Bob chorba

Ingredients

Soup

• 500 gdried white beans, soaked overnight
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 1carrot, diced
• 1red pepper, diced
• 3tomatoes, grated, or 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 4 tbspsunflower oil
• 1 tbspsweet paprika
• 2 tspdried summer savory
• 2 tspsalt
• 2 litreswater

To finish

• 2 tbspsunflower oil
• 1 tspsweet paprika
• 1 tbspdried spearmint
• chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Drain the soaked beans, cover them with cold water, bring to the boil and drain again. Repeat once more with fresh water. This double blanching is standard practice in Bulgarian kitchens and takes out most of what makes beans hard to digest.
2. Cover the drained beans with the 2 litres of fresh water and simmer, partly covered, for about 40 minutes until nearly tender. Add no salt yet, because salting early keeps the skins tough no matter how long you cook them.
3. Meanwhile soften the onion, carrot and pepper in the oil over a medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the onion is translucent and beginning to colour at the edges.
4. Take the pan off the heat completely before stirring in the paprika. Paprika burns in seconds over direct heat and turns the whole pot acrid, and there is no recovering from it.
5. Scrape the vegetables into the beans, add the tomatoes and the dried savory, and simmer for another 30 to 40 minutes until the beans are completely soft.
6. Season with the salt now, at the end, and taste again after two minutes once it has spread through the liquid.
7. Crush a ladleful of the beans against the side of the pot and stir them back in. Bulgarian bean soup thickens itself this way; it takes no flour, no roux and no cream.
8. For the zaprazhka, warm the remaining oil in a small pan, take it off the heat, stir in the paprika and the dried mint, and pour the lot over the soup.
9. Cover and leave to stand for 10 minutes so the mint infuses, then scatter with parsley and serve.

Technique

• Dried spearmint goes in at the end, not the beginning. Long boiling strips it of the scent that defines the dish.
• Summer savory and mint are the two herbs that make this Bulgarian rather than generically Balkan. Neither is decorative.
• The soup thickens noticeably overnight; loosen it with water rather than stock when reheating.

Substitutions

• Dried thyme in place of summer savory, which is the nearest thing though noticeably different.
• Cannellini or haricot beans if you cannot find the flat Bulgarian variety.

Variations

• With smoked pork ribs or sausage added at the start, which is the everyday domestic version rather than the monastery one.
• Bob yahniya, cooked down much thicker and eaten as a stew rather than a soup.
• With a spoonful of hot pepper paste stirred through at the end.

History

Bean soup with dzhodzhen mint, the everyday dish of Bulgarian monasteries, barracks and canteens.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bob chorba?

Bob chorba is a soup & stew from Bulgaria: monastery-style bean soup with mint and savory. Bean soup with dzhodzhen mint, the everyday dish of Bulgarian monasteries, barracks and canteens.

How long does Bob chorba take to make?

Bob chorba takes 20 min plus overnight soaking of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Bob chorba?

Yes, within limits. Dried thyme in place of summer savory, which is the nearest thing though noticeably different. Cannellini or haricot beans if you cannot find the flat Bulgarian variety.

What is the most important thing to get right in Bob chorba?

Take the pan off the heat completely before stirring in the paprika. Paprika burns in seconds over direct heat and turns the whole pot acrid, and there is no recovering from it.