Topic: Mercimek Corbasi (Turkish lentil soup)

[curryhell]

Well, perhaps the title ("Mercimek

[artistpaul]

I was a bit slow at figuring out what made this "Turkish"?
But obviously, explaining the hot Turkish Paprika powder (Pul Biber) being the key to it. I get it now!

I'm no stranger to Turkish Restaurants, but have to admit, I never took much notice of their soups.
We used to order a huge bin lid of Meze to kick the night off.

I'll give this soup a try, if I can source the genuine Paprika.

Thanks for sharing
cheers Chewy

Chewy

I live in Turkey

Pul Biber is not a Paprika, it is a Turkish semi hot slightly coarse red chilli flake.

Any decent  flaked chilli can substitute.

cheers

Paul

[StoneCut]

Hhhm, "pul biber" literally translates to "paprika flakes" if I'm not mistaken (well, that's what my turkish butcher told me) ... Anyway, there are different types of paprika, sweet and hot. Commercial Pul Biber is often a combination of paprika and chilli powder, though. One authentic product I have at home says that it's ingredients are paprika, salt, chili, vegetable oil. I brought it back from Turkey.

Either way, the Pul Biber is NOT essential for this dish. What makes this dish turkish? The combination of herbs & spices such as Cumin, mint and parsley. As well as the lemon/lime juice. They are all pretty universal, I know, but try it and then tell me if it tastes Indian in any way

[fried]

Pul biber means literally ' crushed 'by hand' pepper'. There's no difference between paprika and chilli in Turkey (My missus' family's region) you just have different strengths of Pul Biber.

[fried]

I'll give this soup a try, if I can source the genuine Paprika.

If you PM me an address I'll send you some genuine samples ( I have about 3kg in the fridge!)

[artistpaul]

hi all

a lot of Turks do not understand or know the difference

Pul biber translates as flaked pepper in Turkish

Sweet paprika is Tatli kirimizi biber and Hot paprika is Acili kirimizi biber and both are ground always to a fine powder and only available that way here

Pul biber is a different animal coarsely ground to a flake and available in a variety of heats  depending on which region of Turkey the source material is obtained from


anyway
an easy Turk variation on this soup is called EZOGEL?N

exactly same mercimek recipe but reduce the lentils by 3 rounded tablespoons and substitute with 3 tbsps. 50/50 mixture of coarse Bulgur and brown or white Rice

however when cooked blend only 50% of the soup by removing half of it before blitzing leaving a nice satisfying hearty soup for winter

cheers all

Paul

[chewytikka]

Thanks for the offer Fried.

Made a SoupMaker version of this lentil soup. Had to tweak it to suit the method, using a full Red Capsicum
and Kashmiri Mirch for heat. Turned out well and similar to many lentil soups I make using Masoor Dhal.
In the pic, I did a Tarka of fresh Garlic and Chorizo, which complimented and lifted it up a level.
Nice light lunch, thanks for the inspiration StoneCut.



cheers Chewy