Beef & Rice Soup

(click to enlarge)	Beef & Rice Soup Georgia - Kharcho
	Makes: Effort: Sched: DoAhead:	4 qts *** Note-1 Yes		Very popular in Russia and other former Soviet states, this soup is easy to make once you have the beef and stock. You can start by making Russian Beef Stock which also cooks the beef. You'll have plenty left for other soups.

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5
12
12
1-1/4
2-1/2
3
1
1/4
3/4
1/4
1/4
1/2
1/2
1/2
1
3
tt
1

c
oz
oz
#
T
T
T
c
t
t
c
t
T
t
T
cl

c

Beef Stock (1)
Beef, cooked (2)
Onion
Plum Tomatoes
Tomato Paste
Butter
Flour
Rice, long grain
Coriander seed
Fenugreek seed
Walnut pieces
Mint, dried
Paprika, sweet
Chili flakes (3)
Tamarand Paste (4)
Garlic
Salt
Fresh Herbs (5)

Make the BEEF STOCK if you haven't already. Put it in an adequate size pot but leave it cold.
Cut BEEF into bite size pieces.
Chop ONION small.
Peel TOMATOES and chop small. Mix with TOMATO PASTE.
Crush CORIANDER SEED, grind FENUGREEK, grind WALNUTS, mix all with DRIED MINT, PAPRIKA and CHILI FLAKES.
Prepare TAMARIND PASTE as required (Note-4).
Cursh GARLIC and chop fine.
In a sauté pan or a wok heat 3 T BUTTER and fry Onion stirring over moderate heat until onions are light golden.
Sprinkle FLOUR over, stir it in and fry stirring for about 1 minute - then slowly stir in about 3/4 cup of Stock (preferably cold). Stir until smooth.
Stir in TOMATO Mix, add all to the stock pot and bring to a boil.
Stir in RICE and simmer covered for about 10 minutes.
Stir in Spice Mix, Tamarind Paste and Garlic. Season with SALT to taste. Continue simmering until rice is tender, about 15 minutes.
While simmering chop the FRESH HERBS medium (Note-5)
When Rice is ready, stir in Beef and bring back to a simmer, then stir in 1/4 cup Fresh Herbs, holding the rest for garnish. Turn off heat and let stand for 10 minutes.
Serve hot garnished with a generous dose of the Fresh Herbs.

NOTES:

Beef Stock: It's best to start this soup by making a batch of Russian Beef Stock which takes about 4 hours but not a lot of attention most of that time. Of course you can use beef stock made by other methods too. Once you have the stock it takes about an hour or so to make this soup.
Beef: This is usually the beef cooked in making Russian Beef Stock. Any other boiled beef can be used.
Chili Flakes: Not too hot. Korean or crushed Japons. See our Chili Page for more information.
Tamarind Paste: Actually this should be Georgian purple sour plums, but those are generally unavailable in the USA. In Southern California we can sometimes get green ones which would do. Otherwise, Tamarind paste. or lacking even that 2 T Lemon Juice. If you have a jar of tamarind concentrate, just spoon it out. If you have a block of paste cut off about a tablespoon and soak it 1/4 cup of hot water, then squeeze through a sieve and use the liquid.

Fresh Herbs: Use any or all of these: Taragon (careful with amount), Parsley, Dill, Cilantro, Basil.

U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove, in=inch