← Nouns Cooking · Soup Pot

Ingredients

• 100 g pearl barley or hulled wheat, rinsed
• 1 l vegetable stock or water
• 500 g full-fat Greek yogurt
• 1 Eggs
• 1 tbsp plain flour or cornflour
• 40 g Butter
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 2 tsp Dried mint
• 2 tbsp fresh coriander or mint, chopped
• 1 tbsp lemon juice (optional)
• Salt

Method

1. Simmer the barley in the stock in a medium pot for 30–35 min, until tender. Leave it in its liquid.
2. Meanwhile whisk the yogurt, egg and flour in a bowl until completely smooth.
3. Whisk two ladles of the hot barley liquid into the yogurt, one at a time, to warm it gently.
4. Pour the yogurt mixture into the pot over medium-low heat. Stir constantly in one direction for 8–10 min, until the soup is hot and just starting to bubble. Do not let it boil hard or it can split.
5. While it heats, melt the butter in a small pan and cook the onion for 6–8 min, until golden. Take off the heat and stir in the dried mint.
6. Season the soup with salt (and lemon if you like it sharper), pour over the minty onion butter and scatter with herbs.

Tips

• The egg and flour keep the yogurt from curdling, so do not skip them for the hot version.
• Spas is also lovely chilled in summer; it thickens as it cools, so thin it with a little cold water.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

SBS Food Heghineh Pampers and Pakhlava