Debora says: I always slightly kick the furniture – metaphorically if not actually – when I have a cold and someone suggests chicken soup as the cure for all ills. Who is going to make this soup? Do the shopping and the preparing, and the general long, slow simmering of the soup? Wash the pan? The problem with invalid food is that it is often beyond the scope of the invalid. But the pestilent can’t live on weak tea and hasty toast alone.

When I am feeling sick or just tired, I often order in from Devran, a Turkish restaurant along the road from us, mostly because their food tastes like home cooking – they even have a casserole of the day. This soup is my version of their delicious and restorative lamb soup, which is balm to body and soul.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

For the soup

1kg lamb shoulder, cut into 3cm cubes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2–3 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, about 350g, diced
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons biber salçasi
800ml lamb, chicken or vegetable stock, or water
1 × 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons dried oregano
½ teaspoon pul biber, or a good pinch of chilli flakes
a large bunch of fresh parsley, about 20g, tough stalks removed and discarded, leaves and soft stalks chopped
2 red peppers, halved, deseeded and cut into 1cm slices
4 cloves of garlic, halved, green germ removed, and very finely chopped
2 × 400g tins of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
a small bunch of fresh coriander, about 15g, tough stalks removed and discarded, leaves and soft stalks chopped

To finish

about 160g Greek yoghurt
12–14 fresh mint leaves, chopped, or ½ teaspoon dried mint
a pinch of salt

Method

Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper over the lamb and mix it all together with your hands so that it is evenly seasoned. Warm the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed casserole or saucepan over a medium–high heat – you may not need all the oil, depending on how much fat remains on the lamb. Brown the lamb.

You’ll need to do this in batches, so as not to crowd the pan. As pieces of the meat are well browned, remove them to a plate and continue until all the lamb is cooked.

When you have browned the meat, pour all but 3 tablespoons of fat from the pan (save it for frying bread or eggs – thank me later). Lower the heat, tip the onions into the pan with the bay leaf and sauté gently, stirring from time to time, until they are beautifully soft, about 20 minutes. Add the peppers and garlic and stir for 3–4 minutes, then stir in the chickpeas. Add the cumin and coriander and stir for a minute, then add the biber salçasi or pepper paste.

Stir for a couple of minutes, then return the meat to the pan with any of the juices which have accumulated on the plate. Add the stock, tomatoes, vinegar, oregano and pul biber or chilli flakes. Bring to a very gentle simmer, then partially cover and let it blip away softly for an hour. Remove the lid, taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary, and simmer uncovered for 20–30 minutes, until the soup is thickened slightly and the lamb is very tender.

Remove from the heat, fish out the bay leaf, and stir in the parsley and coriander. In a small bowl, stir together the yoghurt, mint and salt. Serve the soup in warmed bowls, with some of the minted yoghurt spooned over the top.

Notes

Many Turkish recipes use an intense red pepper paste, biber salçasi. If you can’t get hold of it, you can substitute a couple of jarred, drained flame-grilled red peppers – about 120g – whizzed together with 2 tablespoons of concentrated tomato purée, 2 teaspoons of paprika, ¼ teaspoon of cayenne and a pinch of cinnamon into a smooth paste. You can keep it sealed in a jar in the fridge for a couple of weeks and use it to perk up all manner of soups and stews – it is particularly good with aubergines.

Notes From A Small Kitchen Island: 3 versatile bowl food recipes to dish out at dinner