Serbidew — Boiled Cracked Wheat with Curd Cheese and Paprika

⏱ 85 min · 🍽️ 4 Servings · 🧂 9 Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 300 g hulled wheat (Turkish Aşurelik buğday or Dövme; soaked overnight)
  • water for soaking, as needed
  • 1.2 l water for cooking
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 250 g Lorik (see the recipe Lorik — homemade whey curd cheese; or shop-bought Lor cheese from a Turkish grocery)
  • 4–6 tbsp warm water or whey
  • 60 g butter or margarine
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes (Pul Biber)
  • 1 tsp Isot (smoked Urfa pepper flakes)

Instructions

  1. Wash the wheat in a sieve, cover it generously with cold water in a bowl and leave to soak overnight.
  2. Drain the wheat, put it in a pot with the water for cooking, bring to the boil and skim off the foam. Cover and simmer gently over a low heat until the grains are tender, some have burst open and there is no hard core left inside; stir now and then and top up with a little hot water if needed.
  3. Stir in the salt. If there is still a lot of liquid in the pot, let the wheat reduce a little uncovered or drain it, as it should be moist but not soupy; then keep it warm, covered.
  4. Mash the Lorik in a bowl with a fork and gradually stir in enough warm water or whey to make it smooth, creamy and thick. Shop-bought Lor cheese is often saltier, so taste it.
  5. Pile the hot wheat onto a large, warmed platter, use a spoon to make a wide hollow in the centre and fill it with the Lorik.
  6. Heat the butter or margarine in a small frying pan until it foams and smells slightly nutty. Pull the pan off the heat and only then stir in the Pul Biber and Isot until the fat turns red, because on the hot hob the pepper flakes burn and turn bitter.
  7. Pour the hot red butter or margarine over the Lorik and wheat and serve immediately. At the table, everyone helps themselves to wheat from the edge and some curd cheese with the red fat from the centre.
  8. Tip: In many homes in Şırnak, cracked hulled wheat (Yarma) goes into the pot instead of whole grains; it becomes tender in about 40 minutes without soaking. Some fill the hollow with dissolved Kurût — dried yoghurt whey balls (Keşk) — instead of Lorik, or lay fried Qawirme — lamb preserved in its own fat — on top, in which case the dish is no longer vegetarian. Tirşî — mixed pickles with cauliflower, carrot, cucumber and peppers — and Çay — Kurdish tea in a glass — go well with it. Leftover wheat keeps covered in the fridge for two days without the curd cheese and is reheated with a little water.
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Serbidew — Boiled Cracked Wheat with Curd Cheese and Paprika – Recipe and image AI-created, editorially reviewed
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Serbidew — Boiled Cracked Wheat with Curd Cheese and Paprika

A Kurdish classic from Botan (Siirt, Şırnak, Cizre) in south-eastern Turkey: Serbidew is the simple, filling winter meal from Şırnak and Cizre in which hulled wheat, soaked overnight, is boiled until tender, piled hot onto a platter and topped with whey curd cheese stirred until creamy and sizzling butter or margarine with paprika. In Turkish the name is spelled Serbıdev. The plump, slightly al dente wheat grains, the mild, tangy curd cheese and the red butter or margarine fragrant with Isot come together in a simple dish with lots of flavour.

⏱

Cook time

85 min

🍽️

Servings

4

🧂

Ingredients

9

View Original ↗

Nutrition

per serving

462 kcal

Calories

17 g

Protein

19 g

Fat

55 g

Carbs

Ingredients

For 4 servings

  • 🛒

Instructions

  1. 1

    Wash the wheat in a sieve, cover it generously with cold water in a bowl and leave to soak overnight.

  2. 2

    Drain the wheat, put it in a pot with the water for cooking, bring to the boil and skim off the foam. Cover and simmer gently over a low heat until the grains are tender, some have burst open and there is no hard core left inside; stir now and then and top up with a little hot water if needed.

  3. 3

    Stir in the salt. If there is still a lot of liquid in the pot, let the wheat reduce a little uncovered or drain it, as it should be moist but not soupy; then keep it warm, covered.

  4. 4

    Mash the Lorik in a bowl with a fork and gradually stir in enough warm water or whey to make it smooth, creamy and thick. Shop-bought Lor cheese is often saltier, so taste it.

  5. 5

    Pile the hot wheat onto a large, warmed platter, use a spoon to make a wide hollow in the centre and fill it with the Lorik.

  6. 6

    Heat the butter or margarine in a small frying pan until it foams and smells slightly nutty. Pull the pan off the heat and only then stir in the Pul Biber and Isot until the fat turns red, because on the hot hob the pepper flakes burn and turn bitter.

  7. 7

    Pour the hot red butter or margarine over the Lorik and wheat and serve immediately. At the table, everyone helps themselves to wheat from the edge and some curd cheese with the red fat from the centre.

  8. 8

    Tip: In many homes in Şırnak, cracked hulled wheat (Yarma) goes into the pot instead of whole grains; it becomes tender in about 40 minutes without soaking. Some fill the hollow with dissolved Kurût — dried yoghurt whey balls (Keşk) — instead of Lorik, or lay fried Qawirme — lamb preserved in its own fat — on top, in which case the dish is no longer vegetarian. Tirşî — mixed pickles with cauliflower, carrot, cucumber and peppers — and Çay — Kurdish tea in a glass — go well with it. Leftover wheat keeps covered in the fridge for two days without the curd cheese and is reheated with a little water.

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