Summer Soup with Grains & Yoghurt

Yeah, I know it's winter. But there's nothing like a little bit of Summer feeling when it's snowing outside. 

Youghurt soups are popular all over the Middle East and Turkey. This recipe comes from a friend of mine, who lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Originally this kind of soups (and many others) is made with frîka, but this is really hard to get here in Austria. So I tried to use dried unripe spelt grain (German: Grünkern) instead - and it worked perfecty. It does taste different to frîka, but both taste good in this soup.

Serves: 3-4

Prep and cook time: 45 min

• 750 ml vegetable stock
• 125 ml yoghurt
• 1/2 cup frîka or unripe spelt grain
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 2 chopped garlic cloves
• 2 hands full fresh spinach 
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 1 teaspoon harissa
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh peppermint 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 

Put the uripe spelt grain in a bowl, cover with hot water and soak for 20 minutes.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot, add onion and garlic and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the soaked unripe spelt grain, tomato puree and harissa and fry for another 2-3 minutes while stirring. Add the vegetable stock, peppermint, spinach and ground coriander and cook for 20 minutes.

Switch off the burner and when the soup is not boiling any more, add yoghurt and lemon juce. Stirn the soup and serve it while it's still very hot. 

Enjoy your meal!