🇹🇷 Türkiye · Anatolia, nationwide
Mercimek çorbası (Turkish red lentil soup)Turkish red lentil soup
Smooth Turkish soup of red lentils cooked with onion, carrot and sometimes potato and tomato paste, blended and finished with lemon and a red-pepper butter (sometimes with mint).
Origin and history
Lentils were among the first crops of the ancient Near East, and lentil soup is one of the most eaten soups in Turkey, served from breakfast to dinner and on every lokanta menu. Late Ottoman cookbooks already include it: Ev Kadını, printed four times between 1882 and 1907, tells cooks to wash the lentils and soak them overnight, and Mahmud Nedim bin Tosun's Aşçıbaşı mixes lentil soup with fine bulgur. The smooth red-lentil süzme form is now the classic.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 6 servings
- Total time
- 50 min
- Hands-on
- 20 min
Ingredients
- 300 g1 1/2 cups split red lentils (kırmızı mercimek)
- 30 g2 tbsp butter or olive oil, for the soup
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, grated or diced
- 1 small potato, optional; peeled, grated or diced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste (domates salçası) or mild pepper paste (biber salçası), optional, for colour
- 1 tbsp plain flour, optional, for the thicker lokanta style
- 1.75 l7 1/2 cups hot meat or chicken stock, or water, plus more to adjust
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt, to taste
- 40 g3 tbsp butter, for the topping
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes (pul biber) or paprika, for the topping
- 1 tsp dried mint (kuru nane), optional, for the topping
- lemon wedges and bread, to serve
Method
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1. Rinse the lentils in several changes of cold water until it runs almost clear, then drain.
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2. Melt the butter (or warm the oil) in a deep pot over medium heat and cook the onion for about 5 minutes, until soft and lightly golden.
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3. Add the carrot and potato, if using, and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and the flour, if using, and cook for 1 minute more, until the flour smells toasted but has not browned.
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4. Add the lentils and stir for a minute, then pour in the hot stock. Add the cumin, pepper and salt and bring to the boil, skimming off any foam.
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5. Lower the heat and simmer, partly covered, for 25-30 minutes, until the lentils have fallen apart and the carrot is soft.
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6. Blend the soup until completely smooth. It should coat a spoon but still pour easily; add hot water if it is too thick, and check the salt.
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7. For the topping, melt the butter in a small pan until it foams, take it off the heat and stir in the pepper flakes and mint. Let it sizzle for a few seconds only, so the spices do not burn.
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8. Ladle the soup into bowls, spoon a little of the red butter over each, and serve with a lemon wedge to squeeze in and bread (often toasted or fried in cubes).
Notes
- Süzme mercimek çorbası means strained lentil soup: before blenders, the cooked soup was pressed through a sieve, which is where its velvety texture comes from.
- Lokanta (Turkish canteen) versions often fry a spoonful of flour with the onion for a thicker, more stable soup; some add turmeric for colour. Home versions frequently skip the flour.
- Lemon is always served on the side and squeezed in at the table; it brightens the earthy lentils.
- Vegan version: use olive oil and vegetable stock or water throughout.
- Related soups: ezogelin çorbası (red lentils with bulgur, rice, mint and pepper paste), terbiyeli mercimek çorbası (finished with egg and lemon) and yoğurtlu mercimek çorbası (with yoghurt). Late Ottoman cooks mixed bulgur or browned flour and butter into lentil soup.
- The soup thickens as it stands; thin it with hot water when reheating. It keeps 3 days in the fridge and freezes well.
Adapted from Yemek.com, "Klasik süzme mercimek çorbası" (Turkish Cuisine Week, with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism), Yemek.com, "Lokanta usulü kırmızı mercimek çorbası", and Yemek.com, "Lokanta usulü patatesli mercimek çorbası".
At the festivals
Served at 2 festivals in France and Germany.
Earlier editions
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October 12, 2024
🇫🇷 Brest, France
Festival de la Soupe de Saint-Marc
On the menu as Mercimeck çorbasi-Soupe de lentilles corail stambouliote - Soupe N°5
By Jardin de Kérampéré
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October 19, 2019
🇩🇪 Neustadt (Hessen), Germany
2. Neustädter Suppenfest
On the menu as Mercimek Corbasi
By a group from the Erstaufnahmeeinrichtung