Binnur's Turkish Cookbook

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Thursday, November 17, 2005

Green Lentil Soup

(Yeşil Mercimek Çorbası)

Green Lentil Soup
3/4 cup green lentils, soak in water overnight (don't boil or it will lose vitamins)
1 medium size onion, chopped
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2-3 cup hot water
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt

Sauce:
1-2 garlic cloves, mashed with salt
4-5 tbsp wine vinegar with raspberry juice, or another type of vinegar

Saute the onion with butter for 4-5 minutes in a medium-sized pot. Then add the flour, stir and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Pour in the hot water slowly, stirring constantly. Make sure the flour doesn't clump. Add in the washed and drained lentils, salt and cumin. Cook until the lentils are soft on medium heat. Stir occasionally. Taste it along the way and if necessary, add more salt or water. Pour the soup into your soup bowls with a ladle.

Mix the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Pour 1 tbsp of the sauce in each soup bowl.

4-5 servings.

* This is a vegetarian dish.

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13 Comments:

At 11:22 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Merhaba Binnur,
My husband and I just returned from our honeymoon in Turkiye and had a great time. Troy just fell in love with the soups. He had soup with each meal. We're trying the green lentil soup tonight. He especially like a vegetable soup that had small pieces of lemon zest in it. I wish I had a better description than that. Does it ring any bells?

 
At 11:16 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Heather,
I am glad you enjoyed your honeymoon in Turkey:) Was the soup clear or with yogurt or milk? Which vegetables were in it? I would be able to help if I can get more information:)

 
At 4:01 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Binnur,
thank you for making the recipes easy to fallow,I will make ,mercimek corbasi..tel kadayif..kurabiye..I am looking forward to cook,Turkish food for my family.
Hoscakal.

 
At 3:08 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I havent tried this soup yet,although i would like to make one:)And i was wondering if I have to use the whole cumin seeds or the ground ones?Unfortunately I have never tried the soup. The only one which Ive eaten was Yayla Corbasi, I liked the flavour of mint.
greetings, Anne

 
At 11:39 AM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Anne,
I always use ground cumin:)

 
At 6:27 AM, Anonymous Becky Akyıldız said...

Hi there Binnur,

I love this website, I live in Istanbul with my husband and have made many things from this website, which he has loved and says its like his mum's cooking- so thats a real compliment! Thank you for the hard work you put in to the site! I am english, but I just adore the turkish food.
Anyway, I was wondering what would happen if you didnt put flour in this soup, like when I make kirmizi merçimek çorbası I dont put flour in and its fine, nice and thick. Wouldn't it be the same with this soup? I am trying to make it with less calories- on a diet!
Thanks for any info, keep up the brilliant work!
Becky Akyıldız- Istanbul

 
At 6:50 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Becky,
Thank you:) Kirmizi mercimek doesn't need flour to give the thickness to the soup. Because the grain of kirmizi mercimek into small pieces. But when you cook yesil mercimek all the grains are retained in their original form. That's why you should add flour:)

 
At 2:36 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

You could take a portion out and blend it before adding it to your soup again. Thus thickening the soup without flour.
Another method without flour but with the carbs would be adding grated potatoe to the soup.
Both are neutral to the taste buds.

 
At 6:08 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Binnur,

I am on official trip of Turkey (in Silivri) and in fact this is fist time I visited Turkey.

Before I came here, my friends and family were worried about my food as I am a pure vegetarian guy (no chicken as well) and once I tasted the Turkish vegeterian soups I fell in love with them...and I am asking waiter to repeat soup every time .. ;)

I am planning to make these soups at home and I need to know which flour you are using - Wheat, Corn or something else ? because in India we have many types of flours..

Thank you in Advanced.

-Rahul Shah

 
At 9:31 AM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Rahul,
I use bleached all purpose flour (plain flour) which is a type of flour that is suitable for all kinds of recipes:)There are also so many vegetarian dishes to choose from Turkish cuisine:)
Enjoy your trip in Türkiye!


 
At 7:40 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

This was the first recipe that I tried from your blog and it is just delicious. I love the interesting garnish of garlic and wine vinegar. Such a great flavor component to add to the soup.

 
At 11:57 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Heidi,
It is my grand mother's classic green lentil soup and I've been eating
it my whole life:D

 
At 5:03 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Merhaba Binnur,

I'm now living in Singapore but was living in Turkiye for the last 2 years. Yesil mercimek corbasi is my favourite and even fits with my new diet restrictions (although I had to substitute the flour with a quinoa flour because I'm not allowed regular grains). Thanks so much for the EASY to follow and delicious recipe, makes Singapore feel like it's not so far from home. Tesekkuler!

 

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