If Turkey has a national soup, this is it. Mercimek çorbası, red lentil soup, opens dinners at home, fills bowls in every lokanta from Edirne to Van, and is a favorite on the iftar table when the Ramadan fast is broken at sunset. Red lentils cook down to a smooth, golden purée with onion, carrot and a potato for body, and the finishing touch is a spoonful of butter heated with pul biber and dried mint until it sizzles red.

It costs very little, takes about 40 minutes and makes beginners look accomplished. A squeeze of lemon at the table is not optional, and nor, in Istanbul, is a basket of bread.

The soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
• 1 tablespoon (15 g) butter
• 1 large onion
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 small potato
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 1/2 cups (300 g) red lentils
• 7 cups (1.7 liters) hot vegetable or chicken stock, or water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

The red butter

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons (30 g) butter
• 1 teaspoon pul biber
• 1 teaspoon dried mint
• 2 lemons

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