Gondi (Chicken & Chickpea Balls)

Gondi is a unique dish to the Jewish Persian community, consisting of a ground chicken and chickpea ball served with chicken soup. The fluffier and more airy the consistency, the more successful they are considered, and the taste is incomparable!

INGREDIENTS

2-3 finely chopped onions

1lb ground chicken

2.5 cups chickpea flour

¼ tsp turmeric

½ tsp cardamom

½ tsp cumin

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

2 quarts chicken stock

1 handful basil, mint, parsley, cilantro

METHOD

1.   Chop onions finely in processor (don’t pure), mix with flour.

2.   Add chicken, oil, salt, pepper, cardamom, turmeric, cumin.

3.   Refrigerate for 2 hours

4.   Boil chicken stock, form 2” diameter balls and throw into boiling stock.

5.   Cover and let simmer 30-40mins.

6.  Garnish the soup with the green leaves.

Green Ciorba (Vegetable Soup)

This delicious Romanian soup can be eaten hot or cold, top it off with some sour cream, and it is the most comforting bowl of soup you've ever tasted! Here again, the quantities don't have to be exact - just make it so it fits the size of your pot.

INGREDIENTS

Potatoes

Carrots

Zucchini

Parsley root

Baby spinach

Dill

Green onion

Lemon juice

Sour cream

METHOD

1.       Place water in a large pot, add medium size potatoes cut in half, carrots cut in large pieces, zucchini cut in large circles, and parsley root. Bring to boil and simmer for 20min.

2.       Add baby spinach, dill, and green onion and cook until all vegetables have softened.

3.      Add lemon juice and serve with sour cream.

Traditional Couscous Soup

Couscous, to those unfamiliar with it, is a traditional Moroccan dish that is made of semolina wheat. It is typically eaten with this vegetable soup or other types of stew-like sauces. Today couscous has become quite popular around the world and in most supermarkets you can buy a box of instant couscous without a problem, all it takes is covering it with boiling water and waiting a few minutes. The lengthier part is this soup, but couscous can be eaten simply with salt as a side dish next to just about anything, so if you've never tried couscous before you can start out light!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup chickpeas soaked in cold water overnight and rinsed

4 carrots cut into 2-3 pieces

4 medium potatoes, quartered

1 large onion, quartered

Salt

Pepper

Small pinch of saffron or 1.5 tsp turmeric

200g pumpkin into 4-5 chunks

½ of a green cabbage, quartered

4-5 stalks celery, peeled and cut coarsely, save the leaves

½ kg couscous

METHOD

1.   Put the chickpeas in a large saucepan, cover with water and cook for 30min until tender.

2.  Add the carrots, potatoes, onion, salt, pepper, saffron or turmeric, and cook for 45min until vegetables are tender.

3.   Add remaining vegetables, except celery leaves, cook 15mins, until tender.

4.   Taste and adjust seasoning, add the celery leaves and cook 15mins.

5.  Prepare couscous and serve soup on top of cous cous.