Azerbaijani recipe
How to make Kufta bozbash
Küftə bozbaş
All of Azerbaijan; bozbash soups are also loved in Armenia and Iran
A rich soup with large lamb meatballs, often with a dried sour plum hidden inside, cooked with chickpeas, potatoes and saffron. The broth is often drunk first, and the meatballs and potatoes are eaten afterwards with bread as a second course.
Ingredients
- 500 g minced lamb (or half lamb, half beef)
- 2 onions: 1 grated for the meatballs, 1 sliced
- 2 tablespoons rice, rinsed
- 8 dried sour plums, dried apricots or pitted prunes
- 1 tin (400 g) chickpeas, drained
- 3 medium potatoes, peeled and halved
- 1.5 litres water or light stock
- A pinch of saffron soaked in 2 tablespoons hot water, or 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- Salt, black pepper, and dried mint to serve
Method
- Mix the minced meat with the grated onion, rice, salt and pepper, and knead well.
- Divide into 8 portions. Flatten each one in your palm, put a dried plum in the middle and roll it into a large, smooth ball.
- Bring the water or stock to the boil with the sliced onion, add the chickpeas and potatoes and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Lower the meatballs gently into the soup, cover and simmer for 40 minutes without stirring hard, so they keep their shape. Make sure the meatballs are cooked through in the middle.
- Stir in the saffron water, taste for salt, and serve in deep bowls with a pinch of dried mint on top.
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The name probably comes from the Azerbaijani words boz, light grey, and baş, head, perhaps because of the pale colour of the cooked dish.
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