Soupruary 20th: Ramadan Soup

Hey, y'all! Let's get together and make Yusef homesick!


Location:
The Party Room, my apartment, Cincinnati, Ohio


Attendees:
Adam, Brian, Kelly, Kevin, Shiv, Yusef, me

Menu:
Yusef's Gramma's Ramadan Soup
Foul Mudammas & Pita
Four Pepper Salad

Entertainment:
Ruckus Roboticus on the stereo
Inordinate displays of my friends' creative genius during The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Game

The Soup:

On Soupruary 1st, Yusef told me about this soup that his mother and grandmother make, and said he'd have to get me the recipe. And boy am I glad he did.
This.
Was.
Delicious.
Our mealtime conversation consisted only of exclamations of how good the soup was, how the chicken was melting off the bone, how the flavors in the broth were divine. And even Yusef said I pretty much did it right.

Because it's too cute not to include, here's Yusef's email to me:

"the thing that you'll notice, is that pretty much all my mom's measurements are approximate. the great thing about this is that it is not from a cook book, or awritten recording of the recipe. this is how my mom learned to cook it from my grandma and my aunts. and they all cook to taste. so you are getting an authentic Arabian family version of this recipe. and though i wish i could've learned this straight from my grandma, i'll have you know that her food can asplode the mind. i believe the official name of this soup is 'shoorba't hab' or 'grainsoup', but we always called it Ramadan Soup. we rarely ate this soup in other months, but during Ramadan, we had this soup almost every day. it saves really well."

You'll need a spice ball for this recipe; mine has a snowman on it, which deeply confused Yusef.

Now, the recipe for my new favorite non-vegetarian soup, semi-translated into standard recipe format:

1 small chicken, minus the breast

7 c water

1 c coarse ground bulghur (or oats)

1 tomato, peeled and grated

2 T tomato paste

1 T olive oil

6 whole black peppercorns

1 t whole cumin seeds

3 whole cardamom pods

1 small piece of cinnamon stick

salt to taste

Put chicken and water in your soup pot and bring to a boil. For about 2 or 3 min. skim off anyfoam that accumulates on top. Add bulghur and bring to a boil (if you use oats add in the last 1/2 hour of cooking instead). Add the grated tomato and the tomato paste (Note from Yusef's mom: "You want a nice color, but not as red as tomato soup"). Add the olive oil and all spices in a spice ball or wrapped in cheesecloth. Add salt to taste, start with 1/2 tsp. Cook all at a simmer, uncovered, about 1 1/2 hours.

Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze in just before eating.