🇦🇲 Armenia
SpasArmenian yogurt soup
Armenian yogurt (matzoon) soup thickened with egg and flour and cooked with wheat groats, barley or rice and fresh herbs such as mint or cilantro; served hot in winter and chilled in summer.
Origin and history
Spas is a staple of Armenian home cooking, built on matzoon, the Armenian fermented milk. According to Cook's Illustrated the name comes from the Armenian verb meaning to serve, and the alternative name tanabour combines tan (a yogurt drink) with abour (soup). Yogurt is central to Armenian cooking, and the soup is eaten hot in winter and chilled in summer.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 4 servings
- Total time
- 50 min
- Hands-on
- 25 min
Ingredients
- 120 g2/3 cup hulled wheat groats (dzavar) or pearl barley, rinsed; rice also works
- 500 g2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt (matzoon)
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 1.2 l5 cups water, hot
- 30 g2 tbsp butter
- 4 scallions, finely sliced
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro or mint, chopped; or 2 tsp dried mint
- salt, to taste
Method
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1. Cover the groats with boiling water and soak while you prepare the rest (30 minutes); if using rice, rinse and do not soak. Drain.
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2. In a large pot, whisk the yogurt, egg and flour until completely smooth.
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3. Add the drained grain and stir, then pour in the hot water slowly while stirring.
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4. Set the pot over medium-high heat and stir constantly until the soup comes to a boil.
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5. Lower the heat and simmer for 7 to 10 minutes until the grain is tender; unsoaked barley or whole wheat groats need longer, so taste and keep simmering as needed.
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6. In a small pan, melt the butter and cook the scallions until golden.
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7. Stir the buttery scallions into the soup and add salt.
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8. Serve in bowls topped with cilantro or mint.
Notes
- Spas (also called tanabour or tanapur, from tan, a yogurt drink, and abour, soup) is served hot in winter and chilled in summer. The name spas is said to come from spasarkel, 'to serve'.
- The egg and flour help keep the yogurt from splitting, but constant stirring until the first boil still matters most.
- Cracked wheat (korkot, or dzavar groats) is the traditional grain; Cook's Illustrated found pearl barley the best substitute, as it gives off plenty of starch, while rice dissolved. Cook barley or farro in water or stock first, as it takes longer.
- Home cooks differ: some add a spoon or two of sour cream, some skip the egg, some use broth instead of water or add mint, and some versions use egg yolks and lemon with barley.
- The Azerbaijani dovga is a neighbouring yogurt soup, with chickpeas and lots of greens; spas is plainer and built on the grain.
Adapted from Heghineh Cooking Show, Spas (Tanapoor), SBS Food, Yoghurt, mint and barley soup (spas), and Cook's Illustrated, The silkiest soup.
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