Lamb Stock Soup/Yakhni Soup-مٹن یخنی سوپ

I’m here with a must-know recipe and even though I had another lined-up and ready, I  am posting my family nuskha (recipe/remedy) for all ailments, the stock soup. I changed my mind about which recipe to post at the last minute. I wasn’t feeling well over the weekend and ended up making this very soup.  It’s a recipe worth sharing. My go-to for all kinds of stress or physical exhaustion breaks, especially for the elderly and new moms, it’s packed with all the good nutrition from vegetables and the deliciousness of meat stock.

I call it a stock soup because that’s exactly what it is. It’s meat stock that is a soup. You drink it right when it is prepared and don’t really use it as a base for other soups (although you can try, unleash your creativity!!). It’s super nutritious, high in vitamins A, C, Iron and Potassium. You can make this in bulk quantities and freeze, but I prefer it fresh right off the stove, oh and the key to  making it great is using fresh vegetables. Lamb/mutton stocks are a little stronger than beef and chicken so you really have to try it a few times if you are not a lamb/mutton person.

Serves: 6 

Ingredients:

• 1 kg Lamb/ Mutton
• 2 medium sized Onions, large slices
• 1 tbsp Butter
•  1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 medium tomato, roughly chopped
• 1 potato, cut in 4 chunks, skin on
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped.
• 1 small broccoli floret.
• 2 cups spinach
• 2 tbsp rice
• 1 black cardamom
• 2 -3 cloves
• 1 small piece cinnamon stick
•  1/2 tsp black peppercorns
• 3 liters water

Method:

1. Turn the stove on high heat and place a large pot on it.
2. Add the sliced onion and saute for 3-5 minutes, just before the onion starts to change color add the lamb/mutton.
3. Now fry the meat on high heat for 4-5 minutes or until he water form the meat evaporates. The reason why we need to cook off the extra water from the meat is to remove the smell of meat.
4. Add almost 3 liters of water and all of the ingredients except fro the broccoli and spinach.
5. Once the water starts to boil turn the heat to medium and let the stock simmer for a minimum of 2 hours. You can cook up to 6 hours if you want all the juices to incorporate well.
6. Throw in the broccoli and spinach after almost half the amount of time has passed. Cover and let cook.
7. When the stock is reduced to half the amount of when you started then your stock soup is read.
8. Remove all of the ingredients and filter the soup through a sieve to remove all the small particles.
9. pour into a bowl and serve warm with salt and pepper to taste.

Tips:

1. You can substitute any preferred meat for lamb/mutton.
2. A stocks’ goodness lies in the amount of time it is simmered, so the longer you let it cook the better it will be.
3. You can add as many other vegetables as you prefer.
4. If you want you can use the meat after taking it out of the stock. Shred it and us it as a filling for other snacks and sandwiches or add a few spices and make them into burger patties.
5. This is a specialty of the Urdu speaking community in Pakistan and is highly recommended for women who have recently given birth (desi totka alert!!)

Aa jao bachon “yakhni” tayyar hai!!

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