Nokaw is documented in Kurdish home cooking as a chickpea soup or stew, including chicken and plant-based versions. Named cooks show how onions, spices, broth and serving choices vary between kitchens.

Watercolour illustration of whole chickpeas, onion and chicken pieces in golden broth, with rice and flatbread beside the bowl
AI-generated editorial illustration of a chicken variation of Nokaw, based on the published ingredients discussed below. It depicts a possible serving, rather than a photographed meal.

A dish documented by home cooks

The names Nokaw ba mrishk and Afika nûka appear in published cooking accounts for chickpeas with chicken and broth. [1] [3] Riikka, who writes Kurdin kanssa keittiössä, describes learning Kurdish cooking with women during visits to Kurdistan and from her Iraqi Kurdish husband’s relatives; she also draws on cookbooks and videos. [2] Her December 2018 Nokaw post calls it a dish she makes often. [1] These are identifiable records of household practice, rather than proof of a single ancient recipe.

A chicken-and-onion version

Cooking my roots published Kurdish chickpea stew / Afika nûka / Nokaw on 14 August 2020. Its ingredient list combines a whole chicken with small yellow onions, cooked chickpeas, bay leaves, turmeric and chilli. Tahini is optional. The cook distinguishes the core recipe from suggestions such as curry powder, cumin, garlic, dried lime and sumac. [3] Optional seasonings should therefore remain options: they need not all be combined or presented as compulsory features of every Nokaw.

Another cook’s preparation

Riikka’s chicken version uses onion, garlic, curry, turmeric, pepper and bay leaves, with dried lime optional. She cooks the chickpeas separately, then adds them towards the end of the chicken preparation with cooking liquid as needed. Her post also explains using rinsed canned chickpeas when time is short. [1] This differs from a claim that one fixed sequence or spice mixture defines every household’s soup.

A published plant-based variation

The same 2018 post gives a separate meat-free preparation with chickpeas, onion, garlic, spices and optional soya pieces. [1] It makes the variation explicit in the recipe itself. Alongside the chicken version, it shows that the dish can be adapted by a named cook while retaining chickpeas and a seasoned cooking liquid. The illustration above represents the chicken variation; it should not be taken as the appearance of the meat-free recipe.

Serving it as a meal

Cooking my roots describes serving the stew with white rice, or eating it with bread and as a soup. [3] Riikka suggests rice, vegetables and naan. [1] These accompaniments place the broth within a meal, with different ways of combining liquid, chickpeas and staple foods. The linked recipes provide the complete quantities and instructions for their particular versions. Their differences are worth preserving instead of merging them into an untested composite recipe.

Sources and further reading

  1. Riikka, “Nokaw ba mrishk”, Kurdin kanssa keittiössä, 21 December 2018; chicken and vegan chickpea recipes.
  2. Riikka, “Esittely”, Kurdin kanssa keittiössä; author’s account of learning Kurdish cooking.
  3. Cooking my roots, “Kurdish chickpea stew | Afika nûka | Nokaw”, 14 August 2020; original published recipe description and ingredient list.