Childhood-inspired Chicken Soup “Harcha”

Thoroughly rinse the rice, pour cold water over it, and set it aside. According to this recipe, the chicken broth is made using whole rinsed chicken carcasses, without removing the fat or skin. One carcass weighing about one and a half kilograms is used for approximately 30-40 servings. I took a quarter of a chicken consisting of a drumstick, thigh, and part of the back. All of this is quite impressive in size, weighing half a kilo. Of course, you can use any chicken parts you like. However, I do not recommend using only chicken breast, as it is a lean and diet meat that is not particularly suitable for making broth. Since the chicken skin contains a large amount of unhealthy cholesterol, I remove and discard it. If you don't mind, you can leave it on and cook with it. I also remove and discard any fat accumulations. Peel and clean the onions and carrots. I have homegrown onions, so I can partially leave some of the thin outer layers (the very last onion skin), which will add some color and nutritional value. Technically, there is no need to add any greens, but I really love a light celery scent in my broths, and I grow it on my windowsill, so I always add a small stalk. Now, let's start cooking the broth. Bring a pot of water to a boil and, without reducing the heat, add the chicken. After the water boils again, remove the foam that forms and only then add all the vegetables.

Once the water boils again, reduce the heat to a minimum, cover the pot with a lid, and simmer for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, add salt and continue cooking for another 20-30 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked. Then strain the broth, discard the vegetables - they have already given all the goodness to the broth - and remove the chicken from the bones, cutting it into small pieces. Cover everything to prevent drying out. Alternatively, you can just pour the broth over the chicken pieces.

Peel and dice the potatoes into small cubes. Pour the strained broth back into the pot, place it on the heat, and add the rice. Cook for about 10 minutes until the rice is half-cooked. After that, add the potatoes. By the way, according to the recipe, seven children's servings should contain about 40 grams of rice. I considered this amount to be very small and added 100 grams. However, when I saw that the cooked soup had thickened significantly, I realized that my grams were a bit too much. The second time, I used 60 grams, which I found to be just right. If your soup appears too thick, you can always add a little water and adjust the taste by adding a pinch of salt. While the rice and potatoes are cooking, prepare and sauté the onions and carrots. To do this, peel and dice the vegetables into small cubes.

Heat a skillet, add butter and diced onions. Sauté over low heat until the onions become slightly translucent, then add the carrots. Cook for a couple more minutes (do not increase the heat - we don't want the vegetables to get browned!) and add a spoonful of tomato paste. Mix everything together and turn off the heat after a minute - the vegetable sauté is ready.

Add the contents of the skillet to the rice and continue cooking for about 10 more minutes, or until the rice and potatoes are fully cooked. Meanwhile, peel and mince the garlic. I always use a garlic press, but of course, you can simply use a knife. By the way, according to the recipe, there should be a considerable amount of garlic, and the soup will turn out quite flavorful. However, the garlic is added five minutes before the end of the soup cooking time, which means its aroma will significantly diminish, in my opinion, even too much. That's why, after adding the garlic (when the soup is cooked but not yet turned off), I cook the soup for just a minute, no more, and then let it sit for another 10 minutes. Along with the garlic, add the chicken pieces. According to the recipe, the chicken is stored separately and added to each plate individually based on weight.

To make this soup, you can add whatever you want. I really liked this soup. What did I add? I added coriander - I have a full fridge of frozen coriander from the summer. Without it, even a children's dish called harcho is not harcho for me. However, you can add it only to your own plate, not necessarily to the shared pot, because its characteristic and strong smell is not liked by everyone. And of course, pepper - each adult can add it according to their taste, I even used chili pepper because I like it spicy. Enjoy your meal!