Beef Shurpa Soup: Recipe, Ingredients, Cooking Tips

Shurpa is the national dish of the Muslim peoples of the East, usually Turkic-speaking: Uzbeks, Tajiks, Turkmen, Kazakhs, Turks, Kyrgyz. It is a soup made from fatty meat and seasoned with coarsely chopped vegetables: onions, potatoes, carrots. Very tasty and original dish. In this article we will look at a recipe for beef shurpa soup.

About the dish

Traditionally, shurpa is usually cooked from lamb, but options from other types of meat are also allowed: beef, veal, poultry and even fish.

As for spices and herbs, they may differ depending on the region, but almost everywhere they add cilantro, red pepper, parsley, and dill to shurpa.

Classic shurpa should have sourness. To do this, sour berries or fruits are added to it, such as quince, plum, apples and others. A more common option is tomatoes, which give the dish the necessary sourness.

This article presents recipes for beef shurpa soup. It is best to cook it over a fire in a cauldron or kettle, which can be done at the dacha, on a picnic or on a hike. Of course, a stove in a city apartment and a regular saucepan will also work.

Classic recipe for shurpa in Uzbek

Ingredients:

500 g beef on the bone.
Two liters of water.
300 g potatoes (preferably small ones).
150 g carrots.
100 g onions.
One bay leaf.
200 g bell pepper.
Ground black pepper.
150 g tomatoes.
Salt.
Fresh parsley.
Ground paprika.

Making beef shurpa at home:

Cut the meat into large pieces.
Pour water into a saucepan, add meat and bay leaf and cook for an hour and a half after boiling. It is necessary to constantly skim off the scale with a slotted spoon.
Peel and wash carrots and potatoes. Cut the carrots lengthwise into four parts, leaving the small potatoes whole.
Peel the onion and cut into large cubes.
Remove the seeds from the bell pepper and cut lengthwise into four pieces.
Peel the tomatoes (make cross-shaped cuts, put them in boiling water for a few seconds, then peel them) and cut into large slices.
Place potatoes, carrots, onions and bell peppers in the broth and cook for 20 minutes, then add tomatoes and cook for another five minutes. Then add salt, pepper and ground parika to taste.

Leave the dish covered for 15 minutes. When it has brewed, pour into plates and add chopped greens to each.

Using the same recipe, you can make beef shurpa over a fire in a cauldron. Let's consider the important nuances.

Shurpa dietary ingredients

Lamb with bone	1 kg
Chickpeas	300 g
Bulb onions	0.5 kg
Bulgarian pepper	0.5 kg
Carrot	0.5 kg
Potato	0.5 kg
Black pepper	Taste
Cilantro	Pinch
Red pepper	Taste
Thyme	Pinch
Salt	Taste

At the stake

It will take more time to cook shurpa over an open fire.

Procedure:

Chop the onions and carrots.
Heat a cauldron, pour in vegetable oil and lightly fry the meat in it.
Then add the bay leaf and cook for a few more minutes.
Pour in water. When boiling begins, remove the layer of fat and scale, cover the cauldron with a lid and cook for about an hour and a half.
Peel the potatoes and cut into bars.
Put onions into the broth, then carrots, after five minutes - bell pepper, after a quarter of an hour - potatoes.
After 15 minutes, add salt, pepper and other seasonings to taste.
Add tomatoes and simmer for another ten minutes.

With chickpeas

Beef shurpa soup prepared according to this recipe turns out to be very satisfying.

Ingredients:

1 kg beef.
Six potatoes.
100 g chickpeas.
Two onions.
Three tomatoes.
Two carrots.
Two bell peppers.
A third of a glass of vegetable oil.
Salt.
60 g of fresh herbs.
Bay leaf.
Zira.
Freshly ground black pepper.

Procedure:

Soak the chickpeas in cold water overnight.
Cut the beef into large pieces, the onion into feathers.
Pour vegetable oil into the cauldron and put on fire. Fry the onion until translucent, add the meat and fry together for another 20 minutes.
Cut the carrots into large circles and place in a cauldron.
Add chickpeas and pour in water at the rate of one and a half to two glasses per person. Bring to a boil, descale and simmer for an hour over low heat.
Peel the potatoes, cut large ones in half, leave small ones whole. Cut the sweet pepper into large pieces. Blanch and peel the tomatoes, then cut into slices.
When the chickpeas are half cooked, add the potatoes and bell peppers.
Add tomatoes and spices ten minutes before they are ready. At the very end, add salt to the shurpa, then turn off the heat.

Let the dish sit covered for 20 minutes. Then you can pour the delicious beef shurpa into plates. When serving, garnish with fresh herbs.

Shurpa with chickpeas and lamb

lamb ribs – 0.5 kg;
tail fat – 150 g;
potatoes – 0.2 kg;
sweet pepper – 100 g;
tomatoes – 150 g;
onions – 150 g;
chickpeas – 50 g;
carrots – 100 g;
spices, cilantro, salt - to taste;
water – 2.5 l.

Sort the chickpeas, wash them, and soak them in cool water overnight.
Wash the meat. Chop the ribs so that a bone remains in each piece and place in a cauldron. Finely chop the tail fat and put it there. Fill with cold water and place on the stove.
Over medium heat, bring the water to a boil, skim off the foam. Add chickpeas, spices and reduce heat. Cook until the meat is done, during which time prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Peel the potatoes and cut into medium-sized cubes.
Peel and cut the carrots into circles.
Remove the seeds from the pepper and cut into wide half rings.
Cut the onion into thin half rings.
Cut the tomatoes into large slices.
When the meat is almost ready, add all the vegetables except the potatoes to the cauldron. Add potatoes along with finely chopped herbs to the soup after 20 minutes. At the same time, salt the soup. Continue cooking for another 20 minutes.

In a slow cooker

Ingredients:

800 g beef on the bone.
Two liters of water.
400 g potatoes.
150 g carrots.
One bay leaf.
100 g of onion.
Salt.
Dried celery.
Ground pepper.
Khmeli-suneli.
Fresh greens.

Cooking beef shurpa in a slow cooker:

Cut the meat into large pieces, place it in the multicooker bowl and add water.
Cut carrots into circles.
Add bay leaf, salt and carrots to the slow cooker.
Set the “Extinguishing” mode and set the timer for 1 hour.
Peel the potatoes, wash them and cut them into halves or quarters.
Cut the onion into four parts.
When the beep sounds, put onions and potatoes into the multicooker, then suneli hops, celery, freshly ground black pepper and continue cooking in the same mode for another half hour.

When the shurpa is ready, add fresh chopped herbs to it and pour into plates.

Shurpa with chickpeas and beef

beef (pulp) – 0.5 kg;
chickpeas – 50 g;
tomatoes – 0.25 kg;
carrots – 100 g;
sweet pepper – 0.2 kg;
onions – 100 g;
vegetable oil - how much will be needed;
water – 2.5 l;
salt, spices, fresh herbs - to taste.

Soak the chickpeas in water for 12 hours. Rinse.
Wash and dry the meat with a napkin. Cut it into 3 cm cubes.
Remove the peel from the onion. Cut into thin half rings.
Peel the potatoes, cut each tuber into 4-6 parts.
Cut the tomatoes and place them in boiling water for 2 minutes. Cool, transfer to a container with cold water, and peel. Cut the pulp into medium-sized slices.
Peel the pepper from seeds, cut into large half rings or rings.
Cut the carrots into slices. If the vegetables are large, you can cut them into halves or even quarters.
Sprinkle vegetable oil on the bottom of the cauldron. Place the onion in it and fry until transparent.
Add the meat and brown it over medium heat.
Add chickpeas, cover with water. Wait for the liquid to boil, skim off the foam, add seasonings. Cook for half an hour.
Add potatoes, carrots and peppers. Continue cooking for another 20 minutes.
Add tomatoes and finely chopped herbs, salt the dish to taste.
After cooking the soup for another 10 minutes, remove from heat. Leave covered for 20-30 minutes.

You don’t have to add the greens along with the tomatoes, but use them later, adding them directly to the plates when serving the shurpa.

With lard

Veal soup is less rich than lamb soup. To make it fattier, you can add lard to the beef shurpa soup recipe.

Ingredients:

100 g lard.
500 g beef.
Three potatoes.
Two onions.
Three small sour apples (Antonovka).
Two bell peppers.
Two tomatoes.
One carrot.
Ground pepper.
Greens to taste (cilantro, dill, parsley).
Salt.

Procedure:

Cut the beef into large pieces and place in a cauldron or a suitable pan with thick walls, and add pieces of lard there. Put on the fire, wait until it boils and then cook for an hour and a half.
Peel and cut apples and vegetables. Apples, potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers - in cubes, onions - in rings, carrots in circles. Chop the greens with a knife.
Add carrots and onions to the cauldron and cook for about ten minutes. Then add the potatoes and cook for another quarter of an hour. Next, add tomatoes, peppers and apples, cover the cauldron with a lid and simmer for about 40 minutes.
Before the end of cooking, add salt, pepper and add chopped herbs.

Shurpa with chickpeas and chicken

chicken – 1.5 kg;
potatoes – 0.5 kg;
tomatoes – 0.3 kg;
onions – 0.2 kg;
carrots – 100 g;
sweet pepper – 0.2 kg;
adjika – 5 g;
zira – 5 g;
spices, garlic, herbs - to taste;
water – 3.5 l.

Wash the chickpeas and soak for several hours.
Cut the chicken into portions, place in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil.
After cooking for 5 minutes, skimming off the foam, add chickpeas and cumin, reduce heat.
Cook for an hour.
Peel and coarsely chop the carrots and potatoes. After the specified time, add vegetables to the soup.
Finely chop or grind the peeled onions, tomatoes and peppers in a blender. Mix the resulting mass with adjika, pressed garlic and herbs.
Add the vegetable dressing to the soup half an hour after the potatoes and carrots.
After cooking the soup for another quarter of an hour, remove the pan from the heat.

Shurpa with chickpeas and chicken, cooked according to the given recipe, does not look quite traditional, but it turns out aromatic, satisfying and tasty.

Shurpa with chickpeas is a classic dish of Uzbek cuisine; this soup is also cooked in other countries of Central Asia. Our compatriots also fell in love with the dish due to its rich taste, seductive aroma and ability to saturate well. Shurpa with chickpeas is not quick to prepare, but the result justifies the time spent.

General cooking rules

Traditionally, the ingredients for shurpa are chopped coarsely; small vegetables can even be added whole. But this is not an immutable rule, and if desired, it is quite possible to grind the ingredients. It is customary to peel fruits and remove grains from them, but it is not at all necessary to remove the peel.

There are two options for preparing shurpa. In the first case, pre-frying of the ingredients is assumed, so the dish will turn out more rich and fatty. In the second case, there is no frying process. After the meat is cooked, the chopped vegetables are immediately sent into the boiling broth.

If you cook shurpa in a cauldron or other thick-walled pan, then all the ingredients will soften well during simmering.

In eastern countries, where this dish is national, it is usually cooked over a fire. Thanks to this method of preparation, shurpa turns out to be especially aromatic and has a brighter taste.