🇮🇳 India · Ladakh
SkyuLadakhi pasta soup
A Ladakhi winter soup of small thumb-pressed wheat-dough pasta shapes cooked in a broth of root vegetables, greens and often mutton.
Origin and history
Skyu is a traditional Ladakhi dish believed to be several centuries old, a staple of the cold-desert kitchens of the high Himalaya. It is cooked in winter and at family gatherings, and is described by India's National Virtual Library as a traditional soup-based dish. The sources give little more history than this.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 4 servings
- Total time
- 1 h 30 min
- Hands-on
- 50 min
Ingredients
- 250 g2 cups whole wheat flour, for the dough
- 1 pinch salt, for the dough
- about 120 ml1/2 cup water, for a firm, non-sticky dough
- 300 g10 oz mutton on the bone (or yak), cut in small pieces; leave out for the vegetarian version
- 2 tbsp oil or butter
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 2 potatoes, cubed
- 1 turnip, cubed (a local ingredient in many Ladakhi versions)
- 1 carrot, sliced
- 1.2 litres5 cups water or mutton stock
- 2 handfuls radish leaves, spinach or other greens
- salt and black pepper, to taste
Method
-
1. Mix the flour, salt and water into a firm dough and knead for 5 to 8 minutes. Cover and rest for at least 30 minutes.
-
2. Roll the dough into ropes about 1 cm (1/2 inch) thick, pinch off marble-sized pieces and press each one with your thumb into a small hollow shell. Dust lightly with flour so they do not stick.
-
3. Heat the oil in a heavy pot and brown the mutton pieces for 5 minutes, then add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook for 5 minutes until soft.
-
4. Add the tomatoes and turmeric and cook for 3 minutes until the tomatoes break down.
-
5. Add the potatoes, turnip and carrot, pour in the water or stock, season, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until the meat is tender (about 15 minutes for the vegetarian version).
-
6. Drop the dough shells into the boiling soup one at a time so they do not clump. Simmer on medium-low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are tender and the broth is thick and velvety.
-
7. If the soup is too thin, crush a piece of cooked potato against the side of the pot. Stir in the greens for the last 2 minutes and serve hot.
Notes
- Skyu is the Ladakhi winter dish of thumb-pressed wheat pasta; in Ladakhi cooking it is made with root vegetables and meat, while chutagi (bow-tie-shaped dough with leafy greens and vegetables) is its sister dish. Skyu is not a form of thukpa: the pasta is cooked into a thick root-vegetable soup, not served as noodles in a broth.
- Vegetarian versions leave out the meat; some cooks finish with a spoon of butter or a little mustard oil, or dried wild caraway.
- Families traditionally shape the pasta together, and it is cooked in winter and for gatherings and festivals because it takes time; some younger Ladakhis now eat it less often, and restaurants and homestays are bringing it back.
- Quantities for vegetables are flexible; the soup should be thick enough to eat with a spoon.
Adapted from Skyu, National Virtual Library of India (Timeless Recipes), Inside Ladakh's high-altitude kitchen, Goya, and Ladakhi Skyu guide, Real SHE Power.
At the festivals
No festival we list has printed it on a menu yet.