Turkish Lentil Soup Recipe Mercimek Corbasi
Turkish lentil soup is called mercimek çorbasi in Turkish, and it is a simple but delicious creamy soup that uses no cream. My version features hints of dried mint and cumin and a topping of paprika butter, tahini, chives and sumac.
Servings 4 Servings
Calories 443kcal
Ingredients
- 200 g Yellow or Red Lentils 1 Cup
- 1 Medium Onion 150g
- 1 tablespoon Cooking Oil
- ½ tablespoon Flour
- 1 Small-Medium Potato 100g
- 1 Small-Medium Carrot 100g
- 1 Litre Vegetable Stock 4 Cups
- ½ teaspoon Black Pepper
- ½ teaspoon Dried Mint
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cumin
- Salt to Taste probably not needed
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 50 g Butter 3 Tbsp
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- 2 teaspoon Tahini
- Sumac to serve
- Snipped Chives to serve
Instructions
- Peel the onions and cut them into a rough 1.5cm (½-¾") dice.
- Heat the cooking oil in a medium (20cm or 8") saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and cook for 10 minutes until the onion softens and begins to colour.
- Peel the carrot and potato and cut both into a rough 1cm (¼-½") dice.
- Add the flour to the cooked onions and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute.
- Add the lentils, vegetable stock, potato, carrot, black pepper, cumin and mint.
- Drop on a lid, reduce the heat to low-medium and then cook gently for an hour.
- After an hour, transfer the soup to a blender and blend to a smooth paste and transfer, through a fine mesh sieve, back into the pan.Bring it back to eating temperature.
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a separate pan over a medium heat. Remove from the heat and add the paprika, then swirl to mix.
- Serve in a bowl with a swirl of paprika butter and a swirl of tahini, a pinch of sumac and snipped chives.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 443kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 18g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 1620mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 7g
