Chicken soup with semolina

February 14, 2011  •  Category:

 

This is a simple chicken soup thickened a bit with some semolina and flavored with cardamom; cardamom is a spice much beloved in the Arab world, actually said to have been used all the way back to the Pharaoh’s  time.


My mother hated cardamom so we never had it at home with coffee or sweets or any food. Maybe that’s why I always have a pinch of cardamom in my coffee!

Do you recall rushing to consume something (wholesome) that was not allowed in your parents’ home?

INGREDIENTS:

  • 4 cups of chicken stock (preferably homemade)
  • 1/3 cup of fine semolina flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon of cardamom
  • 1/4 cup of parsley, leaves chopped fine
  • 1 cup of cooked chicken, shredded
  • 1 medium onion, chopped fine
  • Salt, to taste

METHOD:

  1. Place the chicken stock in a large saucepan. Add the onion and let it simmer for a few minutes. Place the semolina in a small bowl and add 1/3 cup of water, stirring the mixture with a spoon until smooth.
  2. Add the semolina and cardamom to the soup, stirring for a few minutes till the semolina is soft. Add the chicken pieces and some chopped parsley for color. Serve hot.

Recipe adapted from Sima Osman Yassine’s Middle Eastern Cuisine.

NOTE: I used some cilantro pesto I had in the freezer for this soup and it was delicious with it. A teaspoon or so.

Comments

30 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Claudia says:

    I love the semolina in this – I put it into my stracciatella. Laughed about the cardamom. My mother never served polenta (hates it). I never serve cauliflower although I am trying….

  2. Juliana says:

    The chicken soup looks yummie with semomila…very comforting 🙂

  3. john@heneedsfood says:

    This is similar to my mothers recipe except the semolina was used to make little dumplings and of course without cardamom. Yours sounds so nourishing!

  4. oum mouncifrayan says:

    c’est joli, le gout doit être délicieux.. bravo et merci

  5. Rosa says:

    Very healthy and yummy looking!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  6. Susan says:

    Semolina in the soup? wow, I need to try this.!

  7. Katerina says:

    I am making chicken soup today as well as I am feeling a little bit sick. Yours looks so creamy and hearty!

  8. Tammy says:

    I’m so under the weather right now, this’ll be just the thing, as I also love cardamom (but never thought to add it to my chicken soup…)

    As for early memories, I’ve a real thing…for breakfast cereal, which we rarely had growing up (my Mom’s Vietnamese, so it wasn’t her thing, and that sort of item was hard to find in Sierra Leone and what was then Zaire, anyway). You should have seen the amounts I scarfed when I went to university!

  9. Priya says:

    Semolina in chicken soup,thats truly interesting.

  10. Caffettiera says:

    I love cardamom, and the soup must taste so comforting. It is funny that you rushed out to eat cardamom like that! It took me a while to get used to foods my parents don’t like, like raw garlic for instance.

  11. Sushma Mallya says:

    very yummy,love chicken soup…

  12. Peter says:

    I’ve seen one recipe that uses semolina in an Avgolemono, so that’s the closest I’ve seen to your soup. I’m now curious to try cardamom with chicken and why not?

  13. Lael Hazan says:

    Lovely photos and our weather is perfect for chicken soup. So comforting. Our family wasn’t cardamom fans either. Since my mother was a “survival cook” as she called it, pretty much all the cooking I do and especially the baking is rather different from hers.

  14. Joanne says:

    I adore the flavor of cardamom…what a nice way to thicken this soup!

  15. Mark Wisecarver says:

    Agree with the others, adding Semolina is great. 🙂

  16. Suman Singh says:

    Hi Joumana, I hope you doing good..It has been long since I last visited your blog..seems to have missed alot..soup looks so yummy and comforting..

  17. 5 Star Foodie says:

    This soup looks wonderful, I love the flavoring with cardamom, one of my favorite spices!

  18. Susan says:

    That is a delicious-looking bowl of soup and I am intrigued by the notion of adding semolina and cardamom. Great recipe!

  19. Marina says:

    J’aime beaucoup cette soupe, j’en fais quelquefois mais sans cardamome…à essayer avec..Bonne soirée 🙂

  20. Corina says:

    I love cardamon too. In coffee, sweets and savoury dishes. This soup would be great for cold winter weather.

  21. Christine @ Fresh says:

    I have cardamon in coffee too, and love it! I’m curious how this chicken soup tastes, I add cardamon to my Vietnamese noodle soups.

  22. I Sicilian says:

    This sounds like my perfect cup of soup. It’s on my list for this week

  23. Murasaki Shikibu says:

    Sounds delicious. I am intrigued by what chicken soup would taste like with a pinch of cinnamon.

  24. Murasaki Shikibu says:

    Sounds delicious. I am intrigued by what chicken soup would taste like with a pinch of cardamom.

  25. Nuts about food says:

    I love semolina soup, or just semolino as they call it here in Italy. Sort of the Italian version of chicken noodle soup…good for the soul

  26. SYLVIA says:

    This cheerful yellow soup is a bowl of comfort. It’s easy to prepare, and warms your body and soul. I like how cardamom lends an exotic touch, and just a bit of fresh lemon juice adds a big boost of flavor. This is a pretty little soup for for winter nights.

  27. Magic of Spice says:

    Such lovely flavors for chicken soup 🙂 Looks wonderful!

  28. I Sicilian says:

    I finally made the soup on Thursday night and I absolutely love the simplicity of the ingredients and how delightful it tastes.

  29. Dana says:

    I love cardamom too! It seems to be going into almost everything lately at my house. Soup looks great!

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