Guides · 3 min read ·
Turkish Soups: A Simple Guide to Çorba
Why Turks eat soup at breakfast, lunch and iftar, the main types of Turkish çorba from lentil to yogurt soup, how they differ from Pakistani shorba and yakhni, and tips for getting them right.
In Turkey, soup isn’t a starter you have now and then. It’s a daily food. Workers eat a bowl at a çorbacı (soup shop) on the way to work, families start dinner with it, and during Ramadan almost every iftar begins with it. The word for soup, çorba, comes from the same Persian root as our shorba, but the Turkish idea of soup is closer to a thick, smooth, nourishing bowl than a thin curry gravy.
Lentil soups
The best known is mercimek çorbası: red lentils cooked with onion, carrot and a little potato, blended smooth, and finished with butter sizzled with paprika and dried mint. It’s served with a lemon wedge, and the lemon matters. Ezogelin is its heartier cousin, with bulgur and rice added and more tomato and pepper paste. Both are made with masoor daal, the same red lentil sold everywhere in Pakistan.
Yogurt soups
Yayla çorbası is a soup of rice cooked in stock and thickened with yogurt, egg and a little flour, finished with mint butter. It’s tangy and soothing, and Pakistanis who like kadhi usually enjoy it. The trick is to temper the yogurt: whisk in some hot soup first so it doesn’t split.
Tomato and vegetable soups
Domates çorbası, tomato soup, is often served with grated cheese on top. Simple vegetable soups use whatever is in season. These are lighter, quicker soups, good for a weeknight.
Meat and bone soups
Paça is a rich soup made from lamb’s trotters, served with garlic vinegar; it’s very close in spirit to our paya, and often eaten early in the morning in winter. Kelle paça includes head meat too. İşkembe (tripe soup) is the famous late-night soup of Istanbul. These are long, slow cooks, like our and .
Bean and chickpea stews
Kuru fasulye and etli nohut aren’t soups exactly, but they’re served in bowls with plenty of liquid and eaten with rice or bread. They’re the everyday comfort food of Turkey, much like daal-chawal here.
Tips for good Turkish soup
- Blend smooth. Many Turkish soups are puréed. A stick blender is the easiest tool.
- Finish with flavoured butter. Butter or oil sizzled with paprika, chilli or dried mint is the Turkish , poured on just before serving.
- Lemon at the table. A squeeze of lemon brightens lentil and bean soups.
- Use stock when you can. Chicken or meat stock gives far more depth than water. Make a big pot of stock and freeze it in portions; our freezing guide explains how.
- Season at the end. Lentils and beans take salt slowly; taste just before serving.
Soup as a meal
A Turkish lunch can be a bowl of soup, a basket of bread and a salad, and that’s it. With a glass of ayran or a cup of çay afterwards, it’s a cheap, filling and healthy way to eat, and a good habit to borrow on winter evenings in Pakistan.
