Analı Kızlı Soup

A southern Turkish soup of large bulgur dumplings stuffed with walnut and beef (the mothers) and tiny plain ones (the daughters), simmered with chickpeas in a tomato broth and finished with mint butter.

Ingredients

• 180 g fine bulgur
• 150 g ground beef (20% fat)
• 80 g onion
• 20 g walnuts
• 150 g cooked chickpeas
• 30 g (2 tbsp) tomato paste
• 15 g (1 tbsp) red pepper paste
• 1300 g (5 1/2 cups) water
• 30 g (2 tbsp) butter
• 4 g (1 tbsp) dried mint
• 20 g (1 1/2 tbsp) lemon juice
• 3 g (1 tsp) red pepper flakes
• 10 g (2 tsp) salt

Instructions

1. 1

   Put the bulgur in a large bowl, pour over 200 g of the water, boiling, cover and let it swell for 15 minutes.

2. 2

   Add the pepper flakes and 1 tsp of the salt and knead for 8-10 minutes into a smooth, elastic dough that no longer sticks; wet your hands if needed.

3. 3

   For the filling, finely chop the onion and cook it in 10 g of the butter for 3-4 minutes; add the beef and cook for 6-7 minutes until the liquid evaporates. Stir in the crumbled walnuts and a pinch of salt and let cool.

4. 4

   Take walnut-sized pieces from half of the dough, hollow each in your palm, fill with a little filling, seal and roll into balls (the mothers). Roll the remaining dough into chickpea-sized plain balls (the daughters).

5. 5

   Bring the remaining 1100 g water to a boil in a pot with the tomato and pepper pastes; add the chickpeas and the rest of the salt.

6. 6

   Drop in the stuffed dumplings first and the small balls 5 minutes later; simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes until they float and are cooked, then add the lemon juice.

7. 7

   Melt the remaining 20 g butter in a small pan, add the dried mint, sizzle for 10-15 seconds, drizzle over the soup and serve hot.

Nutrition

Per serving