Lamb with Chickpeas Soup- Tashreeb Laham باللبلبي تشريب

Chickpeas is a very popular legume that we add to a large variety of dishes. We add it to bulgur pilaf, a stew, or for salad. Street vendors sell a bowl of lablabi with a slice of lemon. It is a very satisfying and delicious snack.

For this recipe, you can use canned chickpeas, but traditionally we soak the dry chickpeas in a bowl of water overnight.  The following day, we cook them in a pot of water for an hour until the chickpeas are soft. Then add salt and sometimes we add turmeric and Arabian spices.

1 pound lamb shoulder, cubed with bones

4 cups water

1 onion, sliced

1 (15-ounce can) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon bahar (Arabian spice)

Tannour bread or Nan for serving

Rinse the lamb, and put in a pot with water. Bring to a boil. Add the onions, salt and spices and cook for 45 minutes until meat is tender. Add the chickpeas and simmer for 10 more minutes.

To serve this soup, put a few pieces of tanour bread in a bowl and scoop the soup over it. Serve slices of lemon and scallions with the soup.

Sometimes we add Noomi Basra (dried lime) to this soup to give it a sour flavor. If you are using whole dried lime, make sure to remove the seeds before adding them to the soup as they give a bitter flavor.

Enjoy!

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.