Ezo The Bride's soup (Ezo gelin corbasi)

THis is one of the classic soups of Turkey. There are a few fables on how it got its name. The fort states that a woman, Ezo, from Gaziantep, had a very difficult life and would console herself by making this soup. The second story is that Ezo was in the hospital and was tired of the bland food they served, so she made this soup to add both flavour and nutrition to the food.

Stories aside, this is a simple and very nutritious soup. The red lentils add delicious nutrition, and the ingredients are simple, yet this soup is delicious. The Aleppo chilli adds a lovely spice and the mint a hint of herb. This soup is best served woth some soutdough bread and feta if you have some handy.

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Ingredients:

For the soup:

1/2 cup red lentils (lal masoor dal), soaked in 4 cups water for at least 1 hour

6 cups water

Salt, to taste

1/2 teaspoon pepper

For the sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon Aleppo chilli flakes + additional for garnish

1/4 cup fresh mint

1 tablespoon tomato paste

Juice of 1/2 lime

Yoghurt, to garnish

Rinse out the lentils and add them to a pot with the water, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, scoop off the scum on top, nd simmer gently for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat up the oil in a frying pan on low heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook for 23 minutes until soft. Add the chilli flakes, mint, and tomato paste and mix well. Fry for one more minute.

Add the fried sauce to the soup and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes. Cool completely and puree the soup with a hand blender or in a blender until very smooth—taste for salt, spice and mint. The soup should have a well-balanced flavour of all three flavours.

To serve, heat up the soup, ladle it into bowls, and garnish with a teaspoon of yoghurt and Aleppo flakes.