We're just back from skiing in east Turkey (Sarikamis). It was a great time, and back from there, I decided to make something that is from that region (well, east Turkey is large, so more or less...) This is a perfect winter soup (yes, it is still quite cold in Netherlands - sob sob). It can be quite light if you use low-fat youghurt and boullion but of course, if you want it to taste really good you should use regular yoghurt (preferably Turkish/Greek/Bulgarian yoghurt or whatever they call that kind of yoghurt where you live). I have read somewhere that this recipe is very old, going back almost thousand years back till Seljuk times. They used to dry a combination of eggs and yoghurt to make it, and obviously used self-made pasta (called tutmach) but this is a simple modern recipe, adapted by me a little. Enjoy!!!

Tutmach Soup

250 grams yogurt
30 grams flour
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground blackpepper
3 teaspoons salt
1 lt boullion (home made, or the liquid version of commercial boullion)
80 grams small macaroni/vermicelli (100 gram when using fresh macaroni)
300 grams cooked green lentils
4 cloves garlic
to top: (optional)
butter
paprika powder/paste (i.e. sambal oelek)
dried mint leaves

1. Mix eggs and flour. Add yoghurt, cumin, black pepper, salt and keep mixing until homogeneous.
2. Add 1 liter of water to the boullion and cook. Add the macaroni and keep boiling until the macaroni is half-cooked (watch out of you are using fresh macaroni, just 1 over minute can be enough!)
3. Take some of the cooking liquid, add to the egg-youghurt mixture and mix quickly. Repeat this a few times so that the egg-yoghurt mixture is half-mixed with the hot soup. Then add the mixture to the soup and stir. (If you add the mixture directly to the soup, the egg will cook in pieces and you will not get the creamy texture that we are aiming at)
4. Cook, stirring regularly, for about 5 minutes.
5. Add the cooked lentils, cook another five minutes at low heat.
6. Turn off the heat. Crush the garlic and add to the soup. Stir.
7. If you want to include the topping (which is very tasty but definitely adds some fat and calories!): Melt butter (about one spooonful for 3-4 people) and add the hot red pepper to it. Traditionally, we use thick pieces of dried red peppers for this (pul biber), but you can also use cayenne pepper or some hot sauce. Let the butter and pepper heat together for a short while, don't burn the butter but make sure it starts to color.
8. Pour the soup into plates. Add some butter mixture on top and some dried mint leaves. Eat warm with some fresh bread!