Mercimek Çorbası — Turkish Lentil Soup
Turkey's everyday red lentil soup, blended smooth and finished with a pour of mint and pepper butter.
Method
- Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat and cook the onion for 6 to 8 minutes until soft and translucent.
- Add the carrot and potato and cook for 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the tomato paste and cumin and cook for 2 minutes, until the paste darkens slightly.
- Add the rinsed lentils and the water. Bring to a boil, skimming any foam that rises.
- Simmer partially covered for 25 to 30 minutes, until the lentils have completely disintegrated and the vegetables are very soft.
- Blend until completely smooth with a stick blender, or in batches in a jug blender. Turkish lentil soup is velvety, with no texture left at all.
- Return to the heat, season generously with salt and pepper, and thin with hot water until it just coats a spoon; it thickens as it stands.
- For the finish, melt the butter in a small pan until foaming, take it off the heat and stir in the dried mint and pul biber. The residual heat releases the aroma; direct heat scorches the mint in seconds.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and drizzle the red butter over each one. Serve with lemon wedges and bread.
How to make Mercimek Çorbası — Turkish Lentil Soup
Mercimek çorbası is the most-ordered soup in Turkey, served from breakfast through to late supper. It is cheap, smooth and comforting, and almost always arrives with a swirl of red butter on top and a wedge of lemon on the side.
Blend it completely
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Texture is not the goal here. The soup should be entirely smooth, closer to a thin purée, which is why potato and carrot go in alongside the lentils; they give body as well as sweetness.
The mint butter
The finish is not a garnish but part of the recipe. Butter heated until foaming, then taken off the heat before the dried mint and pepper flakes go in, gives a fragrant red oil. Mint added to a hot pan on the heat turns bitter almost instantly.
Lemon at the table
Turkish diners squeeze lemon into the bowl themselves, and the soup is built to expect it. Season a little under, and let the acidity finish the job.
Consistency
The soup thickens considerably as it cools and again overnight. Keep hot water to hand both when serving and when reheating, and check the seasoning each time you thin it.
Traditional Turkish cookery; mercimek çorbası is served in lokantas across Turkey at every time of day. Editorially researched from widely documented preparations, and not kitchen-tested by Axadle.
Contains dairy from the butter finish; use olive oil to avoid it. Naturally gluten-free unless thickened with flour. Check stock for wheat and celery.
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