Black Sea Collard Soup (Karalahana çorbası)
Overview
Karalahana çorbası is the signature soup of Türkiye's Black Sea coast, made with dark, sturdy collard greens that grow in almost every garden there. The greens are chopped and simmered with beans, onion and often a little meat, and the soup is thickened with coarse corn flour, giving it a rustic, slightly grainy body. Chilli flakes add warmth. It is hearty, healthy and very much a winter dish, eaten with cornbread in Trabzon, Rize and other coastal provinces. Some families add rice instead of beans.
History
Corn and collard greens are pillars of Black Sea cooking. Corn became the region's staple grain after it arrived from the Americas, and collard greens thrive in its wet climate. Soups that combine the two are part of everyday home cooking in the eastern Black Sea, and they are closely tied to local identity, celebrated in local songs and food festivals.
Main ingredients
Collard greens (karalahana), beans, corn flour, onion, meat or butter, chilli. The soup is built on meat broth or water and is usually served hot. Diet: contains meat; not usually gluten-free.
Explore: Bean soups · Corn soups · Spinach and greens soups · More soups from Türkiye
Recipe
Method
- 1
Fry the onion (and meat, if using) in a pot, then add 1.5 l water.
- 220 min
Add the greens and simmer for 20 minutes.
- 3
Add the beans, then sprinkle in the corn flour while stirring.
- 415 min
Simmer for 15 minutes more, season and finish with chilli.
- ✓
Serve. About 1h 20m from start to bowl.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.
