Turkish Soup

We, Indians, have adopted majority of International cuisines and moulded them by giving an Indian Tadka to it. In India, many cuisines such as Chinese, Italian, Thai, have gained popularity. However, Turkish cuisine still remains unexlored by Indian home cooks. Also, there is a strong notion that most of the Turkish recipes are non-vegeterian. But even the Turkish cuisine has few very delicious vegetarian recipes. This Turkish Soup is an Indian version of Turkish Red Lentil Soup - 'Mercimek Corbasi', which uses chopped veggies like cabbage, carrots and capsicum that are largely used in chinese soups. This soup uses a special aromatic stock that gives it a pleasant aroma and flavor.

Servings : 4-5 servings

Ingredients:
For the Paste:
1 cup Red Lentil (Masoor Dal)
4 chopped Onions
1/2 chopped Beetroot 
2-3 cups water

For Aromatic Stock:
3 Cups Water
3 Bay leaves (Tamalpatra)
7-8 cloves (Lavang)
1/4 cup Celery leaves & stems 
8-10 Garlic cloves
6-7 lime leaves (Or 1/2 lemon - sliced )

For Turkish Soup:
2 tbpns Butter
1/4 cup chopped Carrot
1/4 cup chopped Capsicum
1/4 cup chopped Cabbage
Stock (as above)
Paste (as above)
Salt to taste

For Garnishing :
Parsley
A dollop of Butter

Method:

To make Paste:

Take Red Lentil, chopped onions and beetroot in a pressure cooker. Add water to the ingredients and cook them. It does not take much time to cook the Lentils. Once cooked, allow it to cool. Then transfer it into a blender and blend it into a smooth paste.

To make aromatic Stock:

Heat water in a pan. Add Bay leaves, cloves, Celery leaves, garlic cloves and limes leaves (or sliced lemon) to it. Boil it for 10 minutes on high flame. Pass it through a sieve. Set aside the stock.

To make Soup:

Heat butter in a pan. Add chopped carrots and saute them. Then, sprinkle salt over the carrots. After sauteeing for 2 minutes, add chopped capsicum and cabbage. Again saute it for 2-3 minutes. Then, add the stock to it. 

Add the Lentil paste to the mixture. Cook till the mixture starts boiling. Turn off the flame. Garnish it with Parsley & a dollop of salted butter. Serve hot.

Notes:

1. While making stock, the celery leaves may be substituted with Corriander leaves and stems.
2. A few drops of lemon juice may be added while serving the soup
3. Water may be added to adjust the consistency

Stepwise Pictures:

 

 

 

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