Turkish Red Lentil Soup Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the most famous soup in Turkey? ›

Mercimek soup, known as Turkish lentil soup, is one of the most favored traditional soups in Türkiye. It's a very simple dish requiring only a few ingredients yet its taste is matchless! Lentils are legumes that are very high in fiber, are packed with vitamin B, and a great source of potassium.

To avoid a bland lentil soup, use a flavorful broth—whether that's homemade or store-bought chicken or vegetable broth. The other key is building flavor. To do so, use aromatics like onions and garlic, include fresh or dried herbs, and season well with salt and pepper.

The other good news: Lentils don't need to soak as beans do (though you do need to sort and rinse them before cooking). Different types of lentils cook in different amounts of time. Red lentils are the fastest cooking and they dissolve as they cook and make for a smooth soup.

You can also use flour or cornflour to thicken a soup. Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer.

According to the Taste Atlas Awards, the international food database, the Filipino favorite, Sinigang, is hailed as the best soup in the world.

The most popular soup would be lentil soup or tarhana. On the other hand, chicken soup is always considered like a medicine for people with cold or flue. We have different recipes, but with carrots, pastas (noodles) and lemon juice, I love this hearty chicken noodle soup in cold winter times.

Another reason that lentils are known for causing gas and bloating is because they are high in what's called raffinose. Raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFO) are known to cause stomach discomfort and bloating because the human body lacks the enzyme required to break them down within the digestive tract.

Think more like you're cooking pasta- you just need significantly more water than lentils. You can also use broth instead of adding an extra layer of flavor. I like adding a bay leaf, an onion cut in half, and a clove of garlic to add flavor to the lentils.

Everyone's heard of tryptophan – an amino acid most commonly associated with post-Thanksgiving-turkey naps. But tryptophan is actually found in many protein-rich foods including lentils, and complex carbohydrates work with your metabolism to allow the tryptophan to work most effectively to help you sleep.

This time, it turned out mushy and there wasn't a whole lentil to be found. Damn it! I figured out later that it spent about 2.5 hours too long in the slow cooker (a little miscalculation on my part). If you're like me and have overcooked Lentil Soup then you're in luck because I'm going to show you how to revive it.

What happens if you don't soak red lentils? ›

Do red lentils need to be soaked before cooking? No, there is no need to soak red lentils before cooking but it is a good idea to give them a quick rinse.

You're fine to eat unrinsed lentils. The only real reason to rinse it to remove possible dirt, and perhaps a tad of starch.

Rinse your lentils with fresh water before boiling to remove any dust or debris. Cook on a stovetop, using 3 cups of liquid (water, stock, etc) to 1 cup of dry lentils. Be sure to use a large enough saucepan as the lentils will double or triple in size.

Incorporating red lentils to your diet can help you easily meet your fiber and protein needs. Red lentils also contain a significant amount of folate, which is a superhero involved in cell division. If someone eating plant-based does not get enough folate, it can affect the way DNA is made in our body.

Sultan's soup is also known as Ottoman soup. Originally served to the sultans of that era, it is typically made from chicken, thickened with flour and an egg yolk and then flavoured with blanched almonds.

Turkish Lentil Soup Ingredients:

Veggies: This lentil soup recipe is made with a simple base of onion (white or yellow), carrot, and a small potato (I used a Yukon gold). Stock: Either vegetable or chicken stock — whichever you prefer. Red lentils: Which cook quickly and break down well in this soup.

Breakfast in Ottoman Cuisine

In the Ottoman society , there was a habit of eating after the prayers in the mornings and evenings at these times. Thus, only two meals a day were eaten. Soup was usually drunk in the morning. Moreover, this habit still continues in rural areas of Anatolia.