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Soup

Maushawa

A hearty Afghan soup made with chickpeas, kidney beans, mung beans, rice, meat, onions, tomatoes, yoghurt, and spices.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Mung bean and rice share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 49 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Maushawa

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the chickpeas and red kidney beans in water overnight.

  2. Drain the yoghurt for about an hour to make chaka.

Cook the pulses

  1. Put the chickpeas, red kidney beans, mung beans (or green split peas) and rice in a large pan with 2 pints of water, including the water in which the pulses have been soaked.

  2. Bring to the boil, cover leaving the lid slightly ajar, turn the heat to low and simmer.

  3. Cook until the pulses are soft.

Make the meat stew

  1. Meanwhile, cook the meat and sauce.

  2. Heat the vegetable oil in a pan and add the chopped onion.

  3. Fry over a medium heat until soft and reddish-brown.

  4. Add the meat and fry again until brown.

  5. Add the tomatoes, stir well, and boil for a minute or so.

  6. Add the 1/4 pint water, the salt, and red pepper.

  7. Stir well and bring back to the boil.

  8. Turn down the heat and simmer until the meat is tender and the sauce thickened.

Combine and serve

  1. When cooked, mix all the ingredients: rice, chickpeas, red kidney beans, the juices in which they have cooked, the meat stew, the chaka, powdered dill, and salt to taste.

  2. Stir well and add extra water if you want to thin the soup.

  3. Continue stirring and simmer for another 5-10 minutes to allow the flavours to blend.

  4. Serve the Maushawa hot in individual soup plates or cups.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1143Calories
70 gProtein
53 gFat
95 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 18 ingredients. The other 7 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Lamb100g cooked294
Beef100g cooked250
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Chickpea1/2 cup canned (120g) drained134
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Pea1/2 cup (72g)62
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Dill5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Red Kidney Beannot in our table0
Mung Beannot in our table0
Waternot in our table0
Pulsesnot in our table0
Meatnot in our table0
Stewnot in our table0
Vealnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Mung bean + ricetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together49 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  2. Chickpea + mung beantop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3 recipes

    Shared aroma: maltol (caramel, sweet).

  3. Chickpea + ricetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together119 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  4. Chickpea + dilltop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together36 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  5. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chickpeas
Hold their shape and add body and a firm, nutty bite to the soup.
Red kidney beans
Add body and a firm texture that holds up through long simmering.
Short grain rice
Breaks down slightly as it cooks, thickening the soup and giving it a creamy body.
Beef
Provides the savoury meat base of the stew, becoming tender through slow simmering.
Yoghurt
Drained into chaka, it adds a tangy, acidic note and creamy richness.
Tomatoes
Add acidity, moisture and sweetness that build the body of the sauce.

The step that matters

Simmering the pulses and meat until fully tender. Pulses and meat need long, gentle simmering to soften fully, since the starches and connective tissue break down slowly. Boiling hard can break up the beans and toughen the meat, so keep the heat low and the liquid barely moving.

Swap the kidney beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chickpea, mung bean, rice, dill, meat, beef, onion):

  1. Sesamefits better
  2. Beansfits better
  3. Lentilsfits better
  4. Kidney beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chickpea, mung bean, rice, dill, meat, beef, onion. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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