Kallapocha

Ingredients

The parts

• 1sheep’s head, split and cleaned
• 4sheep’s trotters, cleaned
• cold water, for soaking
• coarse salt and flour, for scrubbing

The pot

• 4 litreswater
• 3onions, halved
• 1 headof garlic
• 1 tablespoonsalt
• 1 teaspoonblack peppercorns
• 2bay leaves
• 1 teaspoonground cumin, optional

To serve

• non, the flatbread
• salt, in a small dish
• sliced raw onion
• fresh herbs
• green tea

Directions

1. Keep the raw parts cold until you cook them. Wash hands and surfaces thoroughly afterwards. Cook it long enough to be genuinely safe. Discard anything that smells wrong. Preparing the parts takes real work. Repeat that until no hair remains at all.
2. Rub flour through it as an abrasive. Rinse it in many changes of cold water. Cover the parts with cold water. Add a spoonful of salt to the water. Soak them overnight in the refrigerator. Put the parts in a large pot of cold water. Bring the whole pot up to a boil. Let it boil hard for ten minutes. Drain it and discard that water entirely.
3. Rinse the parts under running water. Return the parts to a clean pot. Cover them with fresh cold water. Bring it up slowly to a simmer. Skim off any foam that still rises. Add the halved onions and the garlic.
4. Add the salt and the peppercorns. Add the bay leaves to the pot. Add the cumin if you are using it. Simmering it takes most of a night. Cover the pot and simmer very gently. Give it at least seven full hours. Top up with hot water as it reduces. Judging when it is done takes a test.
5. Put a spoonful of broth on a cold plate. Let it cool for a few minutes. It should thicken noticeably as it cools. Lift the parts out of the broth. Let them cool enough to handle. Pick all the meat off the bones. Take the cheek, tongue and jaw meat.
6. Peel the tongue skin off while hot. Pick the trotters clean as well. Strain it through a fine sieve. Skim some of the fat from the surface. Leave a good deal of the fat in. Serving it is done properly hot.
7. Ladle the broth into deep bowls. Set the picked meat on a separate plate. Put a small dish of salt on the table. Serve sliced raw onion and herbs alongside. Dip a piece of meat into the salt. Tear bread into the bowl at the end. It keeps two days refrigerated. Warm it gently through to loosen it.

Technique

• This is closely related to Iranian kaleh pacheh and the names share the same Persian root, kalla meaning head and pocha trotters; the atlas lists both under their countries, and the dishes differ in seasoning rather than in kind, with the Iranian version leaning on turmeric and cinnamon while this one is plainer and served with salt.
• The meat is picked off at the table and dipped into a small dish of salt, which is its whole seasoning, with the broth drunk alongside and bread torn into it; that plainness is deliberate and heavy spicing would mask the broth.
• Test the gelatine by cooling a spoonful of broth on a plate: it should thicken noticeably and feel sticky between the fingers, which is the sign of a properly cooked pot.

Substitutions

• Trotters alone make a workable version where a head is hard to obtain.
• Butchers usually clean heads and trotters on request, which saves considerable work.

Variations

• Kaleh pacheh in Iran is the same dish with turmeric and cinnamon seasoning.
• Some stalls add cumin and others use no spice at all.
• It is eaten early and is generally gone by mid morning.

History

Eaten early at bazaar stalls as a restorative, the meat picked off and dipped in salt.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kallapocha?

Kallapocha is a soup & stew from Tajikistan: sheep head and trotters boiled long into a rich gelatinous morning broth. Eaten early at bazaar stalls as a restorative, the meat picked off and dipped in salt.

How long does Kallapocha take to make?

Kallapocha takes 1 hour plus overnight soaking of preparation and 7 hours of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Kallapocha?

Yes, within limits. Trotters alone make a workable version where a head is hard to obtain. Butchers usually clean heads and trotters on request, which saves considerable work.

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

Rub flour through it as an abrasive. Rinse it in many changes of cold water. Cover the parts with cold water. Add a spoonful of salt to the water. Soak them overnight in the refrigerator. Put the parts in a large pot of cold water. Bring the whole pot up to a boil. Let it boil hard for ten minutes. Drain it and discard that water entirely.