Preparation :
Soak the chick peas in water overnight and boil them next morning. If you are going to use a tomato in the soup, peel and grate the tomato. Put the chick peas, the meat broth, the grated tomato or the tomato paste and 1/2 teaspoon of salt into the saucepan and boil. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and black pepper to the ground meat and knead it. Make small meatballs of almost hazelnut size and put them in the boiling soup. Let soup simmer for 20 minutes more. Remove saucepan from heat, add vinegar and, if desired, thyme, and stir before serving.