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Azerbaijan · Soup
Shaki Piti
Local name: Şəki piti
A traditional Azerbaijani oven-baked soup from the Shaki region with lamb, chickpeas, chestnuts and saffron.
- Servings4
- Prep8 h 20 min
- Cooking3 h 5 min
- Total time11 h 25 min
- DifficultyMedium
Contains gluten
About this dish
Piti is one of the best-known dishes of Azerbaijani cuisine. Meat, chickpeas and vegetables are cooked slowly in the oven in individual lidded crocks, also called piti. It is served in the crock and eaten in two stages: first bread is torn into a plate, spiced and the broth is poured over it, then the meat and vegetables are mashed together with more bread. Sumac is served on the side.
What sets Shaki piti apart is the addition of boiled chestnuts. Tail fat, chickpeas, dried cherry plum and saffron water also shape its character. Potatoes, onion, plums, chestnuts and saffron go in during the last half hour of cooking.
Ingredients
Tick the ingredients off like a shopping list.
Soup base
Added later
To serve
Method
Soak the chickpeas in plenty of water overnight, about 8 hours, then drain.
Rinse the meat and cut it into 4 equal pieces. Cut the tail fat into 4 pieces too.
Add the crushed saffron to 50 ml hot water and let it steep for 15 minutes.
Peel the onions and potatoes; if the chestnuts are raw, boil and peel them.
Put one piece of meat, one piece of fat and a quarter of the chickpeas in each crock. Add 300 ml water and a little salt.
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Put the lids on the crocks and place them in the oven.
Cook the crocks covered for 150 minutes (2.5 hours), until the meat is almost falling off the bone and the chickpeas are soft.
Take the crocks out and divide the onions, potatoes, chestnuts and plums among them; add the saffron water and pepper, and adjust the salt.
Cover again and cook for 30 more minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
First tear bread into a plate, sprinkle with sumac and pour over the broth. Then eat the meat and vegetables mashed with more bread as the second course.
💡 Tips
- Soak the chickpeas well in advance, or they stay hard even when the meat is done.
- Keep the crocks tightly covered in the oven so the steam stays in and the broth develops its flavour.
- Crushing the saffron and steeping it in hot water gives noticeably more colour and aroma.
- Add sumac at the table, not during cooking.
- Bone-in meat gives a richer broth.
🛒 Can't find it abroad?
- Piti crocks — Use small lidded casserole dishes or one large lidded casserole; the timing stays the same.
- Dried cherry plums (alycha) — Use dried sour prunes or dried apricots.
- Lamb tail fat — Use lamb neck fat or other lamb fat.
- Fresh chestnuts — Use vacuum-packed cooked chestnuts, added in the 30-minute stage.
This recipe was prepared with the help of AI, following the traditional home-style method; quantities, times and steps were checked automatically for consistency. Ovens and stoves differ, so check doneness by eye.
