Turkish Red Lentil Soup (Mercimek Çorbası)
Split red lentils simmered with onion, carrot, potato, tomato paste, red pepper paste and cumin, blended until silky and finished with butter sizzled with dried mint and Turkish chilli flakes. Served with lemon wedges.
Ingredients
Soup
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil, or 1 tbsp oil and 15 g (1 tbsp) butter
- 1 medium onion (about 150 g), chopped
- 1 medium carrot (about 100 g), chopped
- 1 small floury potato (about 120 g), chopped (optional)
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tbsp (16 g) tomato paste
- 1 tbsp (15 g) Turkish red pepper paste (biber salçası), or 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 ½ tsp ground cumin
- 200 g (1 cup) split red lentils, rinsed
- 1.5 litres (6 cups) hot water or low-salt stock
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
Red butter and to serve
- 30 g (2 tbsp) butter, or 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
- 1 tsp dried mint
- 1 tsp Turkish chilli flakes (pul biber)
- 1–2 lemons, in wedges
- warm bread
Instructions
- Rinse the lentils until the water runs almost clear.
- Cook the onion, carrot and potato in the oil over medium heat for 7–8 minutes, until soft but not browned.
- Add the garlic for 30 seconds, then the tomato paste, pepper paste and cumin for 1–2 minutes.
- Add the lentils, water or stock, salt and pepper. Boil, skim, then simmer partly covered for 25–30 minutes, until the lentils have fallen apart.
- Blend until completely smooth. Thin with hot water if needed and adjust the salt.
- Melt the butter until foaming, take off the heat and stir in the chilli flakes and crumbled mint for 15–20 seconds.
- Serve the soup with a spoonful of red butter on each bowl and lemon wedges on the side.
Notes
- Use split red lentils; brown or green lentils won't break down.
- The soup thickens as it stands. Thin with hot water when reheating.
- Vegan: use olive oil for both the soup and the topping, and water or vegetable stock.
- Keeps 4 days in the fridge or 3 months frozen, without the red butter.