HS: You can use yellow split peas here (traditional), although Umbrian or lentils du Puys are great if those are easier to come by. Shortcut: This soup comes together MUCH more quickly if you have pre-cooked brown rice, lentils, etc. on hand....you can patiently make the yogurt broth base, and then warm these ingredients in the final stages with the herbs and onions.
1 small onion or 6 peeled shallots, grated on box grater
4 cups FULL FAT plain yogurt, room temperature
1/2 cup brown rice, well rinsed
1/2 cup yellow split peas, well rinsed
1 large egg
1 tablespoon flour or organic cornstarch
4 1/2 cups barely warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3/4 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup parsley or cilantro
1/4 cup chopped dill or fennel fronds
2 cups cooked chickpeas, or more to your liking4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon dried mint
generous pinch of salt
toasted sesame seeds
Prep all your ingredients before starting. Because if you don't, you'll be chopping them, you'll forget to stir the soup, and you'll likely have to figure out a plan B for dinner.
Use your thickest-bottomed soup pot or casserole here. A large one. This will help keep the heat even and steady. Thin pans will make this tricky. To the cold pan add the shallots, yogurt, rice, split peas, egg, and flour. Stir until well combined and uniform. Stir in the water and cook over low-medium heat. You want to very slowly bring the mixture just a hint shy of a simmer - this should take at least 20 minutes. It should thicken a bit at this point. Keep it here, barely any bubbling, stirring, stirring until the rice is cooked through. See my headnote for the shortcut version. If you had pre-cooked rice/pulses, you could simply stir them in at this point. If not, this will take a while. When the rice and lentils are cooked through, stir in the salt, pepper, 1/2 cup of the green onions, parsley, dill, and chickpeas. Stirring, stirring, all the while. You want the chickpeas to heat through completely. Remove from heat. Taste and add more salt if needed, if you don't get the seasoning right, the soup will taste flat.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, add the garlic, mint, and salt, and sauté until the garlic softens a bit, barely a minute. Remove from heat.
Serve each bowl of soup with a drizzle of the mint butter, a sprinkling of green onions, and a few sesame seeds.
Leftover tip: thin with barely warm water, warm slowly, over very gentle heat.
Serves 6-8.
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