Name: Turkish Tarhana-Style Semolina Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients: 80 g Kathiya semolina; 300 g thick plain yoghurt; 2 tablespoons tomato paste; 1 tablespoon red pepper paste, or extra tomato; 3 tablespoons butter or cold-pressed sesame oil; 2 teaspoons dried mint; 1.2 litres hot water or stock; to taste salt and black pepper

Before you cook

Real tarhana is fermented for weeks. This is the shortcut version, using yoghurt for the sourness and semolina for the body.

Temper the yoghurt before it enters the pot. Cold yoghurt hitting hot soup splits into curds and there is no unsplitting it.

Method

Toast the semolina in the fat over low heat until it smells nutty.
Stir in the tomato and pepper pastes and cook them for two minutes.
Add the hot stock gradually, whisking so no lumps of semolina survive.
Simmer for fifteen minutes, stirring often, until visibly thickened.
Whisk the yoghurt in a bowl until completely smooth and slack.
Ladle hot soup into the yoghurt a little at a time, whisking constantly.
Return the tempered yoghurt to the pot off the heat and stir it through.
Warm gently without letting it reach a boil, or it will split.
Fry the dried mint in a spoonful of hot fat for a few seconds.
Pour the mint butter over each bowl and season generously at the table.

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