Tarhana çorbası (Cypriot tarhana soup)

Tarhana is a traditional fermented food that's used to make a soup called tarhana çorbası. It is made by mixing cracked wheat and yoghurt to form a dough, before shaping this by hand into firm, biscuit-like rounds that are laid out to dry in the sun.

Traditionally, tarhana is made in the summer with freshly harvested local wheat and yoghurt made from goat’s or sheep’s milk. The shaped tarhana is dried on a paner / paneri (which is a type of woven Cypriot basket) or a large cloth placed on top of the flat roof of a village home. Once fully dried, the tarhana is stored and used throughout the year.

Traditional dried Cypriot tarhana

Tarhana çorbası is made by rehydrating the dried tarhana and cooking it with a few basic ingredients. The result is a rich, creamy soup that has a gentle lemony tang - similar to sourdough bread, created from the natural fermentation process of making tarhana. When combined with cubes of fried hellim / halloumi cheese, tarhana çorbası becomes a deeply comforting dish. The cheese can also be added without frying if you prefer, but the crispy fried cubes add a lovely contrast in texture that's a pleasure to eat.

Tarhana is made in different ways and if you can get the Cypriot variety, it is ideal for our recipe. This is because it is formed as large, firm biscuits rather than thin sheets or crushed into powder. If you use other varieties to make tarhana çorbası, the cooking time, amount of water, and ingredients may need to be adjusted. This can also be true between different Cypriot versions, so please treat this recipe as a guide and adapt it to the tarhana you are using.

Serves 4 to 6 | Preparation time: 5 minutes | Cooking time: 50 minutes | Additional time: 2 hours to rehydrate the dried tarhana

Ingredients

250g Cypriot tarhana	​1 chicken or vegetable stock cube
200g halloumi, cut into 1cm cubes	3 tbsp olive oil
​½ tsp salt, or as desired	​2L cold water
​½ tsp dried mint	​Sunflower oil, for frying

Hob heat settings

Method

Initial tarhana rehydration

1. Place the tarhana in a large saucepan with 2L cold water. Leave for at least 2 hours for the tarhana to absorb the water before cooking (or until the tarhana breaks apart easily with a spoon).

Tarhana çorbası preparation

1. Give the rehydrated tarhana a good stir, ensuring it has broken up, before adding the salt, olive oil and stock cube. Cook on a medium-high heat for 40-50 minutes, or until it has a creamy consistency (it will only start to become creamy towards the end of cooking). Stir occasionally so that the tarhana doesn’t settle at the bottom of the saucepan and burn.

   
   

2. While the soup is cooking, add a little sunflower oil to a frying pan and place on a medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, fry the halloumi cubes until lightly browned on all sides - about 5-10 minutes. Place the fried halloumi on a plate lined with a kitchen paper towel to absorb the excess oil.

   
   

3. Serve the soup with the fried halloumi cubes, either sprinkled on top or stirred in, and fresh or toasted bread on the side.