Ezogelin Çorbası — Red Lentil, Bulgur and Rice Soup

A hearty, lightly spiced Turkish soup of red lentils, bulgur and rice with a mint and chilli butter.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 10 min
Cook: 40 min
Total: 50 minutes
Vegetarian
✅
Nuts
❌
Serves
6 people
Difficulty
Very Easy

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp Turkish red pepper paste (biber salçası) or tomato purée
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 150g red lentils, rinsed
  • 50g coarse bulgur
  • 50g long grain rice, rinsed
  • 1.8 litres vegetable stock
  • 1 tsp dried mint
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
  • For the topping: 30g butter
  • For the topping: 1 tsp dried mint
  • For the topping: 1 tsp pul biber (Turkish chilli flakes) or mild chilli flakes
  • Lemon wedges, to serve

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat and cook the onion for 6 minutes until soft. Stir in the pepper paste and tomato purée for 2 minutes.

  2. Add the lentils, bulgur, rice, stock and mint. Bring to the boil, then simmer, partly covered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the grains are very soft and the soup has thickened.

  3. Season well. Leave it chunky or blend lightly, adding a splash of hot water if too thick.

  4. Melt the butter for the topping, stir in the mint and chilli flakes and sizzle for 20 seconds.

  5. Serve in bowls drizzled with the spiced butter, with lemon wedges.