Lentil Soup

Name: Lentil Soup (Kırmızı Mercimek Çorbası)
Cuisine: Turkey
Ingredients: chicken or meat stock 1.5 litres/3 pints; potato 1, peeled and grated; garlic 2 cloves, finely chopped; onions 2, finely chopped; salt, pepper; pul biber 1 tsp; olive oil; mint small bunch fresh, or 1 tbsp dried; cumin ½ tsp, ground; red lentils 200g/8oz; butter 75g/3oz

Kırmızı Mercimek Çorbası

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Yashim Cooks Istanbul

By Jason Goodwin

Published 2016

About

This was the first dish I was ever taught in Istanbul – by Hande Bözdogan, founder of the Istanbul Culinary Institute, no less. It’s delicious. She – like Yashim – cooks it like this.

Ingredients

butter 75g/3oz
onions 2, finely chopped

Method

Melt the butter in a saucepan, and gently soften the onions to translucency. Stir in the garlic, potato and cumin, then add the lentils, salt, pepper and stock. Simmer for 25 minutes, covered, until the lentils are soft. You can run the soup through a blender or leave it as it is.
Heat the oil in a frying pan, turn the mint and hot pepper together in the oil, and