Ash-e Doogh

Ash-e doogh, from north-west Iran, is a tangy, creamy soup of yoghurt, rice, chickpeas and herbs, served hot or warm.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 30 min
Cook: 45 min
Total: 1 hour 15 minutes
Vegetarian
✅
Nuts
❌
Serves
6 people
Difficulty
Medium

Ingredients

  • 80g basmati rice, rinsed
  • 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained
  • 1.5 litres water
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 4 tbsp sunflower oil, divided
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 100g fresh spinach, finely chopped
  • 60g fresh coriander, finely chopped
  • 60g fresh dill, finely chopped
  • 60g spring onions, finely sliced
  • 500g full-fat plain yoghurt
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • 2 tbsp dried mint
  • Salt and black pepper

Method

  1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large pot and fry the onion for 10 minutes until golden. Stir in the turmeric, rice, chickpeas, water and 1 tsp salt. Simmer for 20 minutes.

  2. Add the spinach, coriander, dill and spring onions and simmer for 10 minutes.

  3. Whisk the yoghurt, egg yolk and cornflour in a bowl until smooth. Slowly whisk in 2 ladlefuls of the hot soup to warm it.

  4. Reduce the heat to low. Stir the yoghurt mixture into the pot, stirring constantly, and cook very gently for 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Do not let it boil vigorously or it will curdle.

  5. Warm the remaining oil, remove from the heat and stir in the mint. Serve the soup topped with mint oil.