If unprivileged ingredients exist then green lentils are among them: their color is hardly appetizing, and the taste can be easily bland unless some additional measures are taken. I confess, when it comes to soups I often prefer their red sisters. There is nothing more comforting than a red lentil soup being it dal seasoned with the warming spices or its soothing Turkish version with tomato and pepper pastes. However, I changed my opinion about green lentils last week after trying a green lentil soup made by a female cook who serves homemade meals at her tiny cafe not far from where I live in Istanbul.
The turn of seasons was harsh this year: from the shorts and sandals we were forced right into the winter coats and fur-fortified boots. The temperature dropped to 9C (48F) that normally would be the Istanbul mean winter temperature. One afternoon I went looking around for a good soup place to include in my food walks. There is hardly a shortage of canteen-style eateries in Istanbul where a few cauldrons of soup are awaiting for you at any time, but I wanted a special experience and more interesting soups than you’d usually find around.
I recalled a place that Marina, my friend and a long-time Moda resident, showed me when introducing the neighborhood and its people years ago. It’s a one-woman run cafe with an unmistakably female touch: in the tiny little details you read that she who makes and serves the food here cares for you as a mother, a sister or a good friend. For instance, she would not serve a pile of the yeast-packed bread as they do at the tradesmen canteens, but instead she’d offer a few slices of wholewheat bread along with your meal.
I stopped by the place late afternoon to find out what was on offer. Fatoş Hanım just made green lentil soup, and I was willing to try. As I was making myself comfortable at her tiny, cozy and warm cafe I heard hear saying “Well, the soup season has started”, as she was pouring a generous bowl for me. Her green lentil soup came as a revelation: no stock, not yogurt, no salça even, just green lentils, strips of roasted red peppers, dots of sweet green peppers, a few tomato dices and plenty of dry mint, spice that adds a note of sourness and completeness to each savory dish. So simple, yet so flavorful and wholesome. Next day she would add homemade dry pasta for additional heartiness and put kesme çorbası on her chalkboard menu for the day.
These kind of soups are not very common in Turkey where you temper your soup with terbiye (a combo of yogurt, egg and flour) and roux (flour fried in butter) or thicken it with fine bulgur. The green lentil soup Fatoş Hanım cooked is often made with the said terbiye, and the soup ingredients are cooked until they fall apart resulting in a very comforting meal. So comforting in fact that at times people seem to forget that eating is not just about comforting yourself but also about nourishing your body. As much as I love Turkish cuisine I think that some cooking methods don’t serve the needs of the modern lives stripping the nutrition off the excellent ingredients. And the chunky green lentil soup was a pleasant surprise.
Next day I headed out to the buzzing Tuesday Kadıköy market to see if the winter showed up on the stalls. To my surprise, while a lot of stunning autumnal vegetables had arrived (like the pumpkin I immediately put in good use), late summer produce was still available: last tomatoes harvested in the rush as the cold spell kicked off, red bell peppers or pears and plums, perfect for the last minute preserving effort. So, I thought that my version of the green lentil soup would reflect this seasonal transition.
I bought and roasted red bell peppers: some went into the salad we made at the cooking class, some ended up in the freezer, and some were purposed for the soup. As the green lentils were boiling, I diced juicy onions and minced a huge clove of garlic. I then sliced the celeriac stacks for the beautiful green-to-the-bone flavor and crunch. Finally, I diced a tomato - from the last batch of the season. I sauteed the vegetables in the homemade olive oil that was presented to us by the hosts of the wonderful house we stayed at in Çeşme. I then combined the lentils, vegetables and raw rice to let them get to know each other and see what they can agree on. I seasoned the soup with pomegranate molasses, Urfa pepper and sea salt to seal the agreement. Finally, I added a few generous pinches of the mint I dried this summer. Heads off to Fatoş Hanım: I could not have cooked a more wholesome and happier looking soup at the turn of seasons.
Wholesome Green Lentil Soup
The soup should taste slightly sour because of the vegetables, and it seems only right to emphasize the sour note with pomegranate molasses (or freshly squeezed lemon juice) and dry mint. Roasted red bell pepper is surely a game changer in the soup; if you have none handy, use the raw one and add it earlier so it cooks a bit and loses the crunch before being added to the lentils.
Recipe inspired by Fatoş Hanım
Prep time 10 Min
Cook time 40 Min
Total time 50 Min
Serves: 4
Ingredients
1 cup green lentils
5 cups water
3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 celeriac stems, thinly sliced
1 medium tomato, peeled and finely diced
1 roasted pepper, peeled, cleaned and cut into thin strips
1/2 tsp pomegranate molasses (or freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste)
1/4 tsp Urfa pepper (isot)
2 tbsp rice, washed and drained
4 pinches fine sea salt, or more to taste
1/2 tsp dry mint
Directions
Place the green lentils in a medium pot, pour in the cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a minimum, cover with the lead and let simmer.
Meanwhile, warm up a medium size saute pan, pour in the olive oil and when the oil is hot enough cook the onions until golden (about 5 minutes). Then add garlic, celeriac stems and a pinch of sea salt (plus red peppers, if using raw): cook until the stems start softening (about 3-5 minutes). Then add the tomato, another pinch of salt and cook for about 5 min, so that tomato starts release its juices. Toss in the roasted red pepper, if using.
Transfer the vegetable mix to the pot where lentils are cooking: wash the pan where you have sautéed the vegetables with the lentil water and add that to the soup not to miss a tad of flavor. Add the rice and let simmer covered for about 10 minutes. Then add the pomegranate molasses, isot and two pinches of salt. Continue simmering the soup on the low heat until the rice is cooked (about 15 minutes), taste and adjust the seasoning, if required. Season with dry mint and serve.
