Shorwa
A genuine, everyday Afghan lamb and vegetable soup, part of the daily dastarkhān meal spread rather than a festive or special-occasion dish. Its name shares a root word for soup found right across the wider Persian- and Ottoman-influenced world, appearing as shorba in Pashto, chorba in Turkish and the Balkans, shurpa across Central Asia, shurbah in Arabic, and ciorbă in Romanian, worth noting explicitly since it situates shorwa in a much broader regional soup tradition rather than treating the word as uniquely Afghan. Real shorwa simmers bone-in lamb with onion and tomato until the broth deepens, then adds potato, carrot, and turnip partway through so they finish tender without turning to mush.
Meat
Ingredients
- 600g lamb, bone-in, cubed
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Pinch of cayenne
- 2 potatoes, chunked
- 2 carrots, chunked
- 1 turnip, chunked
Steps
- Brown the lamb with the onion in oil.
- Add the tomatoes, turmeric, pepper, and cayenne, and cook down briefly.
- Cover with water and simmer until the lamb is nearly tender, about 45 minutes.
- Add the potato, carrot, and turnip, and continue simmering until the vegetables are tender.
- Serve hot with Afghan bread for dipping.