Classic Middle Eastern yogurt soup with pearls of wheat

Enjoy a cold dish with chickpeas – which apparently originated in Southeast Turkey.

By FAYE, YAKIR LEVY
Cold soup: a simple but culinary classic. (photo credit: Yakir Levy)
Cold soup: a simple but culinary classic.
(photo credit: Yakir Levy)
When we revisited Southeast Turkey last summer, we looked forward to feasting again on delicious lamb dishes and the outstanding baklava; but one of the culinary classics we enjoyed the most was a simple cold soup.
August in the Eastern Mediterranean is hot, and everyone seemed to be indulging in this cooling specialty. In the course of six days we savored the soup, known as ayran corbasi, in three homes and in two restaurants.
When we were served the soup in the city of Adiyaman at Peri Hanimeli Sofrasi, a lovely restaurant that specializes in traditional foods of the region, it was basically a soup of yogurt and pearled wheat berries. We ate the soup with home-baked flat bread, and it was delightful.
We loved the yogurt soup at the home of the parents of our friend in Adiyaman, Murat Erkan Yapici. In addition to the yogurt and wheat berries, Murat’s mother put chickpeas in her soup. For that festive supper, Murat’s mother made another enticing yogurt and wheat berry soup, which had cooked green peppers and yellow squash as well.
From Adiyaman we traveled to Urfa, a conservative city in which many of the women wear traditional clothing. We happened to be there during Ramadan, and our friend Ahmet Tokdemir invited us to his home for the break-the-fast meal. There we had a feast of foods from Ahmet’s parents’ village, where people raise sheep and goats. The dairy foods made from their milk – homemade yogurt, butter, kaymak (very thick clotted cream) and braided cheese – were sensational.
Urfa is notorious for its hot weather, and Ahmet’s wife Zerrin added a few ice cubes to each bowl of the pearled wheat soup, which she made from her superb yogurt, so it was cold and most refreshing. We enjoyed the soup with Zerrin’s homebaked village bread, which she flavored with clarified butter and baked on a saj – a stovetop pan that looks like an upside-down wok. The dinner also featured a salad resembling Israeli salad with purslane, dressed with pomegranate paste and olive oil, and icli kofte (kubbeh) – stuffed croquettes flavored with walnuts. For dessert, we were served a special Ramadan compote of raisins and apricots and tastes of prized, locally made wildflower honey.
You could say this yogurt soup, which brings together the area’s time-honored foods, could stand alongside lentil soup as one of the signature soups of the Mideast. The three ingredients in this soup are indigenous to the lands of the Bible, and thus the soup has deeper roots in the region than dishes made with tomatoes or peppers, which come from the New World.
Chickpeas are widely believed to have originated in the Mideast, specifically in southeast Turkey near what is now Syria. Wheat is thought to have first been domesticated in the same area. Yogurt was probably invented and developed in Central Asia and has been loved in Turkey since at least the Middle Ages. According to food historian Alan Davidson, author of The Oxford Companion to Food, the word yogurt came into the English language from Turkish because yogurt reached western Europe through Turkey.
In winter, the same trio is made into a hot soup – the chickpeas and wheat berries are cooked in a flavorful broth, which is then enriched with yogurt. It is often called lebeniyeh soup, and some cooks add white beans to it.
Like the people of Urfa, those of progressive Antakya, where the women dress like Europeans, love yogurt soup. At Anadolu restaurant, we sampled a fancy version of yogurt and wheat soup – each bowl had a filled, poached kubbeh-like dumpling in the center surrounded by tiny unfilled bulgur wheat dumplings.
Our Antakyan friend Yonca Colakoglu called the pearled wheat “asur wheat”; this kind of wheat is best known for its use in the Turkish pudding called asure, made of wheat, dried fruit, nuts and beans. Mike Orlando of Sunnyland Mills in Freso, California, told us they make pearled wheat, also known as peeled wheat, by removing the outer layer of bran from the kernel of wheat. This gives the grain a round, pearl-like appearance.
When we returned home, we were eager to make the soup. Instead of the harder-to-find pearled wheat, we used whole wheat berries, and we found the soup just as delicious. Another alternative is pearl pasta, also known as Israeli couscous, as it looks something like pearled wheat and cooks faster than wheat berries.
Faye Levy is the author of Feast from the Mideast.
COLD YOGURT SOUP WITH WHEAT BERRIES AND CHICKPEASPart of the charm of this soup, which is also known as soguk yogurt corbasi or dovme corbasi, is the smoothness of the yogurt in contrast to the slightly chewy wheat berries and the firm chickpeas. To keep their textures at their best, we cook the wheat berries and the chickpeas separately; see recipe below.
Traditionally the soup is gently seasoned with salt and sometimes dried mint. Sometimes we dress up the soup with sprigs of fresh mint as well. Other seasonings we like are dried or chopped fresh dill and a light sprinkling of cayenne pepper or Turkish pepper flakes.
Naturally, the richer the yogurt, the tastier the soup, which in southeast Turkey is served in small bowls as a first course. The soup is wonderful when made with sheep’s or goat’s milk yogurt, but any yogurt you like will give good results. At home we enjoyed the soup even when we made it with lowfat and nonfat yogurt.
1⁄2 cup (8 Tbsp.) yogurt4 to 6 Tbsp. cold liquid – chickpea cooking liquid, wheat berry cooking liquid, water or a combination of thesesalt to taste4 Tbsp. cold cooked or canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans), well drained4 Tbsp. cold cooked wheat berries, well drainedsprinkling of dried mintcayenne pepper or pepper flakes to taste (optional)4 fresh mint leaves (optional)
Spoon yogurt into a bowl. Gently stir in 4 to 6 Tbsp. cold liquid to thin the yogurt as desired. Avoid stirring it hard; it’s best if the yogurt keeps its consistency. Season to taste with salt. At this point, you can stir in the chickpeas and wheat berries, or you can divide the yogurt mixture between 2 bowls and spoon chickpeas and wheat berries into each one.Serve sprinkled with dried mint and cayenne pepper. Garnish with mint leaves.Makes 2 appetizer servings
COOKING WHEAT BERRIES AND CHICKPEASBecause of their long cooking times, we find it practical to cook enough wheat and chickpeas for several meals, and to freeze the extra. Before using frozen wheat or chickpeas in the soup, microwave them briefly to thaw them.
There is no need to soak the chickpeas, but you can if you find it convenient or if you’ve had them for a long time; doing so will slightly cut their cooking time. If you do, soak them overnight in water and keep them in the refrigerator if the weather is hot.
Wheat Berries:6 cups waterPinch of salt11⁄2 cups whole wheat berries, picked over and rinsed
Boil 6 cups water in a large saucepan and add salt. Add wheat berries and return to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat for 11⁄2 to 2 hours or until wheat is tender but a little chewy. Drain well, reserving the liquid.Makes about 3 cups cooked wheat berries
Chickpeas:2 to 21⁄2 cups dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans), picked over and rinsedabout 7 cups waterPinch of salt
Put chickpeas in a large pot and add enough water to generously cover them. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer them over low heat until tender, about 11⁄2 to 2 hours, adding salt halfway through cooking time and adding hot water occasionally if necessary to keep them covered with water. Refrigerate chickpeas in their cooking liquid.Makes about 5 cups cooked chickpeas
YOGURT SOUP WITH CHICKPEAS, POTATOES AND GREEN BEANSInspired by the Turkish yogurt soups, we combined yogurt and canned chickpeas with a variety of cooked vegetables. This version with green beans, potatoes and chickpeas topped with fresh mint was especially good. If you double the amounts, the soup is satisfying enough to make a light summertime lunch, accompanied by good, fresh flat bread.
1⁄3 to 1⁄2 cup green beans cut in 1-cm. (1⁄2-in.) lengthssalt and freshly ground pepper4 to 6 Tbsp. cold green bean or chickpea broth or other vegetable broth1⁄2 cup (8 Tbsp.) yogurt4 Tbsp. cold cooked or canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans), well drained1 small potato, cooked and dicedsprinkling of dried mint or dillcayenne pepper or pepper flakes to taste1 to 2 tsp. shredded fresh mint leaves (optional)
Boil about 1 cup water in a small saucepan with a pinch of salt. Add green beans and cook about 4 minutes or until just tender. Remove beans with a slotted spoon, reserving their broth. Rinse beans with cold water. Briefly refrigerate beans, as well as their broth if you want to use it in the soup.
Spoon yogurt into a bowl. Gently stir in 4 to 6 Tbsp. cold vegetable broth to thin the yogurt as desired. Stir in chickpeas, diced cooked potato, and most of cooked green beans, reserving a few pieces for garnish. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Divide the yogurt mixture between 2 bowls and add remaining green beans. Serve soup sprinkled with dried mint and cayenne pepper. Garnish with fresh mint.Makes 2 appetizer servings