The Persian Soup is a typical winter soup, warming you and lifting your immune system to prepare you for the cold weather. Good thing is that it is prepared with low-cost ingredients.
As you will see in the recipe below there are perhaps only 2 ingredients that you might not find in your kitchen. The first is red pepper paste, you can replace it with tomato paste. The second is sumac, it is a lemony spice that is often used in Middle Eastern cooking, it is made of dried sumac plant fruit. If you cannot find it you can substitute with a lemon’s zest.
I used to be hesitant about soups with garlic, but this one comes out delicious. Most recipes call for 5 garlic cloves, that is why I kept my at 3 garlic cloves, you can increase it if you like. I suggest you serve with dry mint flakes and a lemon wedge.
Feel free to add extra hot water in the cooking process if the soup becomes too thick. If you have some leftover, you will find it extremely thick, don’t give up, add some water, mix well, adjust spices and your soup will be as freshly prepared.
Do not forget to serve with lemon wedges, a few drops of lemon juice makes a huge change to the flavor of this authentic winter soup. Enjoy.
Persian Soup
Ingredients
- 175 grams red lentils
- 150 grams fine bulgur
- 1 tablespoon pepper paste
- 1+ litre water
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon sumac
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 150 grams plain yogurt
Instructions
- Wash and drain the red lentils.
- Place the fine bulgur in your cooking pot, cover with water, let the bulgur settle, then pour away the excess water.
- Add the lentils to the bulgur and cover with water. Boil and let simmer until the red lentils are edible. Add warm water if necessary, mix once in a while to make sure nothing sticks in the bottom of the pot.
- In a separate saucepan melt a tablespoon of butter.
- Crush/chop 3-4 garlic cloves and add to the butter. Saute for about a minute.
- Then add a tablespoon of red pepper paste. Reduce the heat and sauté for about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes and sumac. Sumac is not a must, it is a nice to have, so don’t worry if you cannot find it. Mix well.
- Then slowly add the garlic mixture to the main pot. Mix well.
- In a bowl put the plain yoghurt, whisk with a spoon, until smooth and creamy. Then add boiling water to cover and continue to mix with a spoon. Then add this mixture to the main pot slowly while mixing the soup.
- Taste and adjust spices according to your taste.
- You can use a food processor to make it smooth if you prefer a smooth soup.
- Sprinkle dry mint flakes and serve warm.
If you like soups, you might want to check my other soup recipes too:
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