This soup is one of the most common soups throughout Turkey; in restaurants, as well as in home kitchens. Good for almost anything, from cancer to stabilizing sugar levels.
Everybody has their own recipe, below you will find a tried and tested recipe again. The key to having a successful soup is washing the lentils really well before starting to cook. You will be surprised how much difference this will make in the taste of your soup. Some prefer not to add any onion, carrots, potatoes – so if none are available you can still prepare this soup. This recipe is also the quick and easy way to make this soup.
There are versions that give you a really hard time but there is not much difference in the taste, so I will keep making this recipe. Hope you will enjoy it too.
Strained Red Lentil Soup
Ingredients
The Soup
- 200 grams red lentils
- 1 onion
- 1 potato
- 1 carrot
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 chicken tablet optional
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1½ litre water
Garnish
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Serving
- 1 lemon wedges
Instructions
The Soup
- Wash, peel and cut to cubes the potato and the carrot.
- Wash well the lentils, scrub while washing.
- Chop the onion.
- In a large pot add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the chopped onions. Stir until the onions become translucent.
- Add a tablespoon full of flour. Stir until the flour starts to smell and its colour turns brownish.
- Add the potato, carrot and lentils into the pot. Stir for a minute or two and cover with water and bring water to boil. Skim and discard any unwanted bubbles.
- Boil until lentils are edible. Taste a couple if necessary. This should take about 30 minutes.
- Use a hand blender to make the soup smooth and or use a strainer to get rid of any particles.
- This soup is supposed to have some thickness, but it should not turn into a pudding; so if necessary add some more boiling water.
- Add a chicken bullion if you choose to at this point, mix to dissolve.
- Bring to boil one last time and close the heat.
To Garnish
- In a saucepan add a tablespoon of butter. Once the butter melts, add red pepper flakes. Stir until the butter bubbles and garnish each serving with this mixture.
- Add also a lemon wedge next to each serving.