Yarma

Ingredients

The grain

• 400 gcracked wheat
• or coarse bulgur
• or pearled wheat
• rinsed thoroughly
• soaked for 2 hours, optional

The meat

• 800 glamb on the bone
• shoulder, neck or shank
• in large pieces
• with the fat left on
• or mutton, for more flavour

The base

• 2onions, chopped
• 3 tablespoonslamb fat
• or oil
• 2.5 litreswater
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• or to taste
• black pepper

Sometimes added

• 2tomatoes, chopped
• 1carrot, diced
• a handful of chickpeas
• soaked overnight
• a little ground cumin

To serve

• melted butter, poured over
• gatyk or thick yoghurt
• see the safety note
• black pepper
• churek, the tandyr bread
• green tea

Directions

1. Use lamb on the bone for this. Do not trim the fat away at all. Check which one you have bought. Adjust the cooking time accordingly. Rinse the grain thoroughly first. Rinse it until the water runs clear. Soaking it for two hours shortens the cooking. Heat the fat in a large heavy pot. Lamb fat is traditional if you have it. Brown the meat pieces in batches. Do not crowd the pot at any point.
2. Lift the pieces out and set them aside. Add the chopped onions to the same fat. Cook them slowly for ten minutes. They should be soft and lightly golden. Add the tomatoes if you are using them.
3. Cook them down until they collapse. Return the browned lamb to the pot. Add the water and bring it to a boil. Skim off the grey foam that rises. Keep skimming until no more appears. Simmer the pot for about an hour. The meat should be starting to soften.
4. Add the chickpeas now if using them. Stir the grain through thoroughly. Simmer it very gently for a further hour. Plain cracked wheat may need longer.
5. Stir the pot regularly throughout. Use a heavy pot with a thick bottom. Thin pots scorch grain porridge easily. Add hot water if it becomes too thick. Never add cold water to a simmering pot. Lift the pieces out if you like. Pull the meat off and discard the bones. Return the pulled meat to the pot. Both are done in Turkmen households.
6. Add salt and plenty of black pepper. Taste it carefully at this stage. So it needs more than you expect. Add cumin if you are using it. Ladle it out into deep warm bowls. Pour melted butter over each bowl.
7. Grind plenty of black pepper over. Serve soured milk alongside it. Use thick plain yoghurt instead. Loosen it with a little hot broth first. Serve churek bread alongside it. Leftovers keep three days refrigerated. Stir it constantly while reheating. It catches on the base just as easily cold.

Technique

• Check which grain you have bought. Coarse bulgur is parboiled and cooks relatively quickly; plain cracked wheat is not and takes considerably longer. Adjust the timing accordingly.
• It catches and burns as it thickens, and a burnt bottom taints the whole pot. Stir more often as it thickens, scrape the base each time, and use a heavy pot — a heat diffuser genuinely helps.
• Season it more than seems right. Grain absorbs a great deal of salt and under-seasoned yarma is very bland, which is the commonest fault with it.
• Test a grain between your fingers before serving. It should crush with no hard centre; undercooked cracked wheat is unpleasant and hard to digest.
• Top up with hot water, never cold. Cold water halts the cooking.
• The melted butter poured over each bowl is not a garnish. It enriches an otherwise plain grain dish and is a genuine part of it.
• Traditional gatyk is made from naturally soured raw milk, which can carry bacteria that souring does not reliably destroy. Thick plain yoghurt is a safe substitute; loosen it with hot broth first so it does not seize.
• Do not trim the lamb fat, and use meat on the bone. The fat and the gelatine from connective tissue are what enrich the grain, and lean boneless meat gives a thin result.
• Yarma is not halim or harissa. Those grain-and-meat porridges, made across Iran, Armenia, Turkey and the Arab world, are beaten until stringy with the meat completely shredded in. In yarma the meat stays in recognisable pieces while the wheat collapses around it.

Substitutions

• Coarse bulgur replaces plain cracked wheat and cooks faster, since it is parboiled.
• Pearled wheat or pearl barley both work with a similar cooking time.
• Mutton replaces lamb and gives more flavour, needing longer cooking.
• Beef shin works, though lamb is traditional.
• Thick plain yoghurt replaces gatyk safely.
• Tomato, carrot and chickpeas are all optional additions; the older and plainer version is meat, wheat and onion.

Variations

• A version with chickpeas added is heavier and more filling.
• Halim and harissa across Iran, the Caucasus and the Arab world are the beaten grain-and-meat porridges of the same broad family.
• Uzbek and Kazakh cracked wheat dishes are close regional relatives.
• A version made with pearl barley rather than wheat is cooked in some households.
• Keshkek in Turkey and Iran is another close relative, beaten smooth and served at weddings.
• Some cooks finish it with fried onions in butter poured over the top.

History

Winter grain dish of Turkmen villages, cooked until the wheat collapses into the meat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Yarma?

Yarma is a soup & stew from Turkmenistan: cracked wheat porridge cooked slowly with lamb. Winter grain dish of Turkmen villages, cooked until the wheat collapses into the meat.

How long does Yarma take to make?

Yarma takes 15 minutes plus soaking of preparation and 2 hours 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Yarma?

Yes, within limits. Coarse bulgur replaces plain cracked wheat and cooks faster, since it is parboiled. Pearled wheat or pearl barley both work with a similar cooking time. Mutton replaces lamb and gives more flavour, needing longer cooking. Beef shin works, though lamb is traditional. Thick plain yoghurt replaces gatyk safely. Tomato, carrot and chickpeas are all optional additions; the older and plainer version is meat, wheat and onion.

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

Use lamb on the bone for this. Do not trim the fat away at all. Check which one you have bought. Adjust the cooking time accordingly. Rinse the grain thoroughly first. Rinse it until the water runs clear. Soaking it for two hours shortens the cooking. Heat the fat in a large heavy pot. Lamb fat is traditional if you have it. Brown the meat pieces in batches. Do not crowd the pot at any point.