Chorba or shorba (from dialectal Arabic ; from , 'to drink') is a broad class of stews or rich

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling soli ...

s found in national cuisines across the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. It is often prepared with added ingredients but served alone as a broth or with bread.

Etymology

''Chorba'', or ''shorba'', is variously derived from the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

word meaning 'gravy' or from a Persian term from (, 'salty, brackish') and /, (/, 'water/stew') or from a hypothetical cognate word common to

and Persian. Chorba is also called ( am, ሾርባ), ( uz, шўрва), ( ps, شوروا), ( bg, чорба), (

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...

), (

Somali Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Soma ...

), ( Romanian), (russian: шурпа), ( ug, شورپا / ), (

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

), ( ky, шорпо) and ( kk, сорпа). In the Indian subcontinent, the term in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

() simply means

gravy Gravy is a sauce often made from the juices of meats that run naturally during cooking and often thickened with wheat flour or corn starch for added texture. The gravy may be further coloured and flavoured with gravy salt (a simple mix of salt a ...

. It is a Mughlai dish and it has vegetarian forms such as tomato shorba.

Types

Shorwa is a traditional Afghan dish which is a simple dish which is usually mixed with bread on the

dastarkhān A dastarkhwān (Perso-Arabic alphabet: دسترخوان, tg, дастархон, ky, дасторкон, hi, दस्तरख़्वान, kk, дастарқан, bn, দস্তরখান, uz, Dasturxon, ne, दस्तरखान ...

. It is a long process and a pressure-cooker is usually used, as it reduces the process to 2 hours. The main ingredients for shorwa are potatoes, beans and meat. It is commonly served with Afghan bread. Ciorbă, as called in

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnist ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

, consists of various vegetables, meat and herbs. Borș is a sour soup that is used in the Moldova region. It is also has beneficial health effects. It is served hot to stimulate digestion and be effective against colds. There are several types of this dish, such as ciorbă de perișoare, leek soup, Romanian borscht, and borș de burechiușe.

Gallery

File:Shorwa.JPG, Traditional Afghan shorwa File:Chorba.jpg, Algerian chorba File:Begova Čorba (Baščaršija in Sarajevo, Bosnia).JPG, Bosnian ''begova čorba'' and somun bread File:Ready kurban chorba.JPG, Bulgarian Kurban chorba File:Shorpo.jpg, Kyrgyz shorpo File:Pileća corba.jpg,

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

chicken čorba File:Ciorba.jpg, Romanian ciorbă File:Chorba frik algerienne.jpg, Algerian chorba frik

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corba Turkish soups Turkish words and phrases Bosnia and Herzegovina cuisine Indian cuisine Kazakhstani cuisine Kyrgyz cuisine Pakistani soups and stews Arab cuisine Uzbekistani cuisine Romanian cuisine Moldovan cuisine Uyghur cuisine Tajik cuisine Soviet cuisine Bulgarian cuisine Iranian soups tr:Çorba