Bulgarian bean chorba with tomatoes and red peppers. | |
| Alternative names | Ciorbă, Shurbah, Shorwa, Čorba, Çorba |
|---|---|
| Type | Soup or stew |
| Region or state | Balkans, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, North Africa |
Chorba from Arabic (شوربه) from the word chareb (شرب, drink) or shorba is a broad class of stews or rich soups 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[1] as a broth or with bread.[2]
Chorba, or shorba, is variously derived from the Arabic word shurbah[3][4] meaning 'gravy'[5] or from a Persian term شوربا from shor ("salty, brackish") and ba/ab, آب، ما ("water/stew")[6] or from a hypothetical cognate word common to Arabic and Persian.[7]
Chorba is also called shorba (Arabic: شوربة, Amharic: ሾርባ), sho'rva (Uzbek: шўрва), shorwa (Pashto: شوروا), chorba (Bulgarian: чорба), čorba (Serbo-Croatian), Shurbad (Somali) ciorbă (Romanian), shurpa (Russian: шурпа), shorpa (Uighur: شورپا, шорпа), çorba (Turkish), shorpo (Kyrgyz: шорпо) and sorpa (Kazakh: сорпа).[citation needed] In the Indian subcontinent, the term shorba in Hindi (Hindi: शोरबा) simply means gravy. It is a Mughlai dish and it has vegetarian forms such as tomato shorba.
Shorwa is a traditional Afghan dish which is a simple dish which is usually mixed with bread on the dastarkhān.[8] 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.[9] It is commonly served with Afghan bread.[10]
Ciorbă, as called in Moldova and Romania, consists of various vegetables, meat and herbs. Borș is a sour soup that is used in the Moldova region.[11] It is also has beneficial health effects.[12] It is served hot to stimulate digestion and be effective against colds.[13] There are several types of this dish, such as ciorbă de perișoare, leek soup, Romanian borscht, and borș de burechiușe.
