Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Dovga
A warm Azerbaijani yogurt soup thick with fresh herbs, rice and chickpeas, stirred constantly so it never splits.
Azerbaijani · medium · serves 6
prep 20 min · cook 30 min
~196 cal · 10g protein · 27g carbs · 5g fat · 3g fiber · 7g sugars · 3g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Dovga is the tangy yogurt soup at the heart of Azerbaijani home cooking, packed with so much cilantro, dill, mint and spinach that it turns green. Rice and chickpeas make it a meal, and an egg and a little flour stabilise the yogurt so it stays silky rather than curdling over the heat.
Served warm in winter and chilled in summer, dovga traditionally appears as a wedding soup between richer courses in Baku. The one rule every cook repeats is to keep stirring in one direction and never let it reach a hard boil.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
3 cups plain full-fat yogurt
1 egg
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/3 cup short-grain rice
1 cup cooked chickpeas
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
4 cups water
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Simmer the rice in the water until nearly tender. Meanwhile whisk the yogurt, egg and flour together until completely smooth and lump-free.
2
Temper the yogurt mixture by whisking in a ladleful of the hot cooking liquid, then pour it into the pot with the rice.
3
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly in one direction, for 8 to 10 minutes until steaming and slightly thickened. Do not let it boil hard or the yogurt will split.
✎ Chef’s note
Constant stirring is not optional here: it is the only thing keeping the yogurt from breaking.
4
Stir in the chickpeas and warm through, then add the spinach, cilantro, dill and mint and simmer gently 5 minutes more.
5
Season with salt only at the end, rest a few minutes, and serve warm or chilled.
Azerbaijani home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Baku. Sourness comes from fruit rather than vinegar. Pomegranate turns up as seeds, as juice and as narsharab, a thick syrup poured over grilled fish, while quince and dried alycha plums go into lamb stews such as parcha bozbash. Dushbara are pinched small enough that four or five sit in a single spoon.
🗺️
Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani cuisine sits on the old Silk Road, famous for saffron plov, herb-stuffed kutab, and an abundance of fresh herbs eaten by the handful. Pomegranate, quince, and tea served in pear-shaped glasses define the table.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Azerbaijan
PitiA slow-baked crock stew of lamb, chickpeas, and chestnuts scented with saffron and dried plum.
QutabThin, half-moon griddle breads stuffed with greens and herbs, folded and cooked until charred.
LavangiChicken stuffed with a tangy walnut, onion, and sour-plum paste and roasted, a specialty of Azerbaijan's Caspian south.
Browse all Azerbaijan recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Whisk.
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a Azerbaijan meal
Azerbaijani ChayDrink
ŞəkərburaDessert
PitiDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Dovga?
A warm Azerbaijani yogurt soup thick with fresh herbs, rice and chickpeas, stirred constantly so it never splits.
Where does Dovga come from?
Dovga is a Azerbaijani dish from Baku, Azerbaijan.
Can Dovga be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Dovga recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Dovga safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Dovga take to make?
About 50 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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