Culture Change - Turkish Feast recipe

Anneanne's Mercimek Corbasi - Grandma's Lentil Soup

Ingredients 

• 200g of red lentils, washed
• 40 g of rice, washed
• 1 generous spoon of tomato puree
• 1 large carrot, peeled and cubed
• 1 large potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 litre of chicken stock (or more if you like the taste)
• Oil
• Hot water
• Salt, black pepper (cumin optional)
• Crushed chillies and squeeze of lemon for serving (optional)

Method

• Boil lentil and rice together until they are soft, then drain. 
• In a big pot, gently fry the onion and then add carrots and potatoes to cook them lightly. 
• Add the tomato puree and continue to cook making sure that the vegetables do not  stick to the pot. 
• Once the vegetables are slightly cooked, add the chicken stock and 1l of hot water as well as the spices and let it simmer for 15 minutes before adding the cooked rice and lentils as well. 
• Cook until vegetables and lentil are thoroughly cooked.
• Once slightly cooled, blend with an immersion blender until the soup is smooth (no bits at all). 
• Add more hot water depending on your thickness preference and bring to boil again.
• Serve topped with sprinkling of crushed chillies and quarter of a lemon