January 02, 2013

Soup-e Morgh o Sabzijat - Maman's Feel-Good Chicken Vegetable Soup


It has been very cold recently and I decided to make my mother's special pot of سوپ مرغ و سبزیجات soup-e morgh o sabzijat (chicken vegetable soup). My mother's chicken soup varied each time depending on the severity of how sick we were growing up and the type of ingredients she had lying around in her kitchen at the time or what was seasonally available in the market. It could be a bland chicken wing soup with lots of parsley and a bowl of cooked turnip on the side, or a joojeh (young chicken) with all kinds of vegetables and a good squirt of lemon juice. According to my mother, a bowl of chicken soup or eating a couple of cooked شلغم shalgham (turnip) was as good as a shot of penicillin.


There are countless numbers of chicken soup recipes worldwide. Every country, or rather everyone, has their own favorite version. It's believed that chicken soup has healing properties. Whether that's true or not I believe that there's something magical in that bowl of warm homemade soup that makes you feel better in addition to taking your medications and getting enough rest.

My mother made this recipe many times while I was growing up. However, she would rarely add tomatoes or noodles to the soup. I, on the other hand, like to add a couple of small tomatoes to enhance the taste and the color. Adding noodles makes the soup a bit more substantial. For a healthier soup, I don't brown the chicken pieces with chopped onion. I also don't use any canned ingredients such as tomato sauce and I don't use black pepper either. You may leave the chicken skin on but I prefer removing it for a less greasy soup.


Soup-e Morgh o Sabzijat - Chicken Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
Serves 4

4 chicken drumsticks, rinsed, skin removed
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium turnips, cubed
2 small carrots, chopped into small pieces
2 celery stalks, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 small tomatoes, remove the skin, chopped
A bunch of fresh parsley, chopped
A bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped
A bunch of scallions or chives, chopped
A handful of vermicelli noodles
2 medium lime or lemons
Salt to taste

Method:
  1. In a large pot place the chicken pieces, onion, garlic, turnip, carrots, tomatoes and celery. 
  2. Add 6 cups of water and a pinch of salt, bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Reduce heat, cover, and cook for 45 minutes.
  3. Add the chopped fresh vegetables (parsley, cilantro, scallions) and the noodles. Add more water if needed. Cover and cook for another 30 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked. Add the lime juice, taste it, and adjust the seasoning.
Ladle the soup into a serving bowl and serve hot.

Ask Attar about the sadness of my pain
Ask a patient about the length of a night
Everyone asks how I am
You that are my heart and soul, ask me for once

~ Baba Taher
My humble translation
Enjoy! Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2013!

32 comments:

  1. Beautiful recipe Azita! I also like to add a bit of tomato to my aash for both color, flavor and thickness. Happy new year to you too !

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  2. Happy New Year, Azita. I need to try this recipe, no pepper but you use lemon..must be taste good :)

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  3. Thanks for this recipe. Could you also give us the recipe for Soupe Jo, which has milk in it and Parsely. The color is a very creamy color with a little bit of green.

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  4. Hi Azita, Happy New Year! I have heard about your blog from my Persian friend. She says that your food is exactly as she remembers her mum cooking.
    I have made few of your dishes and every time it is fantastic. Both, my husband and I love your recipes and we are having Persian dinner party for friends soon, all using your recipes. Thank you! And keep writing!

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    1. Agata, Happy New Year and thank you very much for your kind comments. I am so glad you like my blog.Thanks again.

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  5. Ooh, I would also like to know if you have a recipe for Soupe Jo. Delicious. And this chicken soup looks just like the one my mom made me, although now that she's older she's gotten more adventurous with her chicken soups and often throws jalapenos and other spicy things in there.

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    1. Goli jan, I have a good recipe for soupe jo and I'll post it on my blog as soon as I can.

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  6. Hello!
    My family all enjoyed this wonderful recipe the other night :) Just a question though, at what stage do you remove the meat from the chicken bones? thank you!
    Rebecca

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    1. Rebecca, I remove the meat from the bones just before serving. Thank you.

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  7. Azita hi
    I came accros your blog few days ago. Are you from Kermansha? My parents came from that city.
    I made the KHORESHTE KARAFS
    Thank you.
    Dina

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    1. Thank you Dina jan for stopping by and trying my recipe. I'm not from Kermanshah but I love that city!

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  8. Ah talk about comfort foods for chilly weather and colds - chicken veggie soup it is. Glad to try out this another version. :D Got my eye on your next posts.

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  9. I love that you use the chicken legs for this recipe - they have so much flavor and become so tender in the soup! Wonderful mix of hearty root vegetables, herbs and noodles, too. A winner for any cold day.

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  10. I love chicken soup in a1000 different variations! One of my favourite and popular Bulgarian is very, very similar to yours but no turnip and cilantro, just a god amount of herb (Latin name: Satureja hortensis)- Satureja Summer. Chicken soup is soup for soul and body healing, soup for hangover as well) Lovely utterance you’ve got!

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  11. Thank you for your scrumptious recipes. I found your website the best in Persian recipes so far.

    I have got just a quick glance on the beautiful Baba-Taher's poem and, by all respect, I believe Attar could be interpreted as Chemist since people used to refer to chemist (Attar-at the time) for killing pain and cure illnesses.

    So long!

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  12. I've written about the health benefits of bone broth on my site. I was wondering if bone broth is ever made in Persian cuisine?

    It involves simmering chicken bones or other bones for at least six hours and the resulting soup is extremely healthy. I think bone broth is made in many different cultures with all different types of bones. When I first made it, I was weirded out by the bones, but the broth that comes out of it is so good as a base for all kinds of soups and dishes.

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  13. This looks really incredible. I'm so inspired by your recipes because they're done simply and well using the best ingredients (which is how I like to cook!)

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  14. Hi, Azita! I was looking for recipe for nan sangak, but I could not find any authentic. Do you have some good recipe for Persian stone bread?

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    1. Svetlana, If I ever find a good recipe for sangak, I’ll let you know.

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  15. Salam Azita.I have to say that I really enjoyed reading all of your posts,and I have a favor to ask considering that you are from southern parts of Iran.can you please tell me how to make Sambusa in southern way?I have made sambusa Indian way(with a little bit of alternations to make it suitable for our taste)and would really like to know how it is cooked in my own country.thanks.OH!!I almost forgot,that translation of Baba Taher was very good,are u a translator?

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    1. Salam, sambusa is made with fried onion, ground meat, potatoes, turmeric, salt and pepper. For a vegetarian version you can skip the beef and use green peas instead. No, I'm not a translator by profession but I'll try to do my best. Thank you for your kind words.

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  16. The lime juice added at the very last makes this soup so refreshing and cozy.
    Great simple recipe. Thanks!

    Snowed in at the end of a country road.
    Ten below zero night before last, two below zero last night
    If this keeps up I'm going to get really fat.



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  17. Going to try this tomorrow. I sometimes add thin slices of lemon into my versions of chicken soup and grate some zest too. I like the flavour, it adds a bit of sharpness as lime juice would too. Great recipe Azita! I'm sure it would be a perfect substitute for colds medecine!

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  18. I love the poem at the end! Do you know if Baba Taher´s writings are published in English? I would like to read more of his writings.

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    1. Cynthia, as far as I know, his writings are not published in English.

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  19. Hello,

    Today is the second time I am making this soup. I have one concern, I added the drumsticks but this time the blood is coming out of the bones and it looks like there are small blood clots forming in the soup. I have been taking them out as the soup cooks. Is this something to be concerned with? Is the soup still safe to eat? Thank you.

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    1. Hi, just make sure that the chicken is fully cooked to 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius) and use fresh chicken.

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