Turkish Tarhana Powder and Soup

TURKISH TARHANA POWDER AND SOUP

Tarhana is a traditional, Turkish soup common throughout Anatolia. It is also the name for the dry pulse made from a fermented mixture of plain yogurt, flour, and vegetables that are used as a base for the soup.

Living in Turkey, you never really think about making Tarhana powder because everyone around me was giving some. Every region even every family has its own recipe so the taste of the Tarhana changes all the time depending on who you get the Tarhana from. My mums’ family cooks it with minced beef and chickpeas while my dads’ family cooking it plain. I don’t have a chance to reach my mums’ family recipe anymore but here is the recipe that I got from my dads’ mum.

Tarhana soup starts off as tarhana powder; a dried food. The preparation of tarhana powder is a process that takes days

INGREDIENTS FOR POWDER

1kg tomato
1kg onions
1kg romano/red peppers
4 cups water
500gr chickpeas – cooked and drained
500gr plain yoghurt
1kg flour
1 packet yeast – active, dry
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp black pepper

METHOD

Clean the vegetables and put them into a large saucepan with the water. Boil them gently until very soft. Drain them, then add the cooked chickpeas and puree the mixture in a blender or food processor. If mixture seems too watery, let it sit in a very fine wire strainer for a few minutes to let excess water drip away.
Put the warm vegetable puree into a large mixing bowl. Add the yogurt and mix thoroughly. Mix in the active dry yeast and spices.
Now begin adding flour very slowly and working it completely into the mixture with your hands. Continue this process until all the flour is mixed in evenly and you have a smooth batter.
Cover the top of the bowl with some cling wrap and a towel and set it in a warm place for 5 days. Check the batter every day and stir it to keep the fermentation even.
On the 5th day, remove the towel and cling wrap and stir the mixture well. It should have a sour aroma and be bright orange in color.
Divide the batter up by placing large spoonfuls on baking sheets covered with non-stick baking parchment. Leave the sheets in a dry place until one side of the patties are completely dry. Flip them over and allow the other side to dry.
After the patties look dry, you can begin to break them apart with your fingers. The centers will still be moist, so allow more time for the coarsely crumbled tarhana to dry further.
Repeat the crumbling and drying process several times until the pieces are small enough to put through a food processor or fine sieve.
Once you have a lot of fine powder, spread it out on the trays and continue to dry it, shifting the powder with your hands occasionally.
In the end, you should have a fine pulse that is completely dry. As long as you’re sure it’s dried thoroughly, you can store the pulse in glass containers for more than 1 year with no refrigeration needed.

INGREDIENTS FOR SOUP

1 chicken/beef stock (optional)
4 tablespoon of Tarhana pulse
1 tablespoon dried mint
7 cup water (room temperature)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 garlic clove – chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Salt to taste
Red pepper powder to taste
Black pepper to taste

METHOD FOR SOUP

Dissolve chicken/beef stock, mint and Tarhana pulse in 2 cup water for 15 min.
In a large pan, add olive oil and butter. Roast garlic clove and tomato paste until it smells
Add your dissolved Tarhana into the pan
Add 5 cup water
Sprinkle salt, red pepper powder and black pepper, bring to boil.
Once cooked transfer to serving plate sprinkle dried mint.

NOTE

If you want to add chickpeas and minced beef, don’t use tomato paste, with butter and garlic roast 100gr minced beef and 1 cup cooked chickpeas then add your dissolved Tarhana into the pan.

For my own records I would like write here my Grans’ description