Turkish Meadow Soup: Yayla Çorbası

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This healthy Turkish Meadow Soup or Yayla Çorbası in Turkish has many fans. Kids love it and it is also good for babies. Think again even if you are not a fan of yogurt and might think that warm yogurt soup is probably not your thing. This soup will probably change your mind.

Ingredients for Turkish Yogurt Soup:

Yogurt: Use plain yogurt, it can be home-made, store bought, whole milk or skimmed milk, a mixture of these, all is fine.

Rice: the International Rice Genebank holds more than 132.000 different types of rice. So as this is a soup any common rice around where you are will be good for this soup. All-purpose, basmati, easy cook or brown would work. If you have an option choose rice close to Bomba which often used for soups. Substitute: with orzo, wheat berries or bulgur. Psst: Between you and me, you can use left-over rice.

Egg: You can use the whole egg or just the yolk for thickening.

Flour: Just a tablespoon of all-purpose flour will be enough – helps with thickening, you can opt to leave it out.

Spices: Dry mint flakes, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste. Optional spices: cumin, turmeric, tarragon.

Butter: Butter is for drizzling on top for garnish and additional flavor. Substitute: with olive oil if you like.

Serve with: Lemon wedges and freshly ground black pepper.

Optional additions:

• Grate a small onion using the finer part of the grater. Melt a tablespoon of butter over medium heat or use olive oil and add the grated onion. Cook until the onion is almost caramelized. Add half a teaspoon of red pepper paste and dry mint flakes and mix. Drizzle over each bowl just before serving.
• You can add separately boiled or canned chickpeas, white beans or green lentils. Chickpeas are the most common choice.

How to make Turkish Yogurt Soup:

This soup is easy to prepare, just follow these steps:

• First, rinse the rice under flowing water until there is no white starchy water left.
• Place the rice in a pot and cover it with exceeding water. Bring the water to boil and then reduce the heat and let simmer until the rice becomes very tender with no stiff parts in the middle. Add more water if necessary, do not forget that this will be a soup, not a rice dish. When the rice is ready, remove it from the stove.
• Meanwhile, prepare the yogurt mix. In a large enough bowl add the yogurt, a tablespoon of flour, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon of lemon, a pinch of cumin and mix well to combine everything.
• Then take a ladle of the rice water and add it gradually to the yogurt mix while vigorously mixing so that the yogurt and egg do not curdle.
• Once the yogurt mix reaches the warmth of the rice water add it to the rice water slowly again while mixing vigorously.
• Put the pot back on to the stove and heat it again over medium heat, do not cover the lid at this stage.
• Close the heat, add the salt mix and serve.

How do you garnish the soup?

Melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted add a pinch of red pepper flakes and dry mint flakes. Keep an eye, make sure not to burn the spices. Drizzle a teaspoon on each bowl just before serving. Serve with lemon wedges.

What to serve with soup?

This soup is like a whole meal. If you want to serve sides with it these salads will be good companions:

Hope you will try this Meadow Yogurt Soup – Yayla Çorbası and enjoy it. Let me know in comments below, hope you liked it.

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Turkish Meadow Soup Recipe

The Turkish Meadow Soup – Yayla Çorbası comes from the meadows of Anatolia, prepared with yogurt and rice. Kids and babies will love it too.

Course Soup

Cuisine Turkish

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6 persons

Calories 100kcal

Ingredients

Yogurt Mix

• 200 grams yogurt plain
• 1 tablespoons flour
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 200 millilitres water

Soup

• 50 grams rice
• 750 millitres water
• 1 teaspoon salt add last minute

To Garnish

• 1 tablespoon butter
• ½ teaspoon dry mint flakes
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Instructions

• In a mixing bowl add the yogurt mix ingredients and whisk to combine.
• Rinse the rice under flowing water. Continue to rinse until there is no more white water flowing under the colander. This is to get rid of the starch on the rice.
• Put the rice in the soup pot and add about a 500 millilitres of water. Boil until the rice is very soft and no hard parts in the middle.
• When the rice is ready, Add a ladle full of the rice water to the yogurt mixture, while vigorously mixing. Repeat until the warmth of the yogurt mixture equals the warmth of the rice water. Pour the warmed yogurt mixture it into the rice mixture slowly while whisking quickly.
• Add the salt and mix to dissolve.
• Adjust the amount of water according to your likes about whether you like your soup thick or not. Boil only once more, while mixing and close the heat.

To garnish

• Melt the butter on medium heat. Add dry mint flakes and red pepper flakes. Mix and remove from the heat.
• Drizzle the garnish mixture on every soup bowl just before serving.

Notes

You can use left over rice. Boil the rice once again as described in the recipe. 

Make sure not to curdle the yogurt mixture by adding warm rice water too quickly. You must add the warm water slowly and while mixing. 

When you reach the same warmth with the main pot, pour it in to the main pot gradually and again while mixing. 

Adding the salt at the last minute will also help with preventing curdling.

This soup keeps well in the fridge for 2-3 days. 

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