Tirşik, Qamishli Style — Tangy Summer Vegetable Stew with Lamb

Name: Tirşik, Qamishli Style — Tangy Summer Vegetable Stew with Lamb
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 95 min
Total time: 125 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 500 g boneless lamb shoulder; 1 piece onion; 3 clove garlic; 3 tbsp neutral vegetable oil; 1 tbsp pepper paste (Turkish Biber salçası; mild or hot); 1 tbsp tomato paste; 800 ml water; 1 tsp salt; 0.5 tsp black pepper (ground); 200 g green beans (snap beans); 2 piece waxy potatoes; 1 piece eggplant (about 300 g); 1 piece zucchini (about 300 g); 3 piece tomatoes; 1 piece lemon (juice); white rice for serving, as needed (see recipe Birinc bi şehriye — White Rice with Toasted Vermicelli)

A Kurdish classic from Qamishli and the Jazira in northeastern Syria: in the Jazira, Tirşik is the name of the tangy summer stew in which lamb braises with eggplant, zucchini, potatoes, green beans and tomatoes in a red pepper-paste broth until the vegetables are soft and the broth tastes fresh with lemon. The name comes from the Kurdish word tirş, sour, and the Arabic-speaking neighbours pronounce it Turshik. It shares only its name and its sourness with Tirşik, Duhok Style — Bulgur Dumplings in Sour Broth with Celery and Chard, because here it is not dumplings but plenty of summer vegetables that go into the pot.

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Cook time

125 min

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Servings

🧂

Ingredients

View Original ↗

Nutrition

per serving

526 kcal

Calories

27 g

Protein

35 g

Fat

24 g

Carbs

Ingredients

For 4 servings

Estimated cost~€4.95 · ~€1.25/serving

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Instructions

1
Pat the lamb dry, trim off any thick fat and cut the meat into cubes of about 3 cm. Peel and finely dice the onion; peel and finely chop the garlic.
2
Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot and brown the lamb cubes well all over; if space is tight, do this in two batches so that the meat fries rather than stews.
3
Add the onion and fry, stirring, until soft and golden.
4
Stir in the garlic, pepper paste and tomato paste and toast, stirring, until the paste darkens and smells fragrant, without letting it burn.
5
Add the water, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Put the lid on and braise the lamb over a low heat until it is almost tender.
6
Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables: trim the ends off the beans and snap the pods into 4 cm pieces. Peel the potatoes and cut them into 3 cm cubes; wash the eggplant and zucchini, cut the eggplant into 3 cm cubes and the zucchini into 2 cm thick half-moons, and roughly dice the tomatoes.
7
Add the beans and potatoes to the pot and simmer, covered. Green beans are poisonous when raw and must be cooked through completely until they are quite soft.
8
Add the eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes, pour in a splash of hot water if needed so that the vegetables are just covered, and keep simmering, covered, until all the vegetables are soft and the beans no longer have any bite.
9
Cut open a piece of lamb: it must be tender and cooked through, otherwise simmer for a few more minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and season the stew with salt and pepper so that it is distinctly tangy.
10
Put the white rice into deep plates and ladle the hot stew over it with plenty of broth.
11
Tip: Instead of lemon juice, many families add sourness with 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses (Turkish Nar ekşisi), which makes the stew darker and fruitier; at the height of summer, okra or fresh peas also go into the pot. Beef shoulder can be used instead of lamb; it needs to braise about 20 minutes longer. Cool leftover rice quickly, put it in the fridge within two hours at the latest and eat it within a day.