Shorbat freekeh

Ingredients

The broth

• 1whole chicken
• about 1.5 kg, jointed
• or 6 chicken thighs
• 2 litreswater
• 1onion, halved
• 2bay leaves
• 6cardamom pods
• 1cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoonblack peppercorns

The soup

• 250 gcracked freekeh
• rinsed and picked over
• 1onion, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoonsghee
• or olive oil
• 1 teaspoonallspice
• half a teaspoon cinnamon
• salt and black pepper

To finish

• juice of 1 lemon
• or to taste
• chopped parsley
• toasted pine nuts
• optional

To serve

• lemon wedges
• warm flatbread
• at iftar in Ramadan
• hot from the pot

Directions

1. Check which one you have bought before you start. Freekeh must be rinsed and picked over before cooking. Rinse it through several changes of cold water. Pick out any small stones you find as you rinse. Do not skip it, since grit in the bowl is unpleasant.
2. Keep raw chicken well away from anything cooked. Wash hands, boards and knives after handling it. Cool leftover soup quickly and refrigerate it. Leave them out entirely if there is any doubt. Put the jointed chicken into a large pot with water.
3. Start it in cold water rather than boiling water. Cold water draws more flavour out of the chicken. Bring it slowly up to a simmer over moderate heat. Skim it off carefully with a spoon and discard it. Keep skimming for the first ten minutes or so. Add the halved onion, bay, cardamom and cinnamon.
4. Add them after you have finished skimming the pot. Simmer the chicken gently for about forty minutes. Hold it at a bare simmer rather than a rolling boil. Adjust the heat until it sits steadily at that point. The chicken should be fully cooked and pulling away.
5. Lift the chicken out and strain the broth into a jug. Strain out the whole spices, bay and onion halves. Discard them once you have strained the liquid. Keep the broth hot while you prepare the rest.
6. Pull the chicken meat off the bones once cool enough. Let it cool just enough to handle comfortably. Pull the meat into large shreds rather than fine ones. Discard the skin and the bones as you work. Chicken skin goes soft and unpleasant in soup. Remove it entirely rather than leaving it on.
7. Heat the ghee in the pot and cook the chopped onion. Give it about eight minutes over a moderate heat. Add the allspice and ground cinnamon to the onion. Fry them briefly in the hot fat before liquid goes in.
8. Heat releases the aromatic oils in ground spices. Give them about thirty seconds while stirring. Add the rinsed freekeh and stir it through the fat. Toast it in the pot for about two minutes. Stir it constantly so it does not catch and burn. It should smell strongly smoky by the end of that. Pour the hot strained broth back into the pot.
9. Add all of the broth to start with. You may well need to add more water later on. Keep a kettle of hot water ready for that. Simmer the freekeh gently until it is tender. Cracked freekeh takes about forty minutes to soften.
10. Stir it regularly right through the whole simmering. Scrape the bottom as you stir to prevent that. Add hot water whenever it becomes too thick. Add it a ladleful at a time rather than all at once.
11. Add the pulled chicken back for the last ten minutes. It is already cooked and only needs heating through. Stir it gently so the shreds stay in pieces. Season the soup well with salt and black pepper. Taste it carefully and adjust it properly. This should be a thick soup rather than a thin one.
12. Squeeze the lemon juice in off the heat. Add it gradually and taste as you go along. Lemon lifts it and stops it feeling too dense. Ladle the hot soup into deep bowls to serve. Make sure each bowl gets a fair share of the chicken. Stir the pot before ladling so it distributes evenly. The meat otherwise settles toward the bottom.
13. Scatter chopped parsley over each bowl. Add it at the last moment before serving. Scatter toasted pine nuts over the top if you like. Toast them in a dry pan until lightly golden. They add crunch against the soft grain in the soup. Serve warm flatbread alongside the bowls of soup. It keeps three days refrigerated in a covered bowl.

Technique

• Freekeh must be rinsed through several changes of water and picked over for small stones before cooking — the field burning leaves genuine ash and grit in the grain, which is normal rather than a sign of poor quality.
• Check whether your freekeh is cracked or whole before starting: cracked takes about forty minutes and suits soup, while whole takes considerably longer and suits pilafs. The packet usually says.
• Freekeh is wheat and contains gluten, so this is not suitable for coeliac diets and there is no direct substitute. Pine nuts scattered over are visible, but say clearly if you have used them.

Substitutions

• Six chicken thighs replace a whole jointed chicken directly. Olive oil replaces the ghee, though ghee is more usual here.
• Freekeh is wheat harvested green and set alight in the field, where the green moisture protects the grain while the chaff burns; the burnt heads are then rubbed clean, which gives the Arabic name from farik, meaning rubbed. That smoke is the whole point of the grain.

Variations

• Start the chicken in cold water and skim the grey scum carefully for the first ten minutes before the aromatics go in — adding them earlier makes skimming much harder, and skimming is what gives a clear clean broth.
• Toast the rinsed freekeh in the spiced fat for two minutes before the broth goes in, stirring constantly; it deepens the smoky flavour and should smell strongly smoky by the end. Freekeh keeps a distinct chew even fully cooked and does not collapse like rice, so do not cook it to mush.
• Return the pulled chicken only for the last ten minutes, since it is already cooked and adding it earlier makes it dry and stringy. Add the lemon off the heat: the smoke is heavy on its own and lemon lifts it without dominating.

History

Smoked green wheat simmered with chicken; the wheat is burned in the field while still green, then rubbed clean.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shorbat freekeh?

Shorbat freekeh is a soup & stew from Jordan: smoked green wheat soup with chicken; Ramadan staple. Smoked green wheat simmered with chicken; the wheat is burned in the field while still green, then rubbed clean.

How long does Shorbat freekeh take to make?

Shorbat freekeh takes 20 minutes of preparation and 1 hour 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Shorbat freekeh?

Yes, within limits. Six chicken thighs replace a whole jointed chicken directly. Olive oil replaces the ghee, though ghee is more usual here. Freekeh is wheat harvested green and set alight in the field, where the green moisture protects the grain while the chaff burns; the burnt heads are then rubbed clean, which gives the Arabic name from farik, meaning rubbed. That smoke is the whole point of the grain.

What is the most important thing to get right in Shorbat freekeh?

Check which one you have bought before you start. Freekeh must be rinsed and picked over before cooking. Rinse it through several changes of cold water. Pick out any small stones you find as you rinse. Do not skip it, since grit in the bowl is unpleasant.