Name: Spicy Red Lentil Soup (Kırmızı mercimek çorbası)
Yield: Serves 4-5
Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients: 2 dried chillies; small bunch of parsley and mint, roughly chopped; 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, crushed; salt and freshly ground black pepper; 8 oz/225 g lamb or beef scraps, cut into small pieces; 2 pints/1.2 litres lamb or beef stock; 1 tablespoon kuyrukyağı (sheep’s tail fat), clarified or ordinary butter; 2 onions, roughly chopped; 1 carrot, diced; 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed; 3-4 cloves garlic, crushed with salt; 3 oz/90 g small red lentils, washed; 1 teaspoon sugar; 1 teaspoon ground fenugreek; 2 teaspoons tomato purée

Preparation info

Serves
4-5

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Classic Turkish Cooking

By Ghillie Basan

Published 1995

About

Lentil and bean soups are usually quite thick and are often flavoured with pieces of lamb. This spicy lentil soup is made in Antakya and Iskenderun, near the Syrian border. Diced potatoes and fresh peas can also be added to the ingredients.

Ingredients

2 onions, roughly chopped
1 carrot, diced
1 tablespoon kuyruk

Method

Brown the onions and carrot in the fat. Stir in the spices, garlic and meat and cook for 1-2 minutes. Stir in the tomato purée, sugar and lentils and pour in the stock. Stir well and bring the liquid to the boil. Pop in the chillies, cover the pan and simmer gently for about 30-40 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the lentils have pulped up and thickened the soup.<