Piti is often called the national soup of Azerbaijan, and the mountain town of Shaki, in the green north of the country, treats it as a personal possession. Lamb on the bone, soaked chickpeas, a little onion and a nugget of fat go into small earthenware pots, each one a single portion, and cook for hours until the broth turns rich and golden with saffron. In the Shaki version, chestnuts and dried sour plums called alça go in near the end, one for sweetness and one for a sharp, fruity edge.

The way it is eaten is half the pleasure. You tear bread into your bowl, sprinkle it with sumac, and pour the broth over it to eat first; then you tip the meat, chickpeas and chestnuts into the bowl, mash them a little, add more sumac and raw onion and start again. It is a dish built to keep people going through a hard day, which is also a fair description of a race weekend at home, minus the hard day.

The piti

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (150 g) dried chickpeas
• 1 3/4 lb (800 g) bone in lamb shoulder or neck
• 2 1/2 oz (70 g) lamb tail fat or lamb fat
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 2 teaspoons fine salt
• a large pinch (about 1/4 teaspoon) saffron threads
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) hot water
• 6 cups (1.4 liters) cold water
• 2 medium waxy potatoes
• 2 ripe medium tomatoes
• 8 dried sour plums (alça)
• 8 cooked, peeled chestnuts

Method

1. Crumble the saffron threads between your fingers into the small bowl, pour over the 3 tablespoons of hot water and leave it to steep while you fill the pots. Heat the oven to 325°F (160°C) with a rack in the lower middle.
2. Set the pots on the baking sheet. Divide the drained chickpeas between them, then add 2 pieces of lamb to each pot. Scatter in the chopped onion, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to each pot and pour in enough cold water to cover the meat by about 1 inch (2.5 cm), leaving a little space at the top so nothing boils over.
3. Cover the pots with their lids or a tight sheet of foil and put the baking sheet in the oven. After 40 minutes, take the sheet out, lift each lid and use the spoon to skim off any gray foam that has risen to the surface.
4. Divide the saffron water between the pots and lay a piece of fat on top of each one. Cover again and return them to the oven for 1 1/2 hours. Check once halfway and top up with a splash of hot water if the level has dropped below the meat.
5. Add half a potato, two tomato quarters and two sour plums to each pot, pushing them down into the broth. Cover and cook for 40 minutes more.
6. Tuck two chestnuts into each pot and cook for 10 minutes more, just to heat them through. Taste the broth from one pot and add a pinch more salt to each if needed. The lamb should be far beyond safe at this point, at least 145°F (63°C) inside, and falling from the bone.

To serve at the table

Ingredients

• 1 large round flatbread or 4 pieces of lavash
• 1 small red onion
• 2 tablespoons ground sumac
• a small bunch fresh herbs such as cilantro, dill and basil

Method

1. Put the onion rings on a small plate and sprinkle them with a pinch of sumac and salt. Put the remaining sumac in a little bowl with a spoon. Give each person a wide soup bowl, a side plate and a pot of piti, set on a folded cloth because the pot will be very hot.
2. Each person tears a handful of bread into small pieces in their bowl and sprinkles it with sumac. Hold the lid of the pot or a spoon against the meat and pour only the broth over the bread, keeping the solids in the pot. Eat the soaked bread with a spoon.
3. Tip the lamb, chickpeas, potato, plums and chestnuts onto the side plate or into the empty bowl. Pull the meat from the bones, mash everything lightly with a fork, and season with more sumac and some onion rings. Eat it with the herbs and the rest of the bread.

More from Azerbaijan