🍲 Pacha

Name: Pacha
Total time: 300 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Iraq · Baghdad
Ingredients: 1 cleaned sheep's head; 4 cleaned sheep's trotters; 500 g cleaned sheep tripe; 200 g rice, rinsed; 100 g chickpeas, soaked overnight; 2 onions; 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp baharat, salt, pepper; Flatbread, lemon and pickles to serve

Origin: Iraq · Baghdad

675kcal

per serving · 450 g

150kcal

per 100 g

54 gProtein12 g / 100 g

38 gFat8.5 g / 100 g

32 gCarbs7 g / 100 g

Pacha is an Iraqi feast of slow-boiled sheep's head, trotters and tripe stuffed with spiced rice and chickpeas, all cooked for hours into a rich, gelatinous broth. It is served in a deep dish over pieces of flatbread that soak up the broth, with the meats arranged on top, and eaten with lemon, onion and pickles. It is famously a breakfast dish, especially on cold winter mornings.

Diets

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

✓

Low-carb7 g carbs per 100 g

✓

High protein12 g protein per 100 g — 32% of the calories

Pork — checkbecause of: stomach

Not vegetarianbecause of: sheep's head, sheep's trotters, stomach

Not veganbecause of: sheep's head, sheep's trotters, stomach

Contains glutenbecause of: bread

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten

What it is made of

sheep's headsheep's trottersstomachricechickpeasonionbread

Recipe

6 servings300 min

Ingredients

1 cleaned sheep's head
4 cleaned sheep's trotters
500 g cleaned sheep tripe
200 g rice, rinsed
100 g chickpeas, soaked overnight
2 onions
1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp baharat, salt, pepper
Flatbread, lemon and pickles to serve

Method

Boil the head, trotters and tripe in water for 10 minutes, drain and rinse.
Mix the rice with half the chickpeas, one finely chopped onion, spices and salt; sew it into pockets made from the tripe.
Put the head, trotters, stuffed tripe, the second onion and the remaining chickpeas in a large pot, cover with water and bring to the boil, skimming well.
Simmer gently for 4–5 hours until everything is very tender.
Tear the bread into a deep dish, ladle over the broth and arrange the meats on top; serve with lemon and pickles.

How to make it lighter

Chill the broth briefly and lift off the solid fat before reheating.
Use less bread under the broth, or skip it and eat the soup on its own.
Go for broth, chickpeas and lean meat and leave the fattiest parts.

History

Pacha is closely tied to Baghdad, where dedicated pacha restaurants open from the early hours of the morning. Related dishes made from heads and trotters are eaten across the Middle East and the Caucasus, but the stuffed-tripe Iraqi version is a distinctive local tradition.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →