Armenian Yogurt Soup
(Madnazounov Kufta Abour)
I was first taught this recipe decades ago by Rosine, one of the best cooks on the Armenian side of our family. Rosine never wrote it down, and she always kept me too busy in the kitchen to take notes, so I am indebted to Linda Chirinian’s book, Secrets of Cooking: Armenian / Lebanese / Persian for preserving this traditional dish brought out of Turkey by Armenian refugees in 1915. This is really a three-stage recipe, as the seasoned butter and the kufta are more complicated than the soup itself.
The Seasoned Butter
This needs to be made well ahead of time so it has time to freeze before you begin shaping the kufta. I usually make it the day before.
4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
Leave the butter at room temperature until softened. In a small bowl, mash it with a fork and mix in the cayenne and paprika evenly.
Roll the butter into a long cylinder about 1/2-inch thick, wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze.
The Kufta
2 cups small bulgur wheat (If you can’t find small-grain, you can use a coffee grinder to reduce it to about couscous-size or smaller.)
2 lbs ground meat (We use a 50-50 mix of beef and lamb.)
1 medium yellow onion
1 tbsp allspice
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp nutmeg
salt and black pepper
4 cups chicken broth
In a large bowl, soak the bulgur in water until softened (about 20 minutes for small grains). Make sure the bowl is big enough for the bulgur to double in volume as it soaks up the water.
Chop the onion and process on pulse in a food processor until pureed. It should be a thick paste with no pieces or chunks.
In a large bowl, combine the ground beef and ground lamb, the onion puree, and the allspice, paprika, and nutmeg. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.
Squeeze the excess water out of the bulgur and fold the bulgur into the meat mixture, mixing well.
Remove the seasoned butter from the freezer and cut it into pieces about the size of a cherry stone.
Form the ground meat mixture into meatballs, with one piece of the frozen butter in the middle of each. We like the meatballs about one to one-and-a-half inches in diameter.
In a large pot, heat the chicken broth over medium heat until simmering. Do not bring to a full boil or the meatballs will break as you drop them in the broth. Gently drop the meatballs into the simmering broth and cook for 10 to 15 minutes (depending on their size). Remove the meatballs from the broth with a slotted spoon and set aside. Reserve the broth for the soup.
The Soup
32 oz plain yogurt (preferably full-fat)
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 oz butter
4 tbsp dried mint
In a small saucepan, heat the butter until just sizzling, stir in the dried mint, remove from the heat and set aside.
In a large, heavy casserole, combine the yogurt and egg over low heat, stirring constantly until it is warm. Turn off the heat (or the yogurt may curdle) and add meatballs and enough of the hot chicken broth to give the soup a lighter consistency (usually about 3 cups). Serve immediately with a drizzle of the mint butter over the meatballs in each bowl.
Enjoy!