Yogurt Soup (Yayla Çorbası)
Yogurt soup is a popular comfort dish both in Turkey and Central Asia. To me, it shows how we, Turks, are obsessed with yogurt; we even cook it! It's also a very common sick soup; even inhaling the strong smell of mint or tarragon makes you feel better. Although Turks love this soup, I can see why many people, especially those who are not in good terms with yogurt, may not like this. So, the decision is up to you: to try or not to try...
1/4 cup rice
5 cups of water (if you wish you can use half chicken stock, half water)
2 cups of plain yogurt
1 egg
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp butter
2 tsp dried mint or tarragon
1 tsp salt
-Boil rice in 5 cups of water with salt until (very) soft.
-In a bowl, beat the egg and flour well, and then add yogurt and mix. With 1-2 tbsp water lighten up this mixture.
-Put the yogurt mix in a pot and start cooking on very low. It's important that you start with low heat, otherwise yogurt would curdle. Give yogurt some time to get used to heat. Cook on low heat for approximately 15 minutes and keep stirring.
-Slowly pour in rice along with water into the soup. Keep stirring. First let it boil on medium and then turn it down and cook for another 10 minutes.
-Heat butter in a pan. Once it sizzles, add mint flakes and stir for 20-30 seconds (don't let it burn). Then, pour it into soup.
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20 comments:
Diane, no, I did not. But, I'll sure try it!
Hi Burcu,
I hope you had a wonderful trip back to Turkey. I just wanted to tell you I just wrote a little spotlight of your blog for Blogher. You can see it here
Wonderful! I used to share a flat with a Turkish girl in Scotland, who made this yogurt soup quite regularly. She used mint, and although I was a bit suspicious first, I quickly became fond of the soup.
I forgot to ask for her recipe before moving back home to Estonia, so your recipe has helped me a lot:)
Hi,
I am from Istanbul. I am glad to see your recipe blog. Thanks for your recipes of our traditional foods :)
Pille, I'm glad you're united with a long lost recipe :)
this sounds so good. thanks a lot.
Oh, I will try it! It looks wonderful--but everything you cook looks wonderful to me.
How great to find your blog. I have loved Turkish food ever since my trip there a few years ago. And since I too love yogurt I will have to try this recipe!
I had this soup for the first time at a lovely Turkish restaurant in New York City, and have been trying to replicate it ever since, with so-so results. *Your* recipe & method did the trick, and I just made it this evening for dinner. So yummy, and my husband loved it too. I just wanted to say thank you! I'll give your other recipes a go as well.... Yum! :-9
Becka, you're more than welcome. I know how it feels when you try to replicate something and cannot; I'm still there: there's a Tibetan restaurant here that serves a simple lentil soup that I still haven't managed to replicate. I hope you like other recipes, too.
Merhaba Burcu,
My mom used to make this soup all the time. It's my favourite along with red lentil soup.
Mom usually added a can of chickpeas to this recipe.
Whenever I get homesick, I check your blog for recipes!
Merhaba Asuman,
I'm glad if my recipes help you with homesickness. I've just learned a soup recipe which is just like yogurt/yayla soup yet has chick peas in it; it's called dovga soup. It might be what your mom used to make. I'll post the recipe as soon as I try it.
Living in North Iraq, I frequently cross the border into East Anatolia for the wonderful Turkish food. This time, after returning, I searched the web for a recipe for Yayla Corbasi. Yours looked the tastiest. I made it for my boyfriend (who is from Izmir). It was a hit. If it's OK, I would like to put a link to your site in my blog.
Dear Burcu
What kind of yogurt would I use for that soup? Only Whole milk?
You can use any kind: whole milk or non-fat. I make my own yogurt with 2% and used that for the soup.
Well, today I felt a strong urge to cook yayla corbasi so I'm happy I found it on your blog.
For anyone who likes yogurt - and without being Turkish I love anything related to milk but the milk itself hehe - if you try this, you LOVE it. It's impossible not to. Friends who had this in restaurants in Turkey came back home trying to replicate the recipe. Even the one which is sold in Turkish stores - the small packs from Knorr or whatever - are delicious.
Go for it, people! You like yogurt = you love this one.
Best
A.
i wud make it for tomarrows breakfast sounds intresting
Hi!
I'm from Istanbul...
I love this soup!And I will be make for the evening meal during Ramadan.
Thanks!
:)
I just tried this recipe. Turned out excellent!! Thank you very much for all details that make the difference.
Posts
Have you ever had kadhi (Indian yogurt soup)? It's lovely - what I make when I'm too tired to cook and want something comforting. When I first heard of it, I was not too keen on the idea. Hot yogurt??? But one taste cured me of my hesitation...
:)