From ancient times, oriental cuisine was famous for incredibly tasty interesting dishes with a stunning aroma of their spices. It is not in vain that they say that the East is a delicate matter. Today we will plunge into the world of Turkish cuisine, reveal all the secrets of cooking Turkish soup with bulgur and tell you a lot of interesting things about this dish. Eastern cuisine is loved in every corner of the planet not only for its bewitching aromas and fantastic tastes, but also for interesting stories of creating recipes for many dishes.
The story of the appearance of Turkish soup with bulgur
In the homeland of this soup it is called "Ezo Chorbashi", which translates into Russian as "Bride's Soup". The history of Turkish soup with bulgur and lentils dates back more than a dozen years. According to ancient Turkish customs, every bride should cook this soup right on the eve of the wedding. This is like a kind of rite to attract happiness in family life. The recipe for this turkish soup with bulgur was invented by a Turkish girl, Ezo, in the early 1900s. Her parents married her to an unloved boyfriend, having lived with whom she had been married for one year, she could not stand it and fled to her father's house. A few years later, she again married her distant Syrian relative. But in this marriage, she was unhappy, because she was disliked by her mother-in-law. Ezo, while away from her homeland, she really missed her family. Therefore, I cooked this thick and rich soup, remembering my parents and my father’s house.
What is bulgur?
Many of us do not even know what kind of croup this is - bulgur? Someone mistakenly believes that this is couscous or crushed unboiled wheat. In fact, this is an independent type of cereal, with its advantages and useful trace elements. Bulgur - cereal, incredibly rich in fatty acids, beta-carotene, saccharides and vitamins of groups B, K, E and PP. Thanks to the excellent assimilation by the body, it improves the condition of the skin and hair, and also significantly helps strengthen the nervous system. In most eastern countries, bulgur is used instead of pearl barley and rice, because although it increases three times during cooking, it retains friability without turning into porridge. That is why it is used when cooking soup or as an independent side dish.
Ingredients for Turkish Bulgur Soup
In order for your soup to be very tasty and fragrant, it is very important to use only fresh and high-quality products. To prepare Turkish soup with bulgur and lentils, you will need:
- 3 liters of vegetable or meat broth;
- 150 grams of bulgur;
- 150 grams of lentils, red grade is best;
- onions - one piece;
- 50 grams of ground paprika;
- 10 grams of dried mint;
- 2 tomatoes or two tablespoons of tomato paste;
- 60 milliliters of vegetable oil;
- black pepper.
Step by step description of cooking soup
The recipe for Turkish soup with bulgur is quite simple and does not require special skills for its preparation. First, pour the cold broth into the pan, pour the washed lentils, bulgur, peppercorns, paprika into it and bring to a boil. Bulgur is not required to be washed. Cook lentils and cereal with spices over low heat and under a closed lid. The next step is to prepare the fry. To do this, peeled onions must be finely chopped and fried in vegetable oil. To the onion, add tomato paste or tomatoes, peeled and chopped into small cubes. To make peeling a tomato easier, just scald it with boiling water. Stew onion with tomatoes for a few minutes and send the fry to lentils and bulgur. Do not forget to salt and season the soup with dried mint. Close the pan tightly and simmer the soup over the smallest fire until bulgur and lentils are ready. Decorate the cooked soup with fresh herbs.
The benefits of soup
Due to its high calorie content, Turkish soup with bulgur is unlikely to become the basis of diet food. After all, only the caloric content of bulgur groats itself is three hundred and forty kilocalories. If you want to at least slightly reduce the total calorie content of the dish, then replace the meat broth with vegetable and instead of frying, use just fresh vegetables. The main advantage of this soup is a large number of easily digestible nutrients and valuable trace elements. In addition to the incredibly useful bulgur, the base of the soup is red lentils, which has long been loved by the Turks. Since it is rich in protein and iron, lentils are great for those who suffer from anemia. And thanks to the tomatoes and onions included in the soup, it is also rich in fiber, which is useful for the digestive tract.
Tips & Tricks
You should not leave the cooked soup the next day, because lentils and bulgur absorb the whole broth very strongly, so in the morning you just get a dish that looks like porridge with vegetables. Turkish soup with bulgur should be eaten freshly cooked, hot. Therefore, you should not cook a lot at once, it is best to calculate the required number of servings in advance. In this case, you and your guests can enjoy this fantastically delicious dish!
To give the dish a special piquancy, you can add a pinch of turmeric. It will not only saturate the dish with essential oils, but will also give the soup a pleasant color and an interesting taste.
From fresh herbs to Turkish soup with bulgur, cilantro is best suited, which adds its own flavor and makes the dish even more original and tasty.
Ready mixes for soup
Today, there are a number of manufacturers that help facilitate the cooking process. After all, living in a big city, it is sometimes so difficult to find time and energy after a long hard working day to just cook a delicious lunch or dinner. Ready mixes consisting of vegetables, cereals and spices will come to the rescue. For example, the company "Fair", engaged in the production of organic food, has recently included this recipe for soup in its production of processed foods. A special advantage of this product is a completely natural composition without preservatives, sodium glutamate and genetically modified ingredients. And thanks to the transparent packaging you can see for yourself the purity of selected ingredients and the absence of impurities. The colorful label indicates not only the composition, but also the method of preparation of the soup.
But not only the Fair company produces this soup. There is a much more famous brand - Yelli, which managed to accurately repeat the taste and aroma of this original soup. In the next section, we will focus on it.
Yelli Bulgur Soup
If you decide to diversify the daily menu with this Turkish soup, you probably wondered: "How to cook Turkish soup with Yelli bulgur?" In fact, everything is incredibly simple! You will need only a package with dry ingredients, salt and broth or water. For one package weighing 250 grams, 2 liters of water or broth are needed. If you want to get a thicker dish, then one and a half liters of liquid will be enough. Bring your broth to a boil and pour the contents of the bag. Cook under a tightly closed lid for twenty-five minutes. It is very important to cook the soup on minimal heat, because this is how the soup will turn out to be tender, tasty and beautiful, and the ingredients will not boil too much. At the very end of cooking, lightly salt the soup and serve with fresh herbs. Bon Appetit!