This Turkish lebeniye soup that goes by the name Lebeniye Çorbası is refreshing and utterly satisfyiing, enjoy it as a snack, a lunch or a starter at dinnertime. It has a slightly sour taste with meat balls, rice and cooked chickpeas; it consists of plain yogurt that is diluted with water and thickened up with an egg and flour; and to inject a boost of flavor, a blitz of butter and dried mint pesto on top of the soup will contribute a lift of brightness to lebeniye; it is hearty and richly flavored despite its humble ingredients — not to be confused with the Lebanese kibbeh labanieh.
Turkish Lebeniye Soup/ Lebeniye Çorbası (Video)
My first experience with lebeniye soup
This year, my husband and I visited Istanbul during the holy month of Ramadan, One of our favored iftars was at the Swisshotel; it was an open buffet menu with everything you could possibly imagine to break a fast with, one of the favored dishes we had was this lebeniye soup, it so rich but never heavy and a nourishing, soul-satisfying meal in under 1 hour, made with simple ingredients.
Ingredients needed to make lebeniye soup:
- Minced beef: to make the mini meatballs
- Onion: to be added to the minced meat to create juicy meatballs
- Short-grain rice: a major ingredient in the soup
- Plain yogurt: adds a creamy sour agreeable taste
- Chickpeas: add a richer flavor
- Flour: a thickening agent
- Egg: for a richer taste.
- Salt, obviously to balance taste
- Black pepper: to deepen the flavor notes
- Olive oil: to sauteé the meatballs
- Butter: to sauteé the dried mint before serving
- Dried mint: adds a lovely herbal taste
- Water
To make the lebenyie soup/ Lebeniye Çorbası
- Make the meatballs: Season the minced meat with salt and freshly grated black pepper. Transfer to a food processor, add the small chopped onion and pulse a few times to infuse the onion in meat. Roll the meatball mixture into mini balls, the size of a cherry tomato or even smaller if you can manage. Place them on a tray sprinkled with flour and add a generous sprinkle of flour on top of the meatballs.
- Cook the soup: In a large pot combine the rice, cooked chickpeas and water and bring to a boil, reduce heat to low cover up and cook for about 30 minutes.
- Pan-fry the meatballs: In a large skillet heat olive oil until shimmering, add the meatballs and fry until brown on both sides and cooked through (about 2 to 3 minutes). Work in batches if your skillet is small. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Temper the yogurt: In a glass bowl combine together the yogurt, egg and flour, add 1 ladle of the warm rice and chickpea water to the bowl, whisk well then add another ladle and whisk one more time, add the tempered yogurt to the rice soup stir well everything together, this technique will gurantee your soup will not curdle.
- Gently, add the meatballs to the soup and give a quick stir. Adjust salt to your taste prefence.
- Finish with a flavor booster : In a skillet melt butter over medium heat and add the dried mint and sautee for a few seconds, make sure not to burn it; swirl the mixture on top of the lebenyie, stir just a bit to keep it floating on top, it’s eye-catching, presentable and will take the lebenyie from good to glorious.
- Ladle the soup and enjoy, happy eating.
Tips and tricks
- This soup is hearty and richly flavored despite its humble ingredients, so I advice you to try it.
- It is a protein rich soup, take a look at the ingredients: meatballs, chickpeas, yogurt and egg, high-protein foods are essential for building and repairing tissues, and maintaining muscle mass; It is an ideal soup to support immune function.
- Make the meatballs quite small, that way they’re easier to eat in lebeniye. You can make the meatball mixture and roll out meatballs the night before you plan to cook, cover and stor in the fridge, they make quick work the second day.
- You need to temper the yogurt before adding to the soup to avoid curdling. mix together the yogurt, egg and flour in a bowl, add l cup of warm soup to the bowl, then another cup and whisk well with the yogurt, this technique will gurantee your soup will not curdle.
- What takes the dish up a notch is the sauteed dried mint you quickly blitz on top of the soup right before serving; when you dollop some on top, you will inject a boost of flavor that makes soup goes from good to glorious.
- If by the time you get to the end of your soup, you find it lacking in punch, add salt until it tastes right to you, it is preferable to add salt at the end of cooking.
- The soup I had at Swisshotel in Istanbul was moderatly thin with less solids, it is silky but could be held in spoon, that’s how I balanced the recipe after testing.
- Store lebeniye soup in an airtight container for up to3 days in the fridge. As you reheat, you might want to add a touch of water to thin out the soup.
Adapted from Turkish Food Travel
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Turkish Lebeniye Soup
Description
If you’re looking for bowl of comfort and nourishment lebeniye soup fits the bill, what takes the soup up a notch is the butter dried mint pesto you blitz on top of the soup.
Equipment
- Food Processor to grind the meat and onion together
Ingredients
- 250 grams/ 9 oz minced beef:
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- A pinch of freshly grated black pepper
- 2 liters+ 2 cups water equal to 10 cups of water
- 1/3 cup short grain rice, I used Arborio
- 2 cups plain yogurt, full fat yogurt is best
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, to saute the meat balls
- 3/4 cup cooked chickpeas, I used canned chickpeas
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, to be added to the yogurt and some extra to dust the meat balls with before cooking
- 1 egg
- Finish drizzle:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon dried mint
Instructions
- To make the meatballs: Season the minced meat with salt and freshly grated black pepper. Transfer to a food processor, add the small chopped onion and pulse a few times to infuse the onion in meat. Roll the meat mixture into mini balls, the size of a cherry tomato or even smaller if you can manage. Place them on a tray sprinkled with flour and add a generous sprinkle of flour on top of the meatballs.
- Cook the soup: In a large pot combine the rice, cooked chickpeas and water and bring to a boil, reduce heat to low cover up and cook for about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile pan-fry the meatballs: In a large skillet heat olive oil until shimmering, add the meatballs and fry until brown on both sides and lightly cooked (about 2 to 3 minutes). Cook over medium heat. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Temper the yogurt: In a glass bowl, combine together the yogurt, egg and flour, add 1 ladle of the warm rice and chickpea water to the yogurt mixture, whisk well then add another ladle and whisk one more time, add the tempered yogurt to the rice soup stir well everything together, this technique will gurantee your soup will not curdle.
- Gently, add the meatballs to the soup and give a quick stir. Adjust salt to your taste prefence. The soup should be moderately thin, if it thickens a lot add boiled water to your liking.
- Finish with a flavor booster: In a skillet melt butter over medium heat and add the dried mint and sautee for a few seconds, make sure not to burn it; swirl the mixture on top of the lebenyie, stir just a bit to keep it floating on top, it's eye-catching, presentable and will take the lebenyie from good to glorious.
- Ladle the soup and enjoy, happy eating. Watch the detailed video tutorial below!
Video
Notes
Looking for more cooked yogurt dishes, we got you covered:
- Shish barak: Middle Eastern-style tortellini dumplings, filled with onion, and minced meat and cooked in a tangy palatable yogurt sauce (laban).
- Kibbeh Bil Laban: The kibbeh balls are cooked in a refreshing yogurt sauce spiked with fried cilantro and garlic and you’re left with a deeply complex, unexpected crowd pleaser. If ever there is a quintessential Lebanese homey comfort main,
- Kousa bil laban: Stuffed zucchini simmered in a garlicky yogurt sauce, and flavored with a light dusting of dried mint, is a Lebanese classic that never goes out of style – comfort food at its best.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
