Instructions: Season the lamb with salt and pepper. In a heavy pot, melt the 3 tb. butter over moderate heat. Add the lamb and onion; saute until browned, stirring frequently. Add the broth; season to taste with salt. Cover; simmer 30 minutes.

Add the potato, quince, prunes, and chestnuts. Cover; simmer 20 minutes.

Add the chick-peas and simmer, covered, about 15 minutes or until done.

Stir in the clarified butter and allow to melt before serving soup.

Note: 1/4 tsp. ginger or a pinch of powdered saffron dissolved in 2 tb. warm water may be added with the chick-peas, and the soup served sprinkled with 1 ts. crushed dried mint, accompanied by chopped onion and sumakh on the side. In the Caucasus, ground kyurdyuk is normally used instead of the clarified butter, and dried chick-peas* rather than canned ones. The dried chick-peas are soaked several hours, drained, and added at the beginning with the broth.

Personal note: Ive found sumakh (labelled as sumac, a spice mixture) at Middle Eastern groceries.

The author describes this soup as an "outstanding" Azerbaidzhani soup.

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