Serbian Veal Čorba (Teleća Čorba)

Ingredients

• 500 g veal (shoulder or shin), cut into small cubes
• 3 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 parsley root or small parsnip, diced
• 1 celery stick, diced
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 cups water
• 2 tbsp rice flour
• 1 egg yolk
• 3 tbsp sour cream
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Chopped parsley, to serve

Method

1. Brown the veal lightly in the oil. Add the onion and cook until soft.
2. Add the carrots, parsley root and celery and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the paprika.
3. Add the water, salt, pepper and bay leaves. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 1 hour until the veal is tender.
4. Whisk the rice flour with ½ cup cold water, stir it into the pot and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Take the pot off the heat. Beat the egg yolk with the sour cream and lemon juice, whisk in a ladle of hot soup, then stir the mixture back into the pot. Do not boil again.
6. Serve with parsley.

Gluten-free check: We thicken with rice flour instead of the usual wheat flour. Use a rice flour labelled gluten-free. We make the soup with water and let the meat and vegetables flavour it. Many cooks add a stock cube or stock powder; if you do, use one that is certified gluten-free – most standard cubes contain wheat. Many Balkan cooks also add a vegetable seasoning powder – most contain wheat or are not labelled, so we leave it out.