Recipe and photo credit: Silk Roads: A Flavor Odyssey with Recipes from Baku to Beijing by Anna Ansari (DK RED, 14 October; RRP $35)
From the author: "This is dovga, an Azeri yogurt soup that also happens to be a wedding soup. How’s that for refined and special? And, while it can be and sometimes is eaten cold, dovga’s default temperature is warm. Yup. You read that correctly. This is a warm yogurt soup. And it’s weird and wonderful, and kind of a game-changer."
- 1lb 10oz (750g) full-fat plain yogurt
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tbsp chickpea flour or plain flour (use chickpea flour to make this gluten-free)
- ⅓ - ½ cup (70–100g) risotto rice
- 3oz (80g) chopped spinach
- 2 cups (75g) fresh mixed herbs, chopped (e.g. dill, parsley, chives, coriander, tarragon, and mint; if using the final two, discard their stems), plus extra to serve
- 1½ cups cooked chickpeas, such as Rancho Gordo Garbanzos, drained
- sea salt and freshly ground
- black pepper
- dried chilli flakes, to serve (optional)
Serves 4–6
- In a medium heavy-based saucepan, whisk together the yogurt, egg, flour, and rice. Once everything is nicely combined, place your pan over medium heat, and gradually add 4 cups (950ml) of water, stirring all the while.
- Stir constantly until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. I’m serious here. Constant. Stirring. For a good 10–15 minutes. If you don’t, this soup will fail – the yogurt will curdle and split, and you’ll be deprived of something pretty incredible. And you don’t want that.
- Once the yogurt mixture is bubbling, reduce the heat to low and add the spinach, herbs, and chickpeas. Let the soup simmer for a further 15 minutes, or until the rice is cooked through. Constant stirring isn’t required at this stage, but very frequent stirring is – and you know what? If you want to stand and constantly stir the pot, no one will stop you.
- Another important caveat to this soup – don’t add salt or pepper until you’re about to eat it. Again, the salt could cause the yogurt to curdle and the soup to be ruined. And, don’t forget: this is a wedding soup. You don’t want to ruin a wedding soup, do you? No. I didn’t think so. So, remember: constant stirring until it comes to a boil, and salt and pepper at the end.
- Enjoy your dovga warm or cold, but either way, top it with salt and pepper to taste, some more fresh herbs, and maybe even some chilli flakes.