TURKISH YOGURT SOUP WITH RICE, MINT AND PAPRIKA FLAKES

Turkish cuisine is very rich in terms of variety of soups. Soups Known as “Corba” in Turkish forms a very important part of Turkish diet In rural Anatolia, it is very common for this yogurt soup be eaten as breakfast, for a substantial meal, throughout the year. Yayla Çorbası or "highland meadow" soup has drawn its name  Yayla from the word "yaylalar" or high mountains meadows in northern of Turkey where grazing is at its best and high quality yogurt and dairy products are found in abundance. In Turkey, this soup is considered a good menu to fight cold because it has mild and minty flavor which easy and light for your stomach. this yogurt and mint soup is one of the most basic, tasty and filling soups I have and since then it has become an indispensable part of my comfort foods list.

 

Yogurt is an indispensable kitchen staple in Turkey. It is added to salads, made into sauces with garlic to scoop onto pasta dishes, used to moisten the layers of borek  pies, to fix a refreshing yogurt drink, ayran, or turned into this wonderfully  light but still a filling soup called yayla corbasi.  Yayla chorbasi is somewhat similar to the Azerbaijani yogurt soup called dovgha , with the main difference being in the herbs used- the Azerbaijani soup features a variety of fresh herbs (cilantro, dill,  spinach etc), while its Turkish counterpart is flavored with dried mint only.

Cuisine: Turkish

Serves 4-6

Preparation time: 10 minutes              

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 6 cups of water (you can also use vegetable stock)
• 1/2 cup basmati rice, rinsed and soaked for 30 minutes
• 2 tablespoon of  olive oil
• 2  Cups plain, thick and creamy yogurt drained for 30 minutes
• 1 tablespoon All Purpose Flour.
• 1 tablespoon dried mint
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste

For the dried mint & paprika flakes sauce:

•  2 tablespoon Olive Oil
• ½ tablespoon paprika flakes – you can use more for a spicier flavor
• ½ tablespoon dried mint

 

Let's Learn How to make Turkish Yogurt Soup:

• Soak the basmati rice in water for 30 minutes and hang the plain yogurt in muslin cloth to remove the excess whey.
•  Bring the water to a boil in a heavy saucepan and add the rice. Stir well and simmer for about 20-25 minutes or until the rice is tender and has released its starch to thicken the soup. Remove from the heat.

• Meanwhile in a bowl, combine the yogurt and  flour and beat until smooth (the flour stabilize the yogurt and keep it from curdling). From the pan, take a cupful of hot stock and whisk it into the mixture. Return the thickened mixture to the soup pan, stir in the dried mint and season with salt and ground black pepper. Stir well and simmer gently for another 10 minutes, or until the soup has a creamy consistency.

• To make the dried mint and paprika flakes sauce, gently heat the olive oil  in a separate pan on a low heat. Stir in the dried mint and paprika flakes, stir and cook on a very low heat so that the spices don’t burn for about 30 seconds, until the spices start to sizzle. Whisk this sauce into the soup.

Recipe adopted from http://ozlemsturkishtable.com/

Note: The Original recipe calls for adding egg yolk which I have not used .You can also  presoak ¼ cup dried chickpeas in water for a few hours, then boil until tender. Drain the chickpeas and add them to the already cooked soup. 

Sending this recipe to Foodie Monday Bloghop theme called  "Soup"