Lamb Chickpea Soup-Shorba

1 pound lamb shank or stewing lamb

2 medium size onions, sliced

2 (15/1-ounce) cans chickpeas

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Arabic spice (mixture of clove, cinnamon, allspice and black pepper)

6 cups water

Wash the lamb and saute it in the pot for 5 minutes. Add onions, water, salt and spices. Bring the pot to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour or until lamb is tender and falls off the bone.

Drain the chickpeas and add to the soup. simmer for 20 minutes; add more salt if needed.

If you are using dry chickpeas, soak them overnight in water. Drain the water and add to the meat and onions to cook together for an hour.

You can substitute the meat with chicken and you could add dried limes (noomi basra) to the soup to give it a sour flavor.
Serve it in soup bowls with toasted bread. You could place bread in a boul and ladel the soup ove the bread. Then we call it Thireed.

Makes 4 servings.

Coconut Macaroons-Joz il-Hind معجنات جوز الهند

For this recipe, you could add 2 tablespoons of rosewater if you prefer.

3 1/2 cups shredded unsweetened coconuts
4 large eggs (egg whites)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 tablespoons cornstarch or flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Put the coconut in a bowl and add flour, baking powder and cardamom. Whisk the egg white and add sugar and beat for 2 minutes. Pour over the coconut and mix by hand and shape into a walnut size balls.
Line a pan with parchment paper. Arrange the macaroons on the paper. Bake for 20 minutes
Remove the pan from the oven and leave the macaroons to cool for 10 minutes.

Make 3 dozens