Şorbeya tarxaneyê — Tarxane Soup with Lentils and Herbs

⏱ 80 min · 🍽️ 4 Servings · 🧂 12 Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 8 piece Tarxane discs (see recipe Tarxane — dried yoghurt and wheat balls for winter soups; or 4 tbsp shop-bought Turkish Tarhana)
  • 500 ml warm water for soaking
  • 100 g green or brown lentils
  • 1.2 l water
  • 1 piece onion
  • 2 clove garlic
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • salt to taste
  • 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 bunch fresh cilantro
  • 2 tbsp butter or margarine (or vegetable oil)
  • 1 tbsp dried mint

Instructions

  1. Pour the warm water over the Tarxane discs in a bowl and leave them to soak, covered, until completely soft.
  2. During the last 20 minutes of soaking, wash the lentils in a sieve, bring them to the boil with 1.2 l water in a large pot, skim off the foam and pre-cook the lentils partly covered over a medium heat until almost soft.
  3. Mash the soaked discs together with their soaking water using a fork or potato masher into a thick paste that is as smooth as possible.
  4. Peel and finely dice the onion; peel and finely chop the garlic. Heat the oil in a frying pan, fry the onion in it until golden brown, add the garlic and fry briefly until fragrant.
  5. Stir a ladle of hot lentil broth into the Tarxane paste, then add the paste to the pot and bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring constantly in one direction, because Tarxane contains yogurt, which would otherwise curdle. Only then stir in the onion and garlic.
  6. Simmer the soup gently over a low heat, stirring often, until the lentils are soft and the soup is creamy.
  7. Wash the parsley and cilantro, shake dry and chop finely. Season the soup carefully with salt, as Tarxane is already salty, stir in the herbs and thin the soup with a little hot water if needed.
  8. Melt the butter or margarine in a small pan, stir in the dried mint and let it foam up only briefly until fragrant and the fat turns green, without the mint turning black. Ladle the soup into deep bowls and drizzle the mint over it.
  9. Tip: Instead of homemade Tarxane, you can use 4 tbsp shop-bought Turkish Tarhana, stirred smooth in 500 ml cold water and then used like the paste. In Kermanshah the soup is often eaten for breakfast in winter, with fresh flatbread on the side. Covered, it keeps for two days in the fridge; to reheat, warm it slowly with a little water, stirring.
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Şorbeya tarxaneyê — Tarxane Soup with Lentils and Herbs – Recipe and image AI-created, editorially reviewed
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Şorbeya tarxaneyê — Tarxane Soup with Lentils and Herbs

A Kurdish classic from Kermanshah and Ilam in western Iran: for this winter soup, dried Tarxane discs are soaked for an hour and cooked with green lentils, golden-brown onions and plenty of parsley and cilantro into a creamy, beige, mildly tangy soup. In Persian it is called Ash-e Tarkhineh. To finish, dried mint browned in butter or margarine goes on top, its dark green drizzle glistening over the soup and smelling wonderful.

⏱

Cook time

80 min

🍽️

Servings

4

🧂

Ingredients

12

View Original ↗

Nutrition

per serving

315 kcal

Calories

11 g

Protein

17 g

Fat

28 g

Carbs

Ingredients

For 4 servings

Estimated cost~€3.05 · ~€0.75/serving

Instructions

  1. 1

    Pour the warm water over the Tarxane discs in a bowl and leave them to soak, covered, until completely soft.

  2. 2

    During the last 20 minutes of soaking, wash the lentils in a sieve, bring them to the boil with 1.2 l water in a large pot, skim off the foam and pre-cook the lentils partly covered over a medium heat until almost soft.

  3. 3

    Mash the soaked discs together with their soaking water using a fork or potato masher into a thick paste that is as smooth as possible.

  4. 4

    Peel and finely dice the onion; peel and finely chop the garlic. Heat the oil in a frying pan, fry the onion in it until golden brown, add the garlic and fry briefly until fragrant.

  5. 5

    Stir a ladle of hot lentil broth into the Tarxane paste, then add the paste to the pot and bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring constantly in one direction, because Tarxane contains yogurt, which would otherwise curdle. Only then stir in the onion and garlic.

  6. 6

    Simmer the soup gently over a low heat, stirring often, until the lentils are soft and the soup is creamy.

  7. 7

    Wash the parsley and cilantro, shake dry and chop finely. Season the soup carefully with salt, as Tarxane is already salty, stir in the herbs and thin the soup with a little hot water if needed.

  8. 8

    Melt the butter or margarine in a small pan, stir in the dried mint and let it foam up only briefly until fragrant and the fat turns green, without the mint turning black. Ladle the soup into deep bowls and drizzle the mint over it.

  9. 9

    Tip: Instead of homemade Tarxane, you can use 4 tbsp shop-bought Turkish Tarhana, stirred smooth in 500 ml cold water and then used like the paste. In Kermanshah the soup is often eaten for breakfast in winter, with fresh flatbread on the side. Covered, it keeps for two days in the fridge; to reheat, warm it slowly with a little water, stirring.

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