A Sudanese lamb soup slow-cooked with potato, carrot, and warm Sudanese spices, rich in protein
We cook Bramah the way it is cooked in Sudanese homes: bone-in lamb pieces simmer slowly in the barmah pot until their flavor dissolves into the broth, and the aroma of cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom fills the kitchen.
We add the potato and carrot at the end of cooking so they keep their texture, and serve it as a warm, rich soup to sip on its own or pour over rice on a cold day.
Heat the oil in a wide pot and sauté the onion until it wilts, then add the lamb pieces and stir them until their color changes on all sides.
Add the garlic, cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom, cumin, coriander, and black pepper, and stir for a minute until the aroma of the spices wafts over the meat.
Cover the meat with the water and bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and skim off the foam that rises, and leave it over low heat for about an hour until the lamb turns tender and the broth becomes rich.
Add the potato, carrot, hot green chili, and salt, and continue cooking for a quarter of an hour until the vegetables are done and the soup's texture firms up.
Remove the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods, and serve the soup hot with rice or bread, adding lemon juice for those who like it.
The glycemic index (GI) measures how quickly a food raises blood sugar, while the glycemic load (GL) measures how much a full serving raises it. Together they give the complete picture.
A low value (≤55) means a gradual rise in blood sugar — the most suitable range for diabetes and insulin resistance.
Glycemic load reflects the impact of the full serving. To lower it: take half a serving, or pair the recipe with a source of protein and fiber.
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000-calorie diet per FDA food-label reference values — your daily needs may be higher or lower. Values are derived from the recipe's ingredients via the USDA database.
The most common problems when preparing Sudanese Bramah Lamb and Vegetable Soup, and how to fix them:
Extend the cooking over low heat until the lamb turns tender before adding the vegetables, for bone-in meat needs time to soften.
Skim off the foam that rises at the start of the boil and cook over low, not high, heat, for a hard boil clouds the broth.
Add the potato and carrot only in the last quarter of the cooking, for adding them early makes them dissolve into the broth.
Keep it in an airtight container for up to three days, and reheat it over low heat with a little water to adjust the texture.
Freeze the broth and meat for up to two months; it is best to freeze it before adding the potato, because its texture changes after freezing.
| Original Ingredient | Tested Substitute | Ratio | Flavor Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| bone-in lamb | bone-in beef or lamb neck | same weight, 500 g | Beef needs slightly longer cooking and gives a heavier broth |
| potato | pumpkin or zucchini | same weight, 200 g | It lowers the carbohydrates further and speeds up the cooking |
| vegetable oil | traditional ghee | same weight, 20 ml | Ghee gives a heritage flavor closer to Sudanese cooking but adds dairy |
| hot green chili | extra black pepper | as desired | For those who want the soup without heat |
| Ingredient | Half amount | Amount (base) | Double |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bone-in lamb | 250 g | 500 g | 1000 g |
| Onion | 60 g | 120 g | 240 g |
| Potato | 100 g | 200 g | 400 g |
| Carrot | 60 g | 120 g | 240 g |
| Water | 750 ml | 1500 ml | 3000 ml |
| Salt | 1.5 g | 3 g | 6 g |
Skim off the foam that rises at the start of the boil so the broth stays clear, and cook the lamb over low heat for long enough, for slow cooking is what makes the meat tender and gives Bramah its depth of flavor.
The EEINA app saves your favorite recipes, calculates them from their real ingredients, and shows your daily numbers toward your goal. Try it free now.
