from Turkish çorba, meaning soup, reflecting the word’s spread across the former Ottoman Empire’s territories from the 1500s onward. Tunisian chorba in particular reflects the country’s specific blend of Berber, Arab, Ottoman and French colonial culinary influences layered over centuries, and it is especially closely associated with Ramadan, traditionally the first dish eaten to break the day’s fast each evening across Tunisian households, valued for its ability to gently reintroduce food to the stomach after a full day without eating.

Frequently asked questions

What is Chorba?

Chorba is a soup & stew from Tunisia: peppery Ramadan soup of frik wheat or pasta with lamb and coriander. A spiced soup, most often built on lamb or chicken with vegetables and a small pasta called langue d’oiseau, or vermicelli, generally traced through Ottoman and broader Arab culinary influence across North Africa, with the name chorba itself derived from Turkish çorba, meaning soup, reflecting the word’s spread across the former Ottoman Empire’s territories from the 1500s onward. Tunisian chorba in particular reflects the country’s specific blend of Berber, Arab, Ottoman and French colonial culinary influences layered over centuries, and it is especially closely associated with Ramadan, traditionally the first dish eaten to break the day’s fast each evening across Tunisian households, valued for its ability to gently reintroduce food to the stomach after a full day without eating.

How long does Chorba take to make?

Chorba takes 25 min of preparation and 1 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Chorba?

Yes, within limits. Small pasta such as orzo in place of frik, which is very common. Ground coriander and caraway in place of ready-made tabil.

What is the most important thing to get right in Chorba?

Brown it properly rather than crowding the pan, since crowded meat releases water and stews grey. Add the onions and cook until soft, then the garlic. Now add the tomato paste and fry it for three or four minutes until it darkens.