Skip to content
FriendsPantry

Azerbaijani

Piti

Non-vegetarian

Lamb, chickpeas and potato slow-cooked in clay pots with saffron and dried sour plums. The broth is eaten first over torn bread with sumac, then the meat and vegetables are mashed and eaten as a second course.

Piti is an Azerbaijani soup, ready in about 3 hours 45 minutes and made with lamb shoulder, dried chickpeas and saffron. It serves 4 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking
Rows of individual clay pots of Shaki piti lamb and chickpea soup
Photo: Самый древний / Wikimedia Commons · public-domain
Prep
15 min
Cook
3 h 30 min
Total
3 h 45 min
Serves
4
Level
Easy
Calories
644

Plus overnight soaking of the chickpeas.

Ingredients

4 servings

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Put the lamb in a pot with the water, bring to the boil and skim well.

    Food safety: Wash hands and boards after handling raw meat.

  2. Step 2

    Heat the oven (opens in a new tab) to 160 °C. Divide the lamb, chickpeas, onion (opens in a new tab) and prunes (opens in a new tab) between four ovenproof clay pots (or use one casserole) and ladle in the skimmed broth to cover.

  3. Step 3

    Cover and bake for 2 hours, until the chickpeas are tender.

  4. Step 4

    Add the potatoes (opens in a new tab), saffron (opens in a new tab) water, salt and pepper (opens in a new tab), cover again and bake for another hour until the potatoes are soft.

    • 60 min
    • 160°C

  5. Step 5

    To eat, pour the broth over torn bread in a bowl and sprinkle with sumac (opens in a new tab) and mint. Then mash the meat, chickpeas and potato (opens in a new tab) together and eat with more bread.

    • 3 min
    Fresh herbs scattered over a finished dish
    How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Shaki, Azerbaijan · Well documentedMost closely associated with the city of Shaki; a related dish (piti or dyushbara) is also eaten in Iran and Armenia.More food from Azerbaijan
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Soups · Stews & braises · Main courses
Cooking method
Slow-cooked, Oven-baked
Taste
savoury, aromatic / warmly spiced, rich, tangy
Diet
Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · High-protein
All labelsNon-vegetarian · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · High-protein
Without the optional extras: Whole-food focused, No gluten ingredientsWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
One-pot · Make-ahead
Cook more with
Lamb shoulder · Dried chickpeas · Saffron · Onion · Potato · Prunes
Techniques
Baking · Boiling

Allergens

  • Contains, can be adapted: Wheatfrom crusty bread / baguette
  • Contains, can be adapted: Glutenfrom crusty bread / baguette
  • May contain: Sesamefrom crusty bread / baguette

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

644 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 674 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 20%
  • Carbohydrate 30%
  • Fat 50%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy644 kcal96 kcal
Protein33.1 g4.9 g
Carbohydrate48.6 g7.2 g
Net carbohydrate41.3 g6.1 g
Sugars10.6 g1.6 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre7.3 g1.1 g
Fat36.3 g5.4 g
Saturated fat15 g2.2 g
Trans fat1.8 g0.3 g
Cholesterol90 mg13 mg
Sodium992 mg147 mg
Salt equivalent2.5 g0.4 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
1181 mg
Calcium
93 mg
Iron
3.8 mg
Magnesium
88 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
28 µg
Vitamin C
23 mg
Vitamin D
0.3 µg
Vitamin B12
2.8 µg
Folate (DFE)
—

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: dried mint, sumac, crusty bread / baguette.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Piti can be cooked on the hob at a bare simmer for about 3 hours if you don't have clay pots.

Common mistakes

  • Salting at the start keeps the chickpeas hard — add salt with the potatoes.
  • Putting cold clay pots into a hot oven can crack them; start them in a cold oven if using clay.

Serve with

  • Serve with raw onion, fresh herbs and black tea.

Food safety

  • Cool leftovers quickly and refrigerate within 2 hours; reheat until bubbling.

Storage

  • Keeps 3 days in the fridge.

Reheating

  • Reheat until bubbling.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 2, 4, 5

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

You might also like